Randy Ruiz

[BOOOOOSH]

Minor leagues 11 years Ruiz.. .304/ .378/ .531/ .909
Ruiz's lifetime OPS

21 .877
22 1.051
23 .835
24 .847
25 .877
26 .861
27 1.074
28 .894
29 .869
30 .902
31 .976

Last year with Jays: 33gms 115ab 10 hrs 17rbi 25runs .313ba .385obp .635slg 1.019ops
Spring training: 3hrs 10rbi 10runs .436ba .488obp .718slg 1.206ops

What are your expectations with Ruiz? He has put up some incredible numbers all throughout the minors, but never got a major shot at the big league level. Last year he came in and put up some unsustainable numbers. This spring he continues to absolutely crush the ball.

Its the spring and I'm still giddy about baseball starting but do you think Ruiz will earn himself regular ABs and produce? or is their a reason he has stayed stuck in the minors and not a major league caliber player?

[Duffman100]

No expectations, better that way. If the guys hits 250 with 20 homeruns and 80 rbis....I'd be ecstatic.

[Ong_dynasty]

I dont really follow baseball religiously..
but those numbers seem good..has he played in the majors before?!?!if not..why hasnt he gotten a chance?!?!if so...how did he do?

[BOOOOOSH]

played in Minnesota for a bit of a season not regular ABs and struggled. Came up to TO last summer and absolutely demolished the ball in his 33 games played.

He was caught using banned substances (he claimed it was from viagra). He has also been unlucky and stuck in organization with depth and he didn't get a shot at the majors. I was just reading up on him this year and I hope he does well, I cant imagine putting up huge numbers year in and year out and spending 11 years in the minors.

I'm excited to see what he can do with regular ABs, hopefully he can swing the bat well and help the offence (we will need it). I saw him play last year and didn't notice many weaknesses in his swing. I know he can't sustain his numbers from last year (50-60hrs is unlikely/impossible).

I love spring training, usually the only time Jays fans can be really excited about the team. I am super pumped especially now that AA is in charge and this team seems to be heading in the right direction (some good young hitter and a glut of pitching porspects).

[Schad]

I dont really follow baseball religiously..
but those numbers seem good..has he played in the majors before?!?!if not..why hasnt he gotten a chance?!?!if so...how did he do?

DH-types don't get many chances. Cincy released him in 2002, after putting up pretty mediocre numbers in A/A+ at age 24...he hit .291/.382/.465, but at that age and with his positional limitations, that wasn't enough. He then went to Philly and was suspended twice for steroid use, and he continued to bounce around putting up good-but-not-great numbers as an organizational fill-in, before Minny gave him a shot in AAA two years ago and a brief audition in the bigs.

It's hard to blame teams; he was overage every step of the way, and didn't break an OPS of .900 once save for his time in rookie ball and the year he was suspended. He only got a chance with Toronto because we needed something approaching a slugger in AAA, before Dopirak blew up...I don't think that JP signed him expecting that he'd reach the bigs.

[The_Hater]

I think if some team, our team, gave Ruiz 500+ AB's he's produce just fine and might approach 25-30 HR's. The guy has proven that he can hit consistantly at the highest levels of the minor leagues and I generally feel that those types of players only need an opportunity and they'll produce in the majors too. The problem as some have mentioned, is his lack of a defensive position limiting his opportunities. I'm fairly certain that he'd produce better than Overbay over a full season if given the job outright, but that would make Overbay impossible to trade.