Esteury Ruiz, the A’s speedy outfielder who led the American League in stolen bases last season, was optioned to Triple-A Monday in a sobering move. Oakland isn’t happy with its prized prospect from the Sean Murphy trade two years ago.
Then again, it’s not every day that a guy hitting .429 with a 1.232 OPS (although over seven at-bats) gets told he’s not good enough to play on a team that lost a franchise-record 112 games a year ago.
Ruiz, who had been on the job for the first week of the season after setting an AL rookie record with 67 interceptions last year, is sent to Las Vegas to work on his on-base skills. The 25-year-old had a below-average .308 on-base percentage a year ago, something A’s general manager David Forst said needs to improve.
“The reality is that in order to use his skills, he has to get on base. He has to be able to do it consistently,” Forst told reporters in explaining why Ruiz was sent down to make room for utilityman Tyler Nevin, claimed off waivers from Baltimore on Sunday. “I’m hoping that with his daily appearances in Triple-A, it won’t be a long stay for him there.”
His inability to get on base consistently during spring training appeared to be a precursor to Monday’s decision, as Ruiz had just a .295 on-base percentage in 61 at-bats in Arizona.
Ruiz’s demotion provided more evidence that the A’s look like the big losers of the three-team, nine-player trade in December 2022 that essentially sent Murphy to Atlanta, catcher William Contreras to Milwaukee and Ruiz, pitcher Kyle Muller , Freddy Tarnok and Royber Salinas and catcher Manny Pina in Oakland.
Not only did Murphy help the Braves win the NL East, but he had a career-high 21 home runs, 68 RBIs and .844 OPS. Meanwhile, the A’s picked up Contreras from Atlanta and flipped him and blue-chip reliever Joel Payamps to the Brewers to acquire Ruiz.
All Contreras did was become what many believe to be the best catcher in the majors while earning an All-Star berth and winning the NL Silver Slugger Award in 2023, while hitting .289 with 17 home runs and 78 RBIs.
This looks even worse when you consider that Contreras has done all of this and will still only make $22,000 more than Ruiz’s $745,000 contract with the A’s this season.
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