The Giants announced that they have selected infielder/outfielder Darin Ruf to their roster. Right-hander Sean Hjelle was optioned to open a spot on the active roster. The club already had a vacancy on its 40-man roster due to designating catcher Austin Wynns for assignment earlier this week.
This move completes a strange boomerang trip to New York and back for Ruf over the past nine months. He had been with the Giants since the start of the 2020 season but was flipped to the Mets at last year’s deadline. Unfortunately, he struggled badly after the move and didn’t make the club’s Opening Day roster out of spring this year. He was released and returned to the Giants on a minor league deal, now retaking a spot on the roster.
Prior to that sojourn out east, Ruf played very well for the Giants, particularly as a lefty-mashing righty. Over 2020 and 2021, he hit 21 home runs in 412 plate appearances and walked at a 14.3% rate. That led to a batting line of .272/.381/.519 and 142 wRC+. Against lefties, his line was even stronger at .275/.390/.579. Based on that performance, the Giants signed him to a two-year, $6.25MM deal going into 2022.
Last year, he dipped a bit but was still hitting .216/.328/.373 for a wRC+ of 104 at the time of the trade. But that swooned all the way to .152/.216/.197 after the deal. The Mets fortified their right-handed offense by adding Tommy Pham over the winter and cut Ruf after his struggles continued into the spring.
Now Ruf will have a chance to get back on track in a familiar environment. If it works out, it will be nice icing on the cake for the Giants, adding an extra sweet layer to a deal that already looks like a huge win for them. They got J.D. Davis and left-hander Thomas Szapucki, as well as prospects Nick Zwack and Carson Seymour in that deal. Davis is still under club control through 2024 and the others much longer. The Mets took on the remainder of Ruf’s deal and are still on the hook for it since he cleared waivers. The Giants can pay him the prorated league minimum for any time Ruf spends on the roster, which will be subtracted from what the Mets pay.
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