Puckett's Pond » Ben Noble

Checking in on Former Twin Randy Ruiz

Ben Noble — Thu, 16 May 2013 22:05:18 +0000

A Bronx native, Randy Ruiz was taken by the Mets in the 36th round of the draft out of high school, but instead chose to play baseball at Bellevue University, the previous year’s winner of the NAIA World Series. He led the team in home runs in 1999, was subsequently signed by the Reds as a non-drafted free agent, and spent the next nine seasons toiling in the minors for seven different organizations.

Signed by the Twins as a minor league free agent in the offseason heading into 2008, Ruiz made his MLB debut on August 1 of that year when fellow former Twin Craig Monroe was designated for assignment. In his first game, he went 1-3 as the designated hitter in a 4-1 victory over Cleveland, leaving the Twins 61-48 and tied with the White Sox for the Central lead.

Last we saw him…

Ruiz struck out as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning of the following game, then went on a seven-game hitting streak and finished the month hitless in just one of the games in which he started. When Michael Cuddyer finally returned after missing a month due to a broken foot suffered during a rehab assignment with AAA Rochester, Ruiz had just three more plate appearances the rest of the season. The Twins finished the 2008 season with a one-game playoff loss to Chicago.

What he’s been up to since

The Twins released Ruiz in December of that year, and Toronto signed him to a minor-league deal two weeks later. He began the season with the AAA Las Vegas 45s, and proceeded to hit .320 with 25 home runs and 43 doubles, earning the PCL MVP and an August call up to the Blue Jays when Alex Rios was claimed off waivers by the White Sox. He hit home runs in his first two games up, and finished his MLB season with 10 in 33 games. The following season, Ruiz made Toronto’s 25-man roster out of spring training, but got just 40 at bats before being asking for and receiving his release in May in order to sign a more lucrative contract with the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles of the JPPL.

Ruiz spent the rest of 2010 and all of 2011 with the Eagles, then returned last year to play stateside in AAA for the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Again, Ruiz left the US midway through the season to play in Japan, this time with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of the Japan Central League.

What he’s doing now

Once again, Ruiz returned to the United States to begin the season, only to find himself playing in a foreign league. The White Sox signed Ruiz this spring, and he hit a double in his lone spring training at bat before being released a week before the season began. This time, instead of playing out the season in Japan, Ruiz has recently shown up in Mexico with Veracruz. In what is basically AAA ball, the 35-year-old is hitting .333/.489/.636 through 11 games on the season.

Talk to Contact Episode 36: T2C Tourism Bureau

Ben Noble — Sat, 04 May 2013 14:53:36 +0000

Talk to Contact is proud to bring you another episode packed full of Twins talk. This week Cody and Eric discuss the magic of Kevin Correia, Ron Gardenhire’s mismanagement of the pitching staff, Gardy’s tenure with the Twins, when and why it might be time to cut ties with Mike Pelfrey, and generally blather on about all things Minnesota.

We’re joined this week by the Rochester Red Wings play-by-play man, Josh Whetzel, whose broadcasts are streamed online at Sports 1280 WHTK, www.whtk.com. He gives us a quick run down of who’s hot and who’s not in Triple-A, and identifies some names to watch for in the not-to-distant future.

More or less shennegians this week when we go Down on the Pond, take some questions from the internet, and name Brad Swanson (@bridman77) the Listener of the Week.

Tune in for almost 100 minutes of Twins radio gold.

Talk to Contact Episode 35: Cody Gets a New Job

Ben Noble — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:00:59 +0000

Episode 35 is a Minor League/Prospect heavy podcast, something we haven’t done for a while. We talk specifically about Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Adam Walker, Kyle Gibson, Trevor May, Alex Meyer, and then finally go Down on the Pond with Kennys Vargas. Lots of good stuff in there. We also discuss the Twins recent performance against the Marlins and Rangers, pick out the Twins hitter and pitcher of the week, and then do a little bit of baseball chatter when we look Around the League.

Enjoy!

You can follow Cody on Twitter (@NoDakTwinsFan) or read his writing at NoDakTwinsFan. You can follow Paul on Twitter (@BaseballPirate) or read his writing at Puckett’s Pond. And of course, you can find me on Twitter (@ERolfPleiss) and read my writing here at Knuckleballs!