Mariners part with Justin Ruggiano, attempt to find bottom of Dodger's coffers, fail

Last night, right as I published the evening's recap of the Mariners' 8-3 loss (which I incorrectly labeled a 9-3 loss) the news came down:

Ruggiano traded to the Dodgers for cash considerations

— Ryan Divish (@RyanDivish) September 1, 2015

For a team that is almost wholly bereft of outfielders getting rid of two in one day seems a bit odd, but then everything about the Justin Ruggiano saga is odd. He seems a perfect fit as a platoon outfielder when he was acquired over the winter from Chicago for minor leaguer Matt Brazis. For whatever reason (it was intimated at the LLBBQ to be an "attitude" problem, whatever that means for a professional athlete) Ruggiano never ingratiated himself to management, despite being arguably as well rounded an outfielder as the team had over the first month and a half.

Ruggiano was designated for assignment on June 13th, cleared waivers and has been in Tacoma ever since, where he's done nothing but mash, posting a 141 wRC+ in his stint in the minors. With yesterday's Austin Jackson trade I was hoping to get a chance to see Ruggiano play a few more games this month, hoping to perhaps better understand what it was about his game the team seemed so down on.

Now I and we will probably never really know. Ruggiano goes to the Dodgers,  as their plan to win multiple World Series by acquiring literally every baseball player marches on. There are many, many things about this Mariners team that don't make a lot of sense to me. The sad saga of Justin Ruggiano is just another head scratcher. I wish him well in LA, and desperately hope that the new regime is easier to understand.