Nine-year MLB veteran Jose Ruiz signs in Japan

The Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball announced that they’ve signed reliever José Ruiz. MLBTR’s Steve Adams reports that it’s a one-year deal with a 2027 club option. The OL Baseball Group client is guaranteed $1.2MM and can collect another $200K per season in incentives.

Ruiz, 31, split last season between the Phillies and Braves. He opened the year in Philadelphia’s big league bullpen but was hit hard, giving up 13 earned runs across 14 1/3 innings. They designated him for assignment and lost him on waivers to Atlanta at the beginning of June. Ruiz didn’t get much of a look from the Braves, who dropped him after he gave up three runs to the Rockies in his second appearance. He cleared waivers that time around and spent the rest of the season in Triple-A.

Atlanta flipped Ruiz to the Rangers as a salary offset in the Dane Dunning deal a month later. He didn’t make it back to the majors with Texas. The Venezuelan righty pitched well in Triple-A, though, combining for a 2.73 ERA in 33 innings. He struck out 24% of opponents against an excellent 5.4% walk percentage.

Ruiz has logged some big league action in each of the past nine seasons. He spent most of his career with the White Sox but was a useful middle reliever for the Phillies as recently as 2024. This is his first stint in Asia. The $1.2M guarantee is better than he would’ve received had he sought minor league opportunities in affiliated ball. He’s young enough to explore a return down the line if he pitches well in Japan.