Keibert Ruiz has all the potential in the world and other organizations know it. In every trade discussion, the Dodgers have been involved in over the course of the last two or so seasons, Ruiz’s name has been tossed around — and for good reason.
Ruiz is just 21 years old and is still one of the best catching prospects in baseball. He had an off year in 2019 — including an injury ending his season early — but his upside remains enormous. There is a legitimate chance that Keibert Ruiz develops and delivers on his potential as the future best catcher in the league. Time will tell.
According to MLB.com’s Jim Callis, Mike Rosenbaum, and Jonathan Mayo, Keibert Ruiz is the likeliest Dodger prospect to be dealt this off-season and it makes total sense. As with Joc Pederson on the major league roster, Ruiz’s name has been tossed around a multitude of times.
As anticipation builds around the potential for trades during the upcoming #WinterMeetings, @jimcallisMLB, @JonathanMayo and @GoldenSombrero look at 30 prospects who could be dealt — one from each #MLB team: https://t.co/CQBMCYykUq pic.twitter.com/CMdqCLuWRG
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) November 29, 2019
Here is the excerpt from the MLB.com column about Ruiz:
He’s still one of the best catching prospects in baseball but Will Smith appears to have surpassed him as Los Angeles’ catcher of the future. Los Angeles keeps getting mentioned as a possible destination for Mookie Betts and could part with Ruiz in the right blockbuster.
Ruiz finished the 2019 season with Triple-A Oklahoma City where he posted a .316 batting average and 99 wRC+ across nine games. In a much larger sample size of 76 games with Double-A Tulsa, the young backstop posted a .254 batting average and 88 wRC+. Despite the so-so numbers, Ruiz’s lack of strikeouts — 6.3 percent combined between the two levels — remains an excellent trait.
Ruiz’s 2020 will be enormous for him and either his future with the Dodgers or quite possibly another major league club.
