The Miami Marlins may have an interesting trade option for the OF

An interesting transaction recently took place... The Oakland Athletics demoted OF Esteury Ruiz down to the Minor Leagues. With the way that the season has been going and with all of the bullpen issues, it might seem pointless to think about the fringes of the lineup. That said, growing up on the 2003 team, you know that speed matters.

Esteury Ruiz could be a good trade target for the Miami Marlins.

It seems as if the Miami Marlins lineup is better than expected this season. That might not last all season, but so far it's not looking too bad. One thing that I would love for The Fish to add is more speed. It's been recently lost with the Jon Berti trade, so it makes good sense for more speed to be brought back in a different trade.

Esteury Ruiz seems to be exactly the speed machine that The Fish could use. Ruiz split 2022 between the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers. He batted just .171/.194/.257 in 17 games and 35 AB that season. He did a lot better in 2023, moving on to the Oakland Athletics. He batted .254/.309/.345 that season, with 67 stolen bases. Those 67 stolen bases actually led the Major Leagues.

It was expected that Ruiz would be Oakland's CF this season, but he ended up more of a bench player and was then demoted to the Minor Leagues. He batted a subpar .236/.295/.400 in 20 games and 55 AB. In a very brief sample of 3 games and 7 AB, he batted .429/.375/.857. WHAT?! How did he get demoted? Well, he does have a .429 BABIP and obviously he isn't that good. He did however have time to steal a lone base.

I'm not exactly sure why Oakland demoted Ruiz, but I doubt that the 25 year old is a major part of their future plans. I'm sure they wouldn't mind flipping him for some help and I also don't expect him to cost much. Peter Bendix should give Oakland a call to see what it would take to bring the speedster down to Miami.