The Colorado Rockies have bolstered their infield:
The Rockies announced today that they have claimed INF Rio Ruiz from the Baltimore Orioles and have designated INF/OF Bret Boswell for assignment.
— Rockies Club Information (@RockiesClubInfo) May 24, 2021
Rio Ruiz is a career .214/.290/.364 hitter with 285 big league games to his name. He debuted in 2016 with the Atlanta Braves and has spent his entire playing career since then between the Braves’ or Orioles’ big league club or Triple-A roster. He was previously claimed off waivers by Baltimore in 2018.
Ruiz played in 54 of the Orioles’ 60 regular season games last year, posting a .222/.286/.427 slash in 185 at-bats. The Orioles DFA’d Ruiz after he posted a .167/.250/.300 slash this year in 32 games. He now joins former Baltimore teammate Mychal Givens in Colorado.
To complete the acquisition, the Rockies have designated Bret Boswell (No. 24 PuRP) for assignment and revoked his designation on the 40-man roster. The 26-year-old infielder was an eighth-round selection in 2017 out of the University of Texas, and he was previously projected to make his big league debut in late 2021.
Boswell has yet to play above Double-A, where he has posted a .219/.290/.397 slash in Hartford. He was assigned to the Yard Goats again in 2021 but has yet to appear in a minor league game this year. Boswell represented the Rockies in the 2019 Arizona Fall League but was confined to the alternate site in 2020.