As the MLB Winter Meetings were coming to an end on Thursday in Nashville, there were rumors circulating that the Rangers were in pretty serious discussions with a right-handed hitting outfielder.
On Friday morning, reports began surfacing from The Dallas Morning News' Evan Grant that the rumored player was Justin Ruggiano, a former Texas A&M standout who has an affinity for hitting left-handed pitching really well — kind of a Mike Napoli type except he can actually play outfield.
Ruggiano would be a sneaky signing for Texas, as he could play all three outfield positions and give them some power against left-handed pitching in what would likely be a platoon situation in left field with Josh Hamilton, with Hamilton sitting against many lefties.
In the past four years, Ruggiano has been one of the game's better righties vs. lefties in the outfield. In that time, Ruggiano has a .290 batting average with a .359 on-base percentage and .571 slugging percentage and a .930 OPS in 439 plate appearances vs. lefties.
