The Marlins announced that they have traded outfielder Justin Ruggiano to the Cubs for outfielder Brian Bogusevic.
Ruggiano, who turns 32 in April, wasn't able to repeat a breakout 2012 campaign that saw him bat .313/.374/.535 with 13 homers and 14 steals in 91 games for the Marlins. The Texas A&M product slipped to a .222/.298/.396 batting line in 2013, though he did continue to show plus power and speed; Ruggiano posted career-bests in homers (18) and stolen bases (15) in a career-high 472 plate appearances.
Bogusevic, set to turn 30 in February, batted .273/.323/.462 in 155 PAs for the Cubs in 2013. He's a career .236/.313/.370 hitter in 773 trips to the plate, suggesting that he's unlikely to continue that trend. However, like Ruggiano, he can play all three outfield spots. Defensive metrics have been more kind to Bogusevic than Ruggiano, and Bogusevic is not yet arbitration eligible. Ruggiano, on the other hand, projected to earn $1.8MM this season (per MLBTR's Matt Swartz). Essentially, the Marlins improved a bit defensively and saved some money at the expense of some right-handed pop.
As a Cubs fan, I just got so happy about getting Ruggiano which in turn made me very sad.
You could do worse for a backup outfielder.
His home/away power splits are pretty stark over the past two seasons. (24 HR away, 7 at home)
No, I like Ruggiano and this is a very shrewd trade. He will be starting/taking 450 AB though.
Yeah, it’s a pretty good move in my opinion. Bogusevic is alright, but he’s got much less power.
it could be worse
I feel like ruggiano is a much better player than bogusevic..
The Marlins can’t have a player over $1 million, so good trade for them
That means mike Stanton is next. Hopefully the rangers get him
He could go off for 30 HR getting out of that massive park in Miami, had 15 HR on the road last year.
As an Astros fan, it’s nice to finally see other clubs swapping around OUR castoffs for a change.
They will also take advantage of his huge platoon split and platoon him with Schierholtz.
Sorry this was supposed to be for AB4EYE below.
So far TheoJed seem to be proponents of the “What About Bob” philosophy: baby steps.
This is a good trade. Justin Ruggiano can hit for power, steal bases and play pretty good defense. This was a good pick up for Theo and Jed.
Schierholtz/Ruggiano is a MEAN platoon
Schierholtz wont be on the team past July. We all know the cubs are out of contention already. It’s a shame they didn’t trade samardzija
if we can get Tanka they said they wanted to keep samardzija
They won’t even bid for tanaka. They need to trade samardzija, Castro schierholtz, .. we all know they will lose at least 90 games each of the next 3 years. Might as well try to trade Jackson too
Why would we trade Castro? Baez is nice but, Castro + Baez would be an amazing 1 2 punch. Plus Castro is cheap had one bad year and is only 23 years old. We know what Castro is capable of and one bad year does not constitute trading a 23 year old who already has 692 hits.
Castro is terrible on defense. Plus SS is suppose to be the beet player on your team . SS, C and CF are supposed to be the best 3 players. The cubs haven’t had a good catcher since Joe giardi
there is a whole article talking about how the cubs plan to go after or should
What are you talking about rojocube? The Cubs ARE bidding for Tanaka. This will probably be the last year before contending in 2015. Jackson won’t be traded because he’s young. Samardzija probably won’t agree to an extension till 2014. Unless they get the right price for Schierholtz he’s staying. Even if they trade Castro they have to get some sort of short-stop in return because there’s no one there yet.
Edwin Jackson is not young. At best they will be a .500 team in 2015. They don’t need a shortstop for Castro. They have Javier Baez.
Javier Baez is not ready. If Castro is traded and Barney is moved to short. The only two options at 2B are Luis Valbuena and Logan Watkins. Compared to other teams that isn’t very good. Unless you get a guy from free agency (which there aren’t a whole lot of options left) those are your 2B. So I agree with you that I would like to see Barney traded because I like Valbuena more. The problem is just second base.
How do you know Baez isn’t ready? Because the talking heads said so?
Plus have you seen their farm system for the 2015 season. With Mike Olt, Arismendy Alcanatara, Jorge Soler, Javier Baez, Arodys Vizcaino, Matt Szczur, Neil Ramirez and possibly Albert Almora and Kris Bryant-we’re looking pretty good.
Half those players should be on the 2014 25man roster . Ready or not its the only way they will get experience. At least piniella isn’t the manager anymore they would ride the bench before getting a chance. It happened every single time dude hits .650 and 7 for 12 his first 12abs and he’s benched. Lol. It’s how hoffpauir was screwed over. He was the better of him and Lee but never had a chance. Same with Tyler Colvin .
Is that why Colvin is a free agent? And if I recall correctly, Piniella helped the Cubs in ’08. And if you pay attention Theo and Jed want to let the draftees have at least 4 years in the minors. Plus if most of those players are supposed to be on the 2014 roster like you said, why would they hit .500 in 2015. Are they planning to dump all those players?
He helped them in 08 then they trade their best player for Aaron miles. They went from 97 wins to 3 and out in the playoffs to losing 90+ games each of the next 5 seasons. Plus piniella quit mid season too
They can put the better defensive player at ss. Barney. Until he’s traded in July.
What are you talking about rojocube? The Cubs ARE bidding for Tanaka. This will probably be the last year before contending in 2015. Jackson won’t be traded because he’s young. Samardzija probably won’t agree to an extension till 2014. Unless they get the right price for Schierholtz he’s staying. Even if they trade Castro they have to get some sort of short-stop in return because there’s no one there yet.
Championship
This is the kind of trade that makes you say “Ehh whatever.”
Looks like another season of finishing last for draft picks. Getting real tired of this stuff.
This trade has potential………….. In the prospects the cubs will flip for on July 31. I do like Ruggiano though.
Never heard of rugginao
You obviously don’t pay attention to baseball.
You don’t want him facing a lot of RHP(.249/.308/.393 92wRC+ career) but he kills LHP(.256/.328/.506 127wRC+) and considering he has played his whole career at the Trop and Marlins field his road numbers against LHP is really good(.264/.330/.546 139wRC+) so you get a guy who can play some CF is great at the corners and may have a 25HR season at Wrigley…. Basically this years Schierholtz
If I’m not mistaken. Ruggiano is now the oldest player on the Cubs Major League roster. He is only 31 years old.
Kyuji Fujikawa is 33
Sorry non injured active ballplayer on the Cubs
A guy who has had two TJ Surgeries and pitched like 4 games last years lol. I didnt follow the cubs that much because tom rickettes is trying to ruin the legacy of Wrigley field. Having a big jumbotron takes away so much from the experience of that atmosphere. He’s probably gonna get rid of the ivy next.
I hope you don’t consider yourself a Cubs fan. Your knowledge of the team and it’s players is astoundingly bad.
Barney would be Traded before Castro is.
Anytime you can get a guy with 20/20 potential without having to give up anything of much present or future value, its a good deal.
The cubs CAN contend in 2014 if something gets through to Castro and Rizz . Castro needs to get back to 200 hits and Rizz needs to hit 35 hr and drive in 115+ . We need to get tanaka and he’s gotta post a 2.79 -3.00 era and add 15 wins . We will need some production out of schierholtz again and we need lake to keep hitting . If Baez and or Bryant come up your looking at maybe 10 homers a piece (assuming the come up mid season ) we need edWIN Jackson to have an ERA between 3.80-3.99 and add 13 wins . We will need to pull of a big trade piece for Jeff and we need Travis wood to be what he was last year. Regardless if the cubs contend or not the whole baseball community will be laughing at us but we will have the best dyntasty in sports in a few years