Elephant Rumblings: Athletics trade Esteury Ruiz to Dodgers

MLB news roundup

Good morning A’a fans!

The team wrapped up their season-opening series against the Chicago Cubs yesterday afternoon, getting swept to kick off the Sacramento era and dropping the team to 2-5 over the first week of the season. It wasn’t pretty against the Cubbies as they kicked the Athletics in the teeth, scoring 35 runs compared the the A’s collecting just nine runs. Hard to win when you’re getting outscore that much.

There was a notable transaction that occurred yesterday as well. Former top outfield prospect Esteury Ruiz finally saw his time in the Athletics’ organization come to an end, as the team cut bait on Ruiz and traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team had just designated the speedster for assignment so the writing was on the wall, and now the inevitable has finally happened as both team and player prepare to go their separate ways.

Ruiz came to the club in the ill-fated Sean Murphy trade, joining Kyle Muller, Freddy Tarnok, and Many Pina. Ruiz was the last player remaining with the organization as all of the others have departed for other teams. It’s a complete failure at this point to not have received even one useful player back in exchange for someone who was an All-Star catcher at the time of the trade. Alas, sometimes you get swindled and the next we’ll do the swindling. That’s just baseball for you.

Ruiz will always be remembered for his record-breaking 2023 season. As a first-time everyday player Ruiz broke the American League rookie stolen bases record set by Kenny Lofton all the way back in 1992. Ruiz topped that mark by one stolen base, setting the new record at 67 swiped bags, and it may be a record that Ruiz holds on to for a very long time; Lofton’s mark stood for 31 years before Esteury came along.

As exciting as Ruiz was on the basepaths however, the rest of his game was severely lacking. The hitting was always going to be a question and the club clearly didn’t expect a power threat when they acquired him but probably expected a bit more in the power department. In that fun ‘23 season Ruiz only collected 24 doubles, a shockingly-low number considering how Ruiz could often turn singles into doubles. The right-hander was also expected to be a strong defender in the spacious Oakland Coliseum but he instead turned out to be a subpar defender out there, with the team finally cutting their losses and moving him to left field full-time. He spent most of last year in the minors or injured, slashing just .200/.270/.382 with five stolen bases and four caught stealing while with the big league team.

Ruiz entered camp this year looking like the longest of shots to crack the roster but his speed at least gave hope that he could be a weapon off the bench for late-game speed. The club was ready to move on but decided to roll the dice one last time on the 26-year old, considering the team is always looking for young talent. Instead Ruiz proved their assumptions right, hitting .121/.171/.152 with just a pair of stolen bases during spring. He was optioned to Triple-A not too long before the season got started but only lasted two games before finally getting the ax. Ruiz will now report to Triple-A for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are likely postseason bound and could use someone as fast as Ruiz when the playoffs roll around.

Coming back in exchange for Ruiz is right-hander Carlos Duran. The 23-year old has been coming up through the minors as a starting pitcher but injuries have hampered his development. At 6’7”, 230 pound righty from the Dominican Republic was ranked among the Dodgers’ top-30 prospects as recently as last year and has potential, though whether that’s in a relief role to keep him healthy is yet to be decided. For now he’ll head to Triple-A Las Vegas and continue to build up as a starting pitcher with the Aviators. There’s a solid chance we see him in the Green & Gold at some point this year.

So long, Esteury! And welcome about Carlos! And have an excellent Thursday morning to all you A’s fans.

A’s Coverage:

• Athletics pummeled again by Cubs in West Sacramento, 10-2
• Athletics trade outfielder Esteury Ruiz to Los Angeles Dodgers
• Dodgers acquire speedster Ruiz from A’s
• A’s get swept in West Sacramento debut but maintain optimism despite glitches

MLB News & Interest:

• Red Sox sign elite prospect Kristian Campbell to 8-year, $60 million contract
• Diamondbacks sign second baseman Ketel Marte to contract extension through 2031
• Padres sign young outfielder Jackson Merrill to 9-year, $135 million deal
• Yankees’ Stanton won’t blame ailing elbows on torpedo bats
• Max Scherzer receives cortisone shot to treat thumb injury
• Padres, Diamondbacks likely to play ‘26 series in Mexico City
• Study: MLB’s average salary tops $5 million for first time
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Tough way to start the Sacramento era:

But Jacob Wilson!

No surprise there, considering it’s a minor league stadium:

Funny hat alert:

Soderstrom making plays in the field early in the season: