After spending four and a half seasons battling away in Triple-A, Justin Ruggiano finally got an extended taste at the majors last season. He had gotten called up for brief respites in both 2007 and 2008, but this was the first time that Ruggs managed to play well after getting the call. He slugged four home runs and had a .290 wOBA over 111 plate appearances, which may not seem like anything special until you remember that the Fuld had cooled off and the Rays other bench players had around a .250 wOBA.
I've been flipping through the MLB.com highlights involving Ruggs, and I'm surprised by how many of them involve him making a running or sliding catch. I do remember him having some big hits for the Rays -- like this and this -- but I feel like I may have underrated Ruggs during the season. If only he'd walked in more than 3.5% of his plate appearances, maybe the Rays wouldn't have DFA'd him for Carlos Pena.
Ruggiano has chosen to become a free agent rather than accept the Rays assignment back to Triple-A (where he'd likely be stuck for another year), so the best of luck to him going forward. Here's hoping another team is willing to pick him up and give him a major league bench job.
In other Rays news, Marc Topkin noted on Twitter yesterday that Joe Maddon and the Rays are expected to finalize a three-year contract extension before Spring Training begins. Maddon is traveling in Europe at the moment -- the lucky bum -- so they'll wrap up the details once he returns.
0 recs | 111 comments
In first
DeadeyeRR - January 31, 2012 via mobile
Numero dos
the jabber - January 31, 2012
This is really sad
DeadeyeRR - January 31, 2012
Ruggiano and Fuld
Really forged a nice combination in June enabling the Rays to have their best month of the season (16-11) up til that point.
Fuld started 11 games and hit .308/.400/.410 (BABIP of .353!) and Ruggiano started 13 games and hit .333/.327/.510 (.375 BABIP and 0 BB!).
MrNegative1 - January 31, 2012
That walk rate was really the killer thing for Ruggs.
He has power and he’s managed to improve his K rate some. Given more time, maybe the walks would have come around…tough to say.
Steve Slowinski - January 31, 2012
His ceiling is a 4th OFer and i can think of a few teams where he can fill that role
sternfan1 - January 31, 2012
how did he have a lower OBP than AVG?
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
sacrifice?
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
Yeah
benderbrodriguez - January 31, 2012
i wonder if there were any players that had more sacrifices than BB/HBP in a larger SS
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
ernie bowman, 1963 is the largest sample size
benderbrodriguez - January 31, 2012
Somebody has ample time on their hands.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
wikipedia
benderbrodriguez - January 31, 2012
Rays finally make a trade!
Canzler to Indians for cash
BossmanJunior333 - January 31, 2012 via mobile
i hope he smacks a lot of home runs off of us.
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
I'm sad he didn't get a shot with the Rays.
DeadeyeRR - January 31, 2012
Me too but he had plenty of red flags
benderbrodriguez - January 31, 2012
what were his red flags?
I ask this seriously as someone who hasn’t really followed him. I know his defense is an issue, but what were the warning signs in his offense?
Blot - January 31, 2012
K rate, pitch recogition/more guessing at the plate
FreeZorilla - January 31, 2012
he may also be referring to attitude concerns
Ryan Gilliss - January 31, 2012
No by all accounts he had an outstanding attitude
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=15045
Great article contrasting DanJo and Canzler
FreeZorilla - January 31, 2012
NM....
for some reason I thought this was Ruggiano related
Ryan Gilliss - January 31, 2012
Scrooge-iano?
Hatfield - January 31, 2012
This is what I was referring to
He had an unsustainable BABIP and his numbers came in AAA’s bandbox
benderbrodriguez - January 31, 2012
I've always been curious about how a coach determines a player is guessing at the plate.
I mean, baseball is such a luck-dependent sport in the first place. Is it merely a matter of discussing the process before/after an at-bat? For example, coach/player decide player should be looking for a slider, instead he swings wildly at a fastball and gets a hit out of it?
Perhaps somebody could enlighten me.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
a lot of it has to do with the swings you take on pitches.
getting fooled badly a lot is the biggest indicator.
rglass44 - January 31, 2012
Athleticism, bat speed, and approach.
R.J. Anderson - January 31, 2012
4. Stay on topic.
Was this the problem? I am having my daily constitution and decide to read Drays Bay mobile and I get slapped for that? Really?
DeadeyeRR - January 31, 2012
Ooops!
Go Rays!
DeadeyeRR - January 31, 2012
The secret to keeping your comment on topic even if it is not.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
Simmer down
It was just a warning.
FreeZorilla - January 31, 2012
Since when was "In first" a problem?
It’s been done here since 2008
DeadeyeRR - January 31, 2012
You got warned for that?
Hatfield - January 31, 2012
I've warned people for less
It’s not like the “Warn” is a ban
benderbrodriguez - January 31, 2012
Then your modding has gone to your head.
DeadeyeRR - January 31, 2012
DeadeyeRR, don't type "first as the comment on the thread...
is this what you wanted? I thought you knew better than that.
Ryan Gilliss - January 31, 2012
needlessly stirring shit up over a stupid comment.
at least he’s not doing it at ottotd.com anymore.
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
I became a Rays fan in October 2008, what do you expect?
(I became a Rays fan since they were given a team)
DeadeyeRR - January 31, 2012
Usually done in GDTs
Never funny. And yes I’ve been guity of doing it to be annoying a time or 2 in the GDTs if you want to check the record, but it isn’t done in normal FP threads. Maybe it could have been a in thread warning vs a mod warning, but really its not a big deal.
FreeZorilla - January 31, 2012
Ok
I thought for a minute you forgot about the new, friendlier Dray Bay
DeadeyeRR - January 31, 2012
Wasn't my warning
FreeZorilla - January 31, 2012
this
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
First for fajitas.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
Hating that work is interfering with my DRB time...
About Ruggs, and players like him. Given the Rays propensity for holding on to depth at Durham, is it possible that marginal players (guys that could be either AAAA or fourth OF/utility inf types) might end up being scared away? Could stocking away so much depth actually end up hurting us in the long run? I know there are times we’ve made deals contingent upon players having an “out” (Blalock/Adam Kennedy/Corey Wade), so maybe we’re already seeing some of that backlash (for lack of a better word). But that only works with guys who definitely have or had ML talent.
I dunno. I just know that if I were a guy who was blocked in my former organization, I wouldn’t necessarily relish being acquired by the Rays.
nomoredevil - January 31, 2012
Just pull a "Topper" and quit so that you can internet with all of your time.
Hatfield - January 31, 2012
you forgot to put quotation marks around quit
Ryan Gilliss - January 31, 2012
Needed more time to scour the Times.
Go Rays!
Suttree - January 31, 2012
Nahh, players who have a say in what happens will take us up on those out claws
And in the case of Wade, if they do something worth seeing they’ll find a job elsewhere
benderbrodriguez - January 31, 2012
Qualls or Rodney?
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/01/phillies-sign-chad-qualls.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
sternfan1 - January 31, 2012
Qualls.
Starting to look like we overpaid for Rodney.
sc_monsta1015 - January 31, 2012
Id rather have Badenhop over both
BossmanJunior333 - January 31, 2012 via mobile
Hell I'd rather have Lidge than Rodney
benderbrodriguez - January 31, 2012
Lidge at $1.0 mil is preferable to Qualls at $1.15 mil,
both of which are preferable to Rodney.
maris61 - January 31, 2012
I'm not sure about your title, but I agree with your text
benderbrodriguez - January 31, 2012
Marisa,
Suttree - January 31, 2012
dunno why everyone is panning the Rodney signing before ST.
yes he’s a terrible reliever but we’ll see how Maddon uses him and what the training staff want to do with him. I’m with Whelk in having cautious optimism that they wouldn’t have signed him, let alone for as much as they did, if they didn’t see a diamond in the rough of his recent career.
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
"this subpar reliever is better/worse than this subpar reliever and was signed for less" i just don't see how you can have a strong opinion one way or another given the volatility of bullpen arms.
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
This
If the can pull a benoit and have him up the change up usage, the pitch he actually has the best control of, he could take a step forward.
BossmanJunior333 - January 31, 2012 via mobile
Never root for a man to pull a Benoit
FreeZorilla - January 31, 2012
rec'd
Ben Tumbling - January 31, 2012
.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
#wrestlingjokes
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
joaquin's slider was essentially a crossface crippler to the opposing batters in 2010
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
Most shocking day of my life. #neverforget
Go Rays!
Hatfield - January 31, 2012
Because he's a prick.
Sometimes it’s difficult for the commenting base to separate their impressions of a human being in a baseball uniform from the cold, hard-truth of his (potential) impact on the field.
I have similar reservations about Luke Scott. I realize he was a smart acquisition, but I think he’s a psychopath and an asshole.*
*There is an extremely strong chance I learn to love him and embrace his insanity.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
The thing I keep coming back to with Luke Scott is how well his teammates appear to like him
Ryan Gilliss - January 31, 2012
Apparently.
Adam Jones said the plantain thing didn’t bother him, but I still find it appalling/hilarious.
My suspicion is that the O’s did a good job of keeping any potential problems out of the media, but maybe Scott is actually an outstanding citizen (despite being a lunatic).
Suttree - January 31, 2012
is actually, THAT IS BAN WORTHY
Suttree - January 31, 2012
Also the plantain thing was directed at Pie...
not sure if you are confusing them or Adam Jones said the plantain thing didn’t bother him. I do recall seeing both Jones and Guthrie go out of their way to commend Scott at the time of his signing with the Rays.
While I would never do or say some of the things that Scott has done and said, ultimately his teammates didn’t find him or those things to be a problem.
Ryan Gilliss - January 31, 2012
You could be correct.
I assumed the plantain thing was part of his general treatment of Adam Jones. You know, that attempt to toughen Jones’ up in the event fans turned on him because of his color.
Luke Scott would probably fit in well with the commenting base here.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
Lighten up, Francis.
It’s not like he raped anybody…
nomoredevil - January 31, 2012
did you read that he's fluent in spanish to better communicate with hsi teammates (among which the latin american players are usually to whom he's closest)?
rglass44 - January 31, 2012
there are so many players in baseball with character issues, including those on our team/in our org already
are you going to prejudge Lueke, Bush, etc. for previous actions or are you going to give them the benefit of the doubt going forward? Did you say the same things about Soriano pre-2010? Performance has a funny way of making character issues become more minor…see Hamilton, Josh.
I was disappointed by the Scott signing for probably the same reasons as you, but I’ll reserve my final opinions for how they project during the season. The less I hear about them in the clubhouse, the better.
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
It's not a deliberate thing. I know better than that.
But, sometimes, your gut reaction comes out. That’s where I think the anti-Rodney faction is coming from. Some people recall him being a dick on the field, some people recall him as a mediocre-to-bad reliever for the last 4-5 years. It’s a surface level thing only.
As for the players you mentioned, I don’t think of Lueke or Bush much. I did not say the same things about Soriano. In fact, I didn’t care about Soriano’s problems because we were getting an elite reliever (and because his problems seemed overblown/irrelevant.) As far as Hamilton goes… I boo him. Sorry. I know I’m supposed to feel good about a guy beating his drug addiction and finding Jesus, but I don’t, particularly the Jesus part.
As far as Scott goes, I won’t care if he’s our first legitimately productive DH since 2008. I was just using my initial reaction to his signing as a possible explanation for why people care about the Rodney signing.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
I saw Scott at the polls today.
(I did not see Scott hat the polls today)
PriceMultiCyYoungs - January 31, 2012
Like his brother-in-arms Tim Thomas, Luke Scott probably hasn't voted in years.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
I assume both voted for Ron Paul #cwutididthere
FreeZorilla - January 31, 2012
I was watching the game where he hit Riggans in the chest and I felt sick to my stomach as I watched him crumple to the ground. Shit happens, though.
But my point in bringing up those other players is that you’re not being consistent if you say character issues matter to you, and also that performance will change your opinion though it shouldn’t. Josh Hamilton is in all likelihood still an awful human being but he’s a potentially perennial all star when healthy so no one cares as long as he doesn’t get suspended. You probably wouldn’t boo him if he was still a Ray just like you probably didn’t boo Willy Aybar.
Yeah we can’t really explain how or why we delegate our reactions to people sometimes, I’m just pointing out that it’s irrational and we don’t really have any reason to believe Rodney is a piece of shit if we’re willing to give other players the benefit of the doubt.
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
I don't disagree with you.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
well fuck, that's a boring conclusion.
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
Young Sut would have argued with you just for the sake of rebel rousing.
I’m getting old, pudi.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
The only quibble that I would have is that Hamilton was/is an addict...
and ultimately only was doing physical harm to himself. Same with Bush (although I think he may have been arrested for fighting). I have a harder time overlooking the things that Lueke and Aybar have done.
Ryan Gilliss - January 31, 2012
As someone who's clinically depressed and has friends with a couple former junkies, I find myself very unsympathetic towards Hamilton.
I’m not exactly sure why that it is.
Agree about Lueke and Aybar. I was very frosty towards Julio Lugo when he was here. I’m still inconsistent about it, though. I was willing to forgive Elijah Dukes for basically everything, even threatening to murder his baby mama.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
white guilt...
I feel the same way about Lugo, I just didn’t want to include him since it’s been so long since he played here.
I wonder if any of your feelings about Hamilton are related to his use of his religion as the cause of his sobriety over any program that he’s working.
Ryan Gilliss - January 31, 2012
That's probably it.
I think there’s also some sort of resentment to the way he came upon his addiction. You’re a young, millionaire ball player who’s bored because of a back injury… and you’re addicted to crack? I know people are stupid when they’re that young, particularly one’s that play baseball, but that’s always bothered me. If he was such a good kid, why was he hanging around with crackheads in trailer parks?
It wasn’t like he had some kind of secret Todd Marinovich thing going on — you know, secretly boozing and abusing while being praised for his prodigious gifts. From all accounts, Hamilton was straight as an arrow until that injury.
He didn’t start abusing because of depression or some other kind of mental illness. He didn’t abuse to dull the pain. He wasn’t desperate and down on his luck the way most people are that find themselves abusing crack.
My reasoning isn’t fulproof by any means. It’s probably completely unfair. But, we are talking about emotional reactions to certain players.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
I should really proof read.
Suttree - January 31, 2012
Why you gotta bring Todd Marinovich into this? Hasn't he suffered enough?
Sandy Kazmir - January 31, 2012
didnt he get addicted to oxys because of his car injury... which then turned into a heroin addiction?
rglass44 - January 31, 2012
yes Hamilton was/is an addict but that had/has repercussions for his family as well.
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
that's why i said physical
Ryan Gilliss - January 31, 2012
fair
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
im also on the rodney BW and was among the first to accept it.
rglass44 - January 31, 2012
Yeah, I'm fully on board.
I want to see him succeed, and Whelk convinced me he’s got some exciting upside.
Steve Slowinski - January 31, 2012
I was hoping hickey could work his magic on neshek
Orioles stole him and betemit
BossmanJunior333 - February 1, 2012 via mobile
Ruggs
Is a decent 3 spot of I wish we could have saw more
gatrmf - January 31, 2012 via mobile
Can we temporarily change the mission statement of the site to "DRaysBay: Now with 22.22% more analysts!"
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
Drays Bay: Absolutely Incapable of Firing Anyone, Ever.*
Suttree - January 31, 2012
that was SBN, not DRB.
pudieron89 - January 31, 2012
Was it?
I prefer to go with the blame the bitch strategy. Thanks for sticking around, proveyrdifferent!
Suttree - January 31, 2012
Why you gotta bring Sandy Kazmir into this? Hasn't he suffered enough?
Sandy Kazmir - January 31, 2012
she
FreeZorilla - January 31, 2012
she
FreeZorilla - January 31, 2012
it
BossmanJunior333 - January 31, 2012 via mobile
she
Sandy Kazmir - January 31, 2012
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