One thing about acquiring new players in the offseason, whether it be via free agency, the trade market, or the Rule 5 draft, is that you have to figure out what you are going to do with the current roster, especially when said roster is full. At the non-tender deadline, the Braves decided to tender contracts to everyone which meant that their 40-man roster was at 40 players (otherwise known as full).
The Braves have been mentioned on the periphery of a few rumors down at the Winter Meetings, but they did not have the roster flexibility to just add a player (even in the Rule 5) without a corresponding move. Well, we have a roster move now.
The Baltimore Orioles today claimed INF Rio Ruiz off waivers. The #Braves’ 40-man roster stands at 39.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) December 10, 2018
For the Braves, this move could simply be one that allows them to make a move quickly and without any muss or fuss, especially if they 1.) know they are going to add a player to the 40 man roster relatively soon and 2.) Rio Ruiz was the next guy going to get bounced off of the roster anyways.
As for Rio, we wish him nothing but the best of luck with the Orioles where he could potentially get more of a chance to prove himself at the big league level. With the emergence of Johan Camargo and the signing of Josh Donaldson, Rio’s already tenuous chance at a roster spot lessened by the day. Ruiz was a highly thought of prospect in the Astros’ farm system before he came over to the Braves in the Evan Gattis trade. Ruiz struggled in the Braves’ system as he generally had an OPS a bit over .700 and struggled mightily against lefties. There is some potential in his bat, especially with his ability to draw walks and hit for a bit of power, but given his struggles in the major leagues (.189/.282/.302 in 169 ABs) he was likely not going to see much playing time in Atlanta.