Known primarily for his speed, Ruan was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Montreal Expos on November 15, 1996. He hit .348 with 33 stolen bases for the Expos Dominican League team in 1997 before being brought to the states and placed in the Expos rookie ball team in 1998. Against more experienced U.S. pitchers he struggled slightly, hitting only .239 for the Gulf Coast Expos that season, though he still stole 13 bases.\n', '

With the Cape Fear Crocs in 1999 and 2000, he improved his average (.224, .287) each year and continued to steal bases at an amazing rate, swiping 64 bases in 2000. In 2001, he started at the Expos High-A team in Jupiter and hit .283 with 25 steals before being promoted to their Harrisburg Double-A team.\n', '

On March 23, 2002 he was traded by the Expos to the Los Angeles Dodgers along with pitcher Guillermo Mota for Jorge Nunez and Matt Herges. He started the 2002 season with the Dodgers Double-A team in Jacksonville where he hit .253 with 23 steals and finished the season with the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s where he hit .327 with 12 steals in 40 games. That earned him a September call-up to the Dodgers major league roster. He made his major league debut on September 1 as a pinch runner. He got his first major league hit the following day against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was primarily used as a pinch runner during his month-long stay in the big leagues.\n', '

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