Former Toronto Blue Jays 1B Randy Ruiz Released By Triple-A Reno

Randy Ruiz never saw as much action at the Major League level as he would have liked.  His season-high in games-played was 33 in 2009 with the Blue Jays.  In three seasons with Toronto, Ruiz played in 68 games and hit

.272/.332/.488.  He hit 12 home runs and posted a career OPS+ of 115.  He was a solid player, but has spent the last three seasons in the minors or in Japan.  Now, John Lott of National Post in Toronto is reporting that Triple-A Reno has released Ruiz.

According to Lott, a Japanese League team may be interested and Ruiz may be heading to Japan to continue his career.  Ruiz played for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Japanese League in 2010 and 2011 before being signed to a minor league deal by the Arizona Diamondbacks.  In Japan, Ruiz hit .244/.304/.427 with 18 home runs.

Ruiz was signed as an Amateur Free Agent by the Cincinnati Reds in 1999.  He was released four years later and signed by the Baltimore Orioles.  After that, Ruiz played for ten different organizations.  His journeyman career hit its pinnacle when he was called up and made his Major League debut for the Minnesota Twins on August 1, 2008.

The 34 year old first baseman was not on the Diamondbacks 40-man roster at the time of the release.  It was unlikely the club had any intentions of calling him up, and they are now making room for promotions within the system.

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