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Tuesday, September 01, 2015

Welcome Back to the Blue, Justin Ruggiano!


Just before Monday evenings waiver wire deadline (thereby making the acquired player eligible for the postseason) the Dodgers made a trade with the Seattle Mariner's to bring back a former Dodger farmhand.  They picked up current minor league outfielder Justin Ruggiano, "along with cash considerations, in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations."

Ruggiano was originally drafted by the Dodgers in the 25th round of the 2004 draft out of Texas A&M.  (Check out his rookie card in Dodger Blue above)  He immediately excelled and found himself with the Double-AA Jacksonville Suns the next year.  Then he was bundled with Dioner Navarro and Jae Seo to Tampa Bay in 2006 for Toby Hall and ex-basketball player Mark Hendrickson.  BTW, the President of the Rays at that time is current Dodger President Andrew Friedman.

This trade, along with the other trade last night bringing outfielder Chris Heisey back into the Dodger fold, creates a bit of a glut in the outfield.  Nevertheless, it provides some insurance and depth considering how fragile some of our players currently are, i.e. Carl Crawford and Yasiel Puig.  Jeff Todd at MLB Trade Rumors also tells us another good reason why Friedman decided to pull off this trade:
While Ruggiano failed to match his productive 2014 in the early going, he wasn’t actually that bad, putting up a .214/.321/.357 batting line over 81 plate appearances. And he’s slashed .296/.385/.514 with ten home runs in 205 plate appearances at Triple-A since being outrighted.

Most importantly, even during his MLB time this year, Ruggiano continued to hit lefties hard, as he has throughout his career. He’ll presumably be looked upon as an option against southpaws in Los Angeles. The Dodgers were in need of another right-handed-hitting outfield bat down the stretch after seeing both Yasiel Puig and Kike Hernandez go down to injuries in recent days.
Against left-handers in Seattle he was slashing .263/.349/.474, and in his career he is slashing .266/.331/.505.  Surprisingly, he's been hitting a bit better against right-handers while in Triple-AAA Tacoma this year.  He is hitting .319/.404/.496 against right-handers and .250/.348/.550 against left-handers.  So, maybe Freidman figures he's found a potential diamond in the rough.

Via Jeff Morosi on twitter, both he and Chris Heisey will be at Dodger Stadium for tonight's game.
In celebration of Ruggiano's return to the franchise I made the above fantasy card for him (see on the right).  I used a photograph grabbed from Mariner's photo day this past Spring (Christian Peterson/Getty) and the 1972 Topps Baseball card design.

Below are his career stats, via Baseball-Reference:


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Blog Kiosk: 9/1/2015 - Dodger Links - A Couple of Trades and Kiké Hernandez 's Magic Banana Suit


The magic of the banana knows no bounds.

With the game tied in extra innings, Kiké Hernandez came out of the clubhouse to provide some good luck.  Via Matthew Moreno on twitter:
It obviously worked.  The Dodgers beat the Giants on a walkoff single by Adrian Gonzalez in the 14th inning, 5-4.

Pic above via Jon SooHoo/LA Dodgers 2015.  Go here to check out more photos taken by Jon from yesterday's game.  Below are more links to check out:
  • Ah, crap!  Via Mark Saxon at ESPN, "Enrique Hernandez could be out for weeks with hamstring strain." In Hernandez's place is catcher Austin Barnes.  BTW, with it being roster expansion time the Dodgers have also called up Joe Jackson, Joel Peralta and Mike Bolsinger from the minor leagues.
  • Check out the cover of the September issue of Dodger Insider magazine, via Jon Weisman at Dodger Insider.  A pic of it is on the right.  Clayton Kershaw is on the cover.
  • Via David Schoenfield at ESPN, "How bad baserunning has hurt the Dodgers."  This story makes me wonder if this is the Dee Gordon effect. That's not to say we never should have traded Gordon.  After all, we've benefited greatly from the players we got, but it's clear that his prowess on the basepaths have been sorely missed.
  • Sometimes they come full circle.  Per Jeff Todd at MLB Trade Rumors, "Dodgers To Acquire Justin Ruggiano."  As you may know, Ruggiano was originally drafted by the Dodgers before being traded to Tampa Bay a couple of years later.  Here's the gist of why this trade is likely being done:
Most importantly, even during his MLB time this year, Ruggiano continued to hit lefties hard, as he has throughout his career. He’ll presumably be looked upon as an option against southpaws in Los Angeles. The Dodgers were in need of another right-handed-hitting outfield bat down the stretch after seeing both Yasiel Puig and Kike Hernandez go down to injuries in recent days.
  • Jeff Todd also adds that the Dodgers have reacquired Chris Heisey from Toronto.  Wha...?
  • It is welcome news that he is being reconsidered, but as stated in the following article it's likely to come to pass.  After all, Joe did take the money.  Via Chris Cwik at Big League Stew, "Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum says MLB has come to a decision on reinstatement." UPDATE: Via Shawn Anderson at the Hall of Vary Good, "Shoeless Joe to Remain Banned from Baseball."
“I have reviewed our records concerning the responses of both Commissioner (Bart) Giamatti and Commissioner (Fay) Vincent, who declined to reconsider Mr. Jackson’s case,” Manfred stated in a letter to Marcley. “I agree with that determination and conclude that it would not be appropriate for me to re-open the matter.”
I think this should settle things.  If they won't consider Joe Jackson for reinstatement then they sure as hell won't consider Pete Rose.
  • This is super ridiculous, and hilarious.  Via Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge, "The "Chicago Cubs No Hitter" Indicator Spells Doom For The Market."

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