Paulino is a solid back-stop
By Mike Gill
(From Phillies press release)
Catcher Ronny Paulino was acquired by the Phillies from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for catcher Jason Jaramillo, Senior Vice President & General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. announced today.
Paulino, 27, split last season between Pittsburgh, triple-A Indianapolis and the Gulf Coast League Pirates. In 40 games (27 starts) for Pittsburgh last season, he hit .212 with two home runs and 18 RBI. With runners in scoring position, Paulino hit .387 (12-31) with 14 RBI.
Paulino threw out 26 percent (8 of 31) of potential basestealers this season for the Pirates and for his career has caught 24 percent (51 of 216).
With Indianapolis, Paulino hit .306 with four home runs and 18 RBI in 30 games. He spent time on the disabled list with a right ankle sprain which included a rehabilitation assignment with the GCL
Pirates where he hit .286 with one home run and six RBI. Paulino combined to hit .302 (42-139) with five home runs and 24 RBI between both stops.
Originally signed by Pittsburgh as a non-drafted free agent, December 29, 1997, Paulino is hitting .278 with 19 home runs and 128 RBI in 304 career games.
Jaramillo, 26, hit .266 with eight home runs and 39 RBI in 115 games for triple-A Lehigh Valley this season. He was a second round-selection by the Phillies in the 2004 draft.
PCPTake: It looks like the Phillies made this deal to have enough depth to feel confident enough to deal Chris Coste. This also must mean they don’t want Lou Marson sitting on the bench or have Carlos Ruiz thinking Marson is there to take his job. Paulino is a nice option as a back-up and has started a lot of games for the Pirates. Not only can Paulino hit a little bit, he was praised by the Pirates’ pitching staff as an excellent catcher to work with. The staff ERA is markedly better when he is behind the plate, something I am sure the Phillies looked into.
Overall, the deal makes some sense if they end up trading Coste, but I would have just brought up Marson, I am not sure why they gave up on Jaramillo and just got another catcher in return, I think he could have fetched another arm, but Paulino is a major league ready player, so I guess that’s a win for the Phillies.
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