We kind of touched on what to expect from Jaramillo going forward in the Reader Top 30 threads, where he took the 13th spot. Some felt he didn’t merit a ranking that high, which is understandable considering his less than amazing 2007 numbers. Baseball America’s Team USA breakdown
Bryan Anderson (Cardinals) and Jason Jaramillo (Phillies) split time behind the plate in the Arizona Fall League. Although Anderson is the more promising prospect, there is not much difference between the two in current ability. Anderson, who hit .298/.350/.388 for Double-A Springfield as a 20-year-old, is an offensive-minded catcher with good contact-hitting skills. Jaramillo, 25, hit .271/.350/.361 for Triple-A Ottawa right and shows more patience at the plate than Anderson does right now. Jaramillo also did a bit better than Anderson at throwing out base-stealers in 2007. Having the lefthanded-hitting Anderson and the righthanded-hitting Jaramillo should make for a nice platoon for manager Davey Johnson.
“Anderson is the better hitter of the two, but Jaramillo gives you more consistency behind the plate with above-average arm strength and accuracy with his throws,” a scout from a National League club said. “There isn’t much of a drop-off with either one behind the plate, but Jaramillo is the better defender. Anderson gives you more punch, but it’s not like Jaramillo is a bad hitter. This is a guy who had a really nice year in Triple-A (in 2007).”
Whether he’s just being nice for the sake of it, it’s nice to see something positive here, and it’s again highlighting his performance defensively, which is a plus. Anderson, for what it’s worth, was ranked as the Cardinals’ 6th best prospect entering 2007, and one of the better catching prospects in the minors.
Phuture Phillies 
He seems to be saying that as of today, the 20-yr old is a better hitter than the 25-year old Jaramillo. Unless Anderson is one heck of a hitter, that doesn’t speak well of Jaramillo. It does say Jaramillo is the better defender, as of today. It says Anderson is the better prospect. For reference, BA had Anderson as the Cardinals’ #6 prospect coming into this season.
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How is that any different from what I wrote?
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Thanks for the update!
Somewhere along the line the Phillies have a tough choice to make between Jaramillo, Marson and D’Arnaud. Most likely only one of them will be a star, but which one? It’s a great problem to have but only if they make the right choice. I look forward to seeing Jaramillo in Phillies pinstripes in ’08 and I think he can make an immediate impact.
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Like what I saw from Tuffy Gosewisch catching today in the the first televised AFL game. He made a perfect throw to second to get a runner on an attempted steal. Then he lined a gapper into left for a two run double but he was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. He later singled to go 2 for 4.
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I guess I took the comments on Jaramillo’s hitting as less positive. Being compared negatively to even a good 20 year old in terms of present hitting ability does not seem at all positive to me.
XFactor —
We have a long time to make that choice, especially with D’Arnaud. Since we will carry at least 2 catchers, Ruiz will be in the evaluation pool at that time. Will he still be worth his salary?
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Shows you how one sided phillies fans can be, OFFENSE OFFENSE OFFENSE. They forget that catcher does SOOO many things, we dont ask pitchers to hit .300 with and produce. If we have a catcher hit .270, move runners along, and get big hits now and then but throws out base runners, blocks wild pitches effectively, and calls a stealer game he will start on most MLB teams.
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As much as I like Jaramillo, I wonder if he’s not expendable this offseason. Ruiz is ready to take over the starting spot this year, and despite the front office’s reluctance to do so previously, I think Coste has probably earned himself a spot on the 25 man roster.
If Jaramillo has trade value in the offseason, I’m not at all opposed to moving him… and I was one of the ones who voted for him so highly in our top 30. Could Bourn and Jaramillo fetch you Boof Bonser? Maybe not, since they have Mauer and Jose Morales, but it wouldn’t hurt to try, right?
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I think Jaramillo is the perfect backup catcher. Teams waste money every year to bring in a guy like Rod Barajas. Jaramillo isn’t Brian McCann with a bat, but playing once or twice a week, he doesn’t have to be. He’s a good defender, he’s not a liability behind the plate, and he’ll be very cheap for the next 4 years.
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Marson is the catching prospect I’m excited about, with D’Arnaud hopefully set to develop. Given that Ruiz and Coste are cheap and should remain so until Marson is ready, I think Jaramillo is probably a decent trade chip. He won’t be a star, but I don’t think it’s a strech that he can be a league-average catcher.
Also, unless Johnson is working as “a scout for a National League club,” I think it’s someone else talking about JJ’s nice year in 2007. (Hopefully the scout doesn’t work for the Phillies.)
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Yeah I misread the article first time through and wrote the post up in a hurry. It’s been fixed.
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I think Jaramillo ends up a tweener. Good defense but below average offense. I agree that he is probably ready to be the backup next year if the Phillies want to save some dollars. For the next 3-4 years it would not be the worst thing to play Ruiz and Jaramillo and save free agent money for other things. Marson is a couple of years away and D’Arnaud may be up to 4 years away. They each probably have a higher ceiling. I would also be OK trading a catcher for value at another position if it came down to that. It is nice to have depth and catchers get overvalued all the time in trades.
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Jaramillo likely at AAA, unless the Phillies go with 3 catchers and count on some utility role play from Coste. Otherwise, he doesn’t really save $, since Ruiz/Coste about as cheap as it gets. I agree, Jaramillo looks like he will become a solid major league #2 catcher. Since he likely could fill that role in 2008 and Phillies don’t have a spot, one of the catchers is likely trade bait.
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“Marson is the catching prospect I’m excited about, with D’Arnaud hopefully set to develop.”
Some very nice comments about Marson in today’s BP by
Bryan Smith. Excellent defender and improving hitter.
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Give the kid a chance (Jaramillo). He’s been chosen to play in the AFL, Team USA, Triple A All-Star Game, Voted Best Defensive Catcher for International League, on and on and on…..You don’t get recognized by these selections by not being a very good player. He caught probably the highest amount of innings in all of baseball and still hit .270! If that’s not getting it done, I don’t know what is… You can’t compare Marson with JJ, just not in the same league at this point. Phils have a nice prospect in JJ for a long time to come. Thanks!
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