White Sox Select Jose Ruiz, Outright Matt Skole
The White Sox announced today that they have selected the contract of righty Jose Ruiz. To open a 40-man spot, the club outrighted infielder Matt Skole to Triple-A.
The move on Ruiz is one that the team announced yesterday, so it comes as no surprise. Of course, the exciting news for him was overshadowed by the team’s decision not to promote top-rated prospect Eloy Jimenez.
As for Skole, 29, he received his first MLB call-up and performed well in four games. But the corner infielder didn’t hit all that much at Triple-A, turning in a .237/.336/.404 slash in five hundred trips to the plate at Charlotte.
White Sox Will Not Promote Eloy Jimenez; Will Select Jose Ruiz
The White Sox will not promote their top prospect, outfielder Eloy Jimenez, to the majors this season, general manager Rick Hahn confirmed Monday. Meanwhile, they will select young right-hander Jose Ruiz from Double-A Birmingham, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets. Adding Ruiz will require a corresponding 40-man move, as Chicago’s currently at capacity.
The fact that Jimenez won’t come up this year is no surprise, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported over the weekend that the Triple-A star would not debut in the majors until 2019. Indeed, Hahn said (via Van Schouwen) that Jimenez is “very well positioned to make a significant impact at the big league level” next season. For now, “it’s in everyone’s best interest” for the team to hold off on promoting Jimenez, Hahn added.
“We’re not trying to develop a 21-year-old DH,” continued Hahn, suggesting Jimenez still has to improve his defense (via James Fegan of The Athletic).
That may be true, but it won’t win over Jimenez’s agents, who discussed their client with Jon Heyman of Fancred last week.
“How can you say with a straight face this guy needs to work on anything?” asked one of his representatives, Paul Kinzer. “What’s he need to work on?”
Meanwhile, fellow Jimenez rep Nelson Montes De Oca suggested service time is the driving force behind Chicago’s decision not to promote him this year. Keeping Jimenez out of the majors until the third week of 2019 campaign will enable the White Sox to control him for an extra year, after all, and it’s clear he has done more than enough offensively to earn a call-up. Since moving from Birmingham to Triple-A Charlotte in June, Jimenez has further cemented his place as an elite prospect by slashing an incredible .355/.399/.597 with 12 home runs and a .242 ISO in 228 plate appearances. Next, he’s likely to continue his development in winter ball, per Hahn (via Fegan).
Unlike Jimenez, Ruiz is far from an elite prospect, but MLB.com does rank him 24th in an impressive Chicago farm system. A former catcher in San Diego’s system, the Padres converted Ruiz into a pitcher but ultimately lost him on waivers to the White Sox last winter. The hard-throwing 23-year-old has a chance to develop into an impact reliever for the White Sox, MLB.com suggests, and he made his mark in Birmingham this season by logging a 3.18 ERA/2.84 FIP with 10.92 K/9 and 3.77 BB/9 in 45 1/3 innings.
White Sox Outright Jose Ruiz
The White Sox announced that right-hander Jose Ruiz has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Class-A Winston-Salem. The move drops Chicago’s 40-man roster to a total of 39 players.
The ChiSox picked up Ruiz, 23, off waivers from the Padres back in December after San Diego designated the converted catcher for assignment. Ruiz somewhat surprisingly made the sizable leap from Class-A Advanced to the Majors in 2017 season, though he only threw a single inning with the Padres’ big league club. He tossed a career-high 49 2/3 innings in 2017 with the Padres’ Class-A Advanced affiliate, struggling to a 5.98 ERA but also 8.2 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9.
Ruiz averaged better than 95 mph on his heater in his lone MLB inning, though he obviously has a ways to go in terms of honing his control and further gaining experience on the mound before he emerges as a viable big league bullpen option.
White Sox Claim Jose Ruiz From Padres
The Padres announced today that right-hander Jose Ruiz has been claimed off waivers by the White Sox. San Diego had designated the hard-throwing Ruiz for assignment last week to clear a roster spot for trade acquisition Freddy Galvis.
Ruiz, 23, made the jump from Class-A Advanced to the Majors this season, though he only threw a single inning at the big league level. Ruiz worked as a catcher for the bulk of his pro career with the Padres but began transitioning to the mound in 2016 after batting just .203/.239/.249 in his career as a hitter. He tossed a career-high 49 2/3 innings in 2017 with the Padres’ Class-A Advanced affiliate, struggling to a 5.98 ERA in that time.
Ruiz, however, sat at 95.3 mph with his heater in his lone MLB appearance this past season and averaged 8.2 K/9 in his first full season as a pitcher in the minors. He also averaged 4.5 BB/9, though, and posted a low 32.5 percent ground-ball rate, which contributed to some trouble in keeping the ball in the park (1.27 HR/9). He’s tossed 16 innings in the Venezuelan Winter League this offseason, posting a 3.94 ERA with a 12-to-6 K/BB ratio, a hit batter and a wild pitch.
Padres Designate Jose Ruiz For Assignment
The Padres announced that they’ve designated right-hander Jose Ruiz for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to shortstop Freddy Galvis, whose trade to San Diego has now been officially announced by both the Padres and Phillies.
Ruiz, 23, made the considerable jump from Class-A Advanced to the Majors this season, though he only threw a single inning at the big league level. The Venezuelan-born Ruiz worked as a catcher for the bulk of his pro career with the Padres but began transitioning to the mound in 2016. He tossed a career-high 49 2/3 innings in 2017 with the team’s Class-A Advanced affiliate, struggling to a 5.98 ERA in that time.
Ruiz, however, sat at 95.3 mph with his heater in his lone MLB appearance this past season and averaged 8.2 K/9 in his first full season as a pitcher in the minors. He also averaged 4.5 BB/9, though, and posted a low 32.5 percent ground-ball rate, which contributed to some trouble in keeping the ball in the park (1.27 HR/9). He’s tossed 16 innings in the Venezuelan Winter League this offseason, posting a 3.94 ERA with a 12-to-6 K/BB ratio, a hit batter and a wild pitch.
In 1005 plate appearances throughout his minor league career, Ruiz is a .203/.239/.249 hitter, so it seems unlikely that he’ll return to the catching position anytime soon.
Padres Designate Oswaldo Arcia For Assignment; Brett Wallace Elects Free Agency
The Padres announced tonight that outfielder Oswaldo Arcia has been designated for assignment. Additionally, first baseman Brett Wallace has been outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency. In corresponding moves, the Padres added the contracts of outfielder Franchy Cordero, shortstop Javier Guerra and right-handers Walker Lockett and Jose Ruiz to the 40-man roster.
San Diego was Arcia’s fourth organization in 2016 alone, as the former top prospect was designated for assignment by the Twins and bounced from Minnesota to Tampa Bay to Miami to San Diego on waivers. Once hoped to be the Twins’ right fielder of the future, Arcia hit just .203/.270/.366 this year and has batted a combined .219/.286/.369 in his past 287 plate appearances between the 2015-16 seasons. The 25-year-old unquestionably possesses pop — he’s homered 44 times in 1075 career plate appearances — but has looked consistently overmatched by left-handers, shows a lack of discipline at the plate and rates as a negative defender in the outfield.
Wallace, meanwhile, hit .189/.309/.318 in 256 plate appearances with San Diego this past season. The 30-year-old is a former top prospect himself, but the former first-rounder has never established himself as a quality regular or even a reliable bench option in the Majors. Wallace has had productive stretches — including above-average season totals in 2012 and 2015 (in small samples of work) — but he’s a cumulative .238/.316/.389 hitter. That’d cut it for a catcher or a defensively strong shortstop, but for a corner infielder the production is light.
The names added to the 40-man are headlined by Guerra, who was one of the centerpieces of last winter’s Craig Kimbrel blockbuster. Guerra was joined by Manuel Margot, Carlos Asuaje and Logan Allen in the trade that sent Kimbrel to Boston, and though he took a step back with a dreadful season (.202/.264/.325 in Class-A Advanced), the Padres still saw enough upside to dedicate a 40-man spot to him. Prior to the 2016 season, Guerra rated as a Top 60 prospect in the eyes of Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN.