When the Rangers signed Justin Ruggiano to a one-year deal worth $1.65 million this winter, it looked like a pretty opportunistic signing.
The thought was Ruggiano, who mashes left-handed pitching, could platoon with Josh Hamilton in left field and give the Rangers some decent production at a position they saw barely any from last year.
Then, Hamilton got hurt again before spring training even started, and the Rangers signed Ian Desmond to a one-year deal for $8 million to be their everyday left fielder, and Ruggiano's place on the roster looked pretty cloudy.
It's still fairly unlikely Ruggiano breaks camp on the roster, especially now that the Rangers appear set to keep a short three-man bench while carrying an extra bullpen arm. But he made a strong case for himself to either be on the Rangers or another team on Thursday when he launched a pair of bombs in the Rangers' rout of the Reds.
In a perfect world, a team would approach the Rangers about trading for Ruggiano, but that's not going to happen because the world isn't perfect. Sorry, Rangers.
