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Justin Ruggiano

Justin Ruggiano Opts Out Of Giants Contract

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Veteran outfielder Justin Ruggiano has opted out of his minor league deal with the Giants, tweets Alex Pavlovic of CSN Bay Area. The 35-year-old had been playing with the team’s Triple-A affiliate. San Francisco also bumped reliever Reyes Moronta from Double-A to Triple-A, and Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that the righty, who is already on the 40-man roster, could get a look later this season.

Ruggiano appeared in 19 games and made 63 plate appearances with the Giants earlier this season, hitting .217/.238/.333 with a couple of home runs. He was outrighted earlier this year and accepted the assignment, but he’s yet to return to the Majors despite a solid .280/.325/.478 slash through 169 plate appearances with Triple-A Sacramento. He’ll now presumably look to latch on elsewhere — likely on another minor league pact.

Ruggiano is a career .256/.318/.434 hitter through 1478 plate appearances across parts of nine Major League seasons. A right-handed bat, Ruggiano is most valuable as a weapon against lefties, as evidenced by his lifetime .273/.336/.515 slash when holding the platoon advantage. He spent most of his time in Triple-A playing center field, but he hasn’t posted positive marks there in the Majors since his 2012 campaign with Miami.

 

Justin Ruggiano Elects Free Agency

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JUNE 5: Ruggiano cleared waivers and has elected free agency rather than accepting an outright assignment to the minors, as first noted on the Giants’ transactions page at MLB.com.

JUNE 2: The Giants announced that they’ve designated outfielder Justin Ruggiano for assignment in order to clear a roster spot for outfielder Austin Slater, whose contract has now been formally selected from Triple-A Sacramento (Twitter link via CSN Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic).

Ruggiano, 35, has failed to receive much in the way of major league opportunities over the past three seasons. At times, though, he has been a quality weapon off the bench against left-handed pitching.

Through 63 plate appearances on the season, Ruggiano managed only a .217/.238/.333 batting line. He was one of the numerous players the Giants have tried in the outfield, none of whom have provided consistent production. Now, Slater will have his shot at holding down a role in left.

Giants Designate Drew Stubbs For Assignment

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The Giants have designated outfielder Drew Stubbs for assignment and purchased the contract of outfielder Justin Ruggiano from Triple-A in a corresponding transaction, the team announced.

[Updated Giants depth chart at Roster Resource]

Stubbs was signed to a minor league deal in early April and was promoted two weeks ago, though the veteran provided only two hits and a .258 OPS in 24 plate appearances.  While Stubbs posted strong numbers in a regular role for Colorado in 2014 and has a good career slash line against left-handed pitching, he has generally been a below-average hitter for his career, more known for his defense and base-running than his production at the plate.

Both Stubbs and Ruggiano are right-handed hitters with the ability to play all three outfield spots, with Ruggiano offering a bit more pop (in the form of a .258/.322/.438 career slash over 1416 PA).  Once Ruggiano appears in a game for the Giants, they will be the eighth different team Ruggiano has suited up for over parts of nine seasons in the bigs.

The Giants entered the season lacking in outfield depth, a situation that has only worsened with Denard Span, Jarrett Parker, and minor league signing Melvin Upton Jr. all hitting the disabled list.  Ruggiano’s outfield versatility will help the bench, though he adds another right-handed bat to a Giants roster that is already lacking in lefty-swingers.

Giants Notes: Posey, Hundley, Left Field, Hwang

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Following the Giants’ signing of veteran catcher Nick Hundley to a one-year deal earlier today, San Francisco GM Bobby Evans suggested that Buster Posey’s playing time behind the plate won’t decrease with Hundley on board (via John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle). Evans called 120 games behind the plate a “fair target” for Posey, whose time at first base in 2017 figures to be fairly minimal, as was the case in 2016 when he appeared there on 15 occasions. “The more we can keep Buster behind the plate and healthy, the stronger our team is,” said Evans. “The ideal is to keep him back there as much as possible.” Though he’ll turn 30 in March and has long carried a heavy workload, Posey remains one of the most productive offensive catchers and best defensive catchers in all of Major League Baseball. Of Hundley, Evans spoke highly of the experience that the 33-year-old veteran will bring to the Giants in 2017.

A bit more on the Giants…

  • Evans also said this afternoon that the Giants’ hope in left field is that either Mac Williamson or Jarrett Parker will separate himself from those in competition for the spot and win the job this spring, as Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News writes. “In a perfect world, one guy would win the job,” said the GM. “You’re not necessarily looking for a platoon. Then out of our non-roster invitees, someone would emerge as a fifth outfielder who could be a bat off the bench.” As Baggarly notes, the Giants’ list of non-roster invitees includes former Giants left fielder Mike Morse and veteran Justin Ruggiano — either of whom would satisfy the team’s desire for some right-handed pop off the bench. Evans’ comments are especially interesting given the fact that the 28-year-old Parker is out of minor league options. If Williamson has the clearly superior Spring Training and wins the job, Parker would have to be exposed to waivers before the Giants could send him back to the minors. Williamson, on the other hand, has two minor league options remaining. (You can see the option count for each player, and others, on the Giants’ depth chart at Roster Resource).
  • KBO star Jae-gyun Hwang met with the Korean media to discuss his minor league agreement with the Giants earlier today, and Jee-ho Yoo of Korea’s Yonhap News Agency was on hand to get the 29-year-old’s thoughts. Hwang told reporters that he’s been studying English for more than a year now in order to make the transition process between cultures a bit smoother, and he said he’s also made some mechanical tweaks to his swing to better prepare himself for the harder fastballs he’ll be seeing in American ball. He also added that he decided to eliminate bat flips following his home runs in 2016 (and Hwang had a penchant for unleashing some epic flips) to avoid controversy with opposing clubs. While the Giants haven’t made a formal announcement of the move yet, Evans acknowledged (via Baggarly in the above-linked column) that Hwang’s market “was one that he could have taken a number of different deals.” Evans added that the Giants feel fortunate that Hwang accepted their offer and cited the infielder’s improved strikeout and walk rates as factors that intrigued Giants scouts. Hwang hit .335/.394/.570 with 27 home runs and 25 stolen bases in the KBO last year.

Giants To Sign Michael Morse, Justin Ruggiano

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The Giants have struck minor-league deals with veteran slugger Michael Morse and outfielder Justin Ruggiano, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America (via Twitter). Details of their arrangements are not yet known.

It’s particularly interesting that the Giants have brought back the 34-year-old Morse, whose last productive, full-season stint came with the San Francisco organization. Since wrapping up a 2014 season in which he slashed .279/.336/.475 and hit 16 home runs over 482 plate appearances, Morse has taken just 264 total trips to the plate.

After helping the Giants to a World Series title, Morse joined the Marlins on a two-year, $16MM pact that didn’t work out for either party. He bounced from the Dodgers (without suiting up) and then on to the Pirates in 2015, and did provide Pittsburgh with 45 games of useful offense — driven, out of his usual character, but a high-OBP/low-power blend (.275/.390/.391).

Morse didn’t last long with the Bucs in 2016, however, appearing in just six contests before being designated and then released. He never ended up signing with another organization over the rest of the season, leaving an open question as to whether he’d attempt a return.

It remains to be seen just how much of a chance Morse will have at cracking the roster. He’s listed by Eddy as a first baseman, which doesn’t seem to be a terribly likely route to playing time with the Giants, who utilize Brandon Belt there and may also use the position to rest catcher Buster Posey while keeping his bat in the lineup. But Morse could conceivably function as a bench bat and still see time in the outfield, where he is among the game’s worst fielders.

As things stand, San Francisco looks to be in search of a solution in left field, where Morse last played. Unproven but well-regarded youngsters Mac Williamson and Jarrett Parker could be first in line, with Gorkys Hernandez also presenting an option. The club has already added Kyle Blanks and Chris Marrero on minor-league pacts as well, suggesting that some camp competition may be in order.

Joining that mix, too, is Ruggiano, who is also 34 years of age. He saw minimal time in the majors last year, with a late-season stint with the Mets cut short by hamstring issues. Ruggiano has been productive in brief stretches in recent years, though, and has a track record of solid production against left-handed pitching. Despite largely struggling against same-handed pitching, Ruggiano has slashed a robust .275/.338/.527 in his career when he has the benefit of the platoon advantage.

Mets Outright Justin Ruggiano

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The Mets have outrighted outfielder Justin Ruggiano off of the team’s 40-man roster, ESPNNewYork.com’s Adam Rubin reports. Ruggiano elected free agency after clearing waivers.

After a brief stint early in the year with the Rangers, the 34-year-old was added by the Mets in July as the club sought to fill in for a variety of injured players. The hope was that he’d provide a boost from the right side of the plate, but his own maladies kept Ruggiano from playing much of a role (though he did have one rather memorable moment).

Ultimately, Ruggiano ended up taking just 26 plate appearances on the year, breaking a string of five consecutive seasons in which he had topped 100 trips to the plate. He did hit well in that very limited action, though, and also ended the 2015 season on a high note. With a .258/.322/.439 lifetime batting line to support him, Ruggiano figures to have a solid chance to earn a roster spot somewhere next spring.

Injury Notes: Salazar, Cabrera, Gregerson, Teheran, Rosenthal, Hochevar

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A trio of notable players just hit the 15-day DL, so we’ll cover them all right here:

  • The Indians announced that they have placed righty Danny Salazar on the 15-day DL while he rests his prized right elbow. Fortunately, an MRI seems only to have revealed inflammation, so the hope is that Salazar won’t miss an extended period of time. And Cleveland has plenty of rotation depth on hand, including Cody Anderson and Mike Clevinger, with the latter getting the nod for the time being. Still even a relatively brief absence will have an impact; Salazar has been nothing short of outstanding, and the AL Central-leading club holding a four-game cushion in the division race.
  • After already recently placing infielder Jose Reyes on the shelf, the Mets have now done the same with shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera. He suffered a strained patellar tendon and is headed for an MRI. The team also added just-signed outfielder Justin Ruggiano to the 15-day ranks. Cabrera’s loss is notable for an organization that was already scrambling to fill in for missing infielders. Matt Reynolds will come up for the meantime to help fill the void, but it seems there’s some real concern that the injury could require a fairly lengthy absence.
  • Astros reliever Luke Gregerson is headed to the 15-day with an oblique strain, the team announced. That not only will keep him out of action for a bit, but will clear the way for Ken Giles to take over as the team’s closer with Will Harris struggling of late. Gregerson has been rather excellent this year despite himself losing the 9th-inning job previously, with ERA estimators valuing him even more highly than his 3.09 ERA.
  • The Braves have added righty Julio Teheran to the DL as well. He is dealing with a lat strain that isn’t believed to be serious. Atlanta will obviously want to exercise plenty of caution in handling the injury, even if it isn’t particularly worrisome, as Teheran is a key piece of the organization’s rebuilding plans and there’s no need to rush him back.
  • Cardinals reliever Trevor Rosenthal has been given platelet-rich plasma injections in his bothersome righty shoulder, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets. GM John Mozeliak says that it’s possible Rosenthal  Of course, St. Louis will be looking for more than just physical improvement; it’ll also hope that he can fix his skyrocketing walk rate during a rehab stint.
  • As expected, Royals righty Luke Hochevar underwent a procedure today to help deal with a diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome, as Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tweets. He is expected to be out for six months, which would conceivably mean that he’ll be ready for a full spring camp if the rehab goes according to plan. It seems likely that the Royals will decline their end of a $7MM mutual option on the reliever, which would make him a free agent, though certainly it’s possible to imagine him staying with Kansas City on some kind of creative, two-year deal of the sort that the team has reached in recent years with several injured hurlers.

Mets Place Jose Reyes On DL, Sign Justin Ruggiano

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The Mets have placed infielder Jose Reyes on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left intercostal muscle and signed veteran outfielder Justin Ruggiano to a Major League deal, the team announced. Ruggiano is in the lineup for tonight’s game.

The Mets reunited with Reyes earlier this year in spite of a dreadful 2015 season and a 51-game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy. Reyes has shown more extra-base pop than he has in years, but his overall productivity hasn’t been especially impressive; he’s hitting .239/.278/.493 in 72 plate appearances while primarily playing third base. The extent of Reyes’ injury isn’t known, but if he’s expected to miss significant time it could further motivate the Mets to add a bat to spend some time at third base.

Ruggiano, 34, was released from the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate earlier this week, where he’d batted .226/.321/.427 in 191 plate appearances. Those numbers are fairly pedestrian, but Ruggiano has a long track record of hitting left-handed pitching quite well at the Major League level. In parts of eight MLB seasons, he’s slashed .273/.336/.521 with 25 homers (538 PAs).

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/27/16

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Here are the latest minor moves from around the game, all via Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise noted:

  • The Rangers released outfielder Justin Ruggiano, per a club announcement. It had seemed at one point over the winter that Ruggiano would hold down an important role at the major league level for Texas, but the team ended up adding Ian Desmond and the veteran Ruggiano has received a grand total of four major league plate appearances on the year. He has been playing at Triple-A, where he owns a .226/.321/.427 batting line with seven home runs over 190 plate appearances. The eight-year MLB veteran could yet have an impact this year with another organization; he has enjoyed some productive runs in the majors, including a late-season spurt last year with the Dodgers.
  • Outfielder Ronnier Mustelier was outrighted by the Braves. He had received his first major league call-up for Atlanta at 31 years of age, but didn’t see any action. He owns a .300/.362/.399 slash over 357 plate appearances on the season at Triple-A Gwinnett. After leaving his native Cuba, Mustelier joined the Yankees organization before the 2011 season, then played mostly in Mexico and Venezuela last year after New York cut him loose.
  • The Marlins have outrighted right-hander Asher Wojciechowski after recently designating him for assignment. The 27-year-old struggled in a brief stint with the Astros last year — his only taste of major league time to date — and hasn’t really put things together since a promising 2013 campaign. Wojciochowski hasn’t been very effective this year at the Triple-A level, where he has issued too many free passes to keep runs off of the board.
  • Righty Justin De Fratus signed a minor league deal with the Nationals after being released by the Rangers. Now 28, De Fratus was a source of quality innings for the Phillies not long ago. Entering the 2015 season, he had thrown 114 major league innings of 3.08 ERA pitching with 8.1 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9. Things went south from there, however, as De Fratus scuffled to a 5.51 ERA in his ensuing campaign and hasn’t seen the majors since. He had not shown well since moving from the Mariners’ to the Rangers’ top affiliate, walking more batters than he struck out over 9 1/3 innings.

Rangers Outright Justin Ruggiano

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SUNDAY: The Rangers have announced that they’ve outrighted Ruggiano to Triple-A Round Rock.

FRIDAY: The Rangers have designated outfielder Justin Ruggiano for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot will go to fifth starter A.J. Griffin, a minor-league free agent whose contract has been purchased.

Ruggiano, who’ll soon turn 34, signed a $1.65MM deal to join the Texas organization over the winter. But Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports on Twitter that the contract includes a minor league split, meaning he would earn at a lower rate at Triple-A — if he isn’t traded and clears waivers. Ruggiano could refuse an assignment, but he’d be sacrificing his rights under that contract since he hasn’t yet reached five years of MLB service time.

The move obviously isn’t a reflection of Ruggiano’s performance to date so much as it is a product of the winter’s moves and early-season pitching needs. The veteran outfielder was signed to provide a part-time option, along with Ryan Rua, to complement the left-handed-hitting Josh Hamilton in left. But an injury to Hamilton and a lagging market for Ian Desmond let to a surprise late signing, reducing the need for Ruggiano. Meanwhile, the club not only now has a need for a fifth starter, but felt the need to keep an eighth reliever on hand after taxing the pen early.

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