The Orioles claimed infielder Rio Ruiz off waivers from the Atlanta Braves Monday, the team announced, continuing the recent trend of new executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias bringing in players he's familiar with from his previous stops to fill in the fringes of the roster.
Ruiz signed for an above-slot $1.85 million with the Houston Astros as a fourth-round pick in 2012, when Elias was a special assistant to general manager Jeff Luhnow and was about to take over the team's amateur scouting department. Houston dealt him to the Atlanta Braves as part of a five-player deal that brought catcher Evan Gattis and reliever James Hoyt to Houston in January 2015, and Ruiz made his major league debut for Atlanta on Sept.