Ruiz Returns

Relive the bad attitude. The award-winning fake falls. And hopefully the goals.

The Galaxy, without a consistent scorer since Carlos Ruiz departed, today finally announced his "replacement."

Ruiz is back.

The (edited) Galaxy press release:

The LA Galaxy today acquired forward Carlos Ruiz from FC Dallas in exchange for allocation money and a second round pick in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. Ruiz, who began his MLS career with the Galaxy, helped lead the club to their first-ever MLS Cup title in 2002. He is the eighth leading scorer in MLS history with 81 career goals in 140 regular season games and has scored more than 100 goals in all competitions since arriving in MLS in February 2002.

“We are very pleased to be bringing a proven goal scorer and veteran leader in Carlos Ruiz back to Los Angeles,” said LA Galaxy Director of Soccer Paul Bravo. “Carlos is an experienced forward who has averaged better than a goal every two games during his MLS career and we believe that he will be a tremendous asset to our attack.”

Ruiz, who is commonly referred to by his nickname “Pescado” or “Fish”, has played six years in MLS, scoring 81 goals in 140 games while adding an MLS record 16 postseason goals in 17 games. The 28-year old striker burst onto the American sporting scene in 2002 when he scored a league-best 24 goals in 26 games on the way to being named the Honda MLS MVP. Ruiz would go on to lead the Galaxy in scoring each of the next two seasons, scoring 15 goals, tied for the most in MLS, in 2003 and tallying 11 times in 2004.

Ruiz spent the last three seasons with FC Dallas after being traded from LA prior to the start of the 2005 campaign. He scored 31 goals in 68 games with FCD, serving as the club’s captain in 2007, while adding another five goals in six post-season matches.

“It means a lot to play for the Galaxy again because I feel like I am going back home and I am very excited about that,” Ruiz said. “I have a big responsibility now because the Galaxy’s goal is to win every game, so I want to play hard and score as many goals as possible and win the MLS Cup again.”

A native of Guatemala City, Guatemala, Ruiz is a member of the Guatemalan National Team with who he has appeared 72 times. Often serving as the captain of his national team, Ruiz has scored 35 goals for Guatemala, leaving him tied with Juan Carlos Plata for the most goals ever for the Chapins.

Predictably, reaction is mixed to say the least. (Warning strong language and opinion in link).

Does this mean the Galaxy at least gets rid of striker Carlos Pavon now?