In what could turn out to be the biggest Orioles move of the winter meetings by virtue of it being the only move, the O’s nabbed infielder Rio Ruiz from the Braves on a waiver claim on Monday afternoon. The O’s also lost Maryland-born pitcher Ryan Meisinger on waivers to the Cardinals.
Ruiz, 24, was selected in the fourth round of the 2012 draft by the Astros and ended up in the Braves organization in the January 2015 trade of Evan Gattis. He has spent the past three seasons chiefly at the Braves Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett, though he had his contract selected for a cup of coffee in September 2016 and has appeared in the big leagues in each of the past two seasons.