Ruffin sent to Seattle to complete trade

Ruffin sent to Seattle to complete trade
Reliever finalizes trade for Fister, Pauley
By Jason Beck / MLB.com | 08/17/11 8:42 PM ET

DETROIT -- With Chance Ruffin now past the one-year anniversary of his signature on a pro contract, the Tigers' supplemental first-round pick from last year was officially eligible to be traded. With that, he was off to Seattle as the player to be named in the trade that brought Doug Fister and David Pauley to Detroit.

The Mariners immediately called up Ruffin and designated Aaron Laffey for assignment to make room for him. He'll join Casper Wells and Charlie Furbush in Seattle.

Ruffin spent the last 2 1/2 weeks at Triple-A Toledo, tossing 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts after making his Major League debut with the Tigers in mid-July. His Tigers tenure ends with two appearance in a Detroit uniform, allowing two runs on five hits over 3 2/3 innings with no walks and three strikeouts.

Ruffin is the second Tigers relief prospect to be moved in as many days, though technically he was dealt long before the Delmon Young trade Monday that sent Lester Oliveros to Minnesota a day later. Ruffin had the higher projection, potentially fitting as a quality middle relief candidate with a chance for setup work.

"I really liked what I saw, and obviously so did [the Mariners]," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I think he's got a very bright future."

Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.