Tampa Bay Rays Designate Ruggiano, Anderson

The Tampa Bay Rays designated OF Justin Ruggiano and 1B/OF Leslie Anderson for assignment today in a move that was anticipated to make room for Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon on the 40 man roster.

Ruggiano, a 25th round pick by the Los Angeles Dodgetrs in 2004, was the player to be named later that concluded a 2006 trade that sent Dioner Navarro and Jae Weong Seo to Tampa for Toby Hall and Mark Hendrickson. Ruggiano played sparingly in 52 games during the 2007 and 2008 seasons for the Rays. In 96 plate appearances he hit .200 with six home runs, 31 RBI and six stolen bases.

Anderson signed with the Rays in 2010 to a four year contract after nine years playing for Camaguey in the Suban National Series and was a member of the 2006 and 2009 Cuban World Baseball Classic series teams.