Five questions with Thoughts of RS

* Interviews

I exchanged emails with Shawn, who writes the blog “Musings about Sports and other important items”, which covers the Pirates and other sports related matters. You can check out my answers to his questions here, and I’ll share his answers to my questions below the fold…

phuturephillies: Ronny Paulino was always considered a solid prospect and looked like he was headed toward a solid MLB career after his good rookie year in 2006. What happened in 2007 and 2008 that sent him in the other direction?

ThoughtsofRS: Simply put-Attitude. Jim Tracy put a strangely high priority on game calling and he allowed Paulino to drift through games with little retribution. The Huntington/Russell regime knew that the fans had seen this and basically forced a competition, that with Doumit’s bat, Paulino was not going to win. After a strong 2006, it sure looked like he got lazy and out of shape and once Tracy was gone it was a matter of time…..

pp: How would you rate his game defensively? He seems to have a strong arm but has occasional issues with receiving, is that a fair assessment? What do you view his offensive upside as going forward?

ToRS: The arm is reasonably strong and he calls an OK game, but he has two glaring weaknesses. One is that he struggles blocking the ball in the dirt and the other is holding onto throws from the outfield. Numerous times, the Pirates would have a guy dead to rights at the plate and he just couldn’t come up with the ball. Offensively,the stance is unusual with the bat held high and that hurts his power. I would say that he would not repeat his 2006 season (.310 and 6 HR), but he could hit .280-.285, as long as you don’t expect big power numbers……

pp: He looked like he was off to a good start in winter ball this year. He was sidetracked by injuries to some degree in 2008, correct? Do you have any details on that? Could that have thrown off his development?

ToRS: Paulino was reported to be in great shape in winter ball supposedly due to his motivation to be traded. He figured (and rightly so) that teams would be watching him and took care of business. Paulino did not get injured until after he was sent to AAA Indianapolis, so that had nothing to do with any struggles. He turned an ankle and missed a few weeks, so it should not be a factor health wise…..

pp: Do you view this as a cost cutting move, in that Paulino was arbitration eligible in 2009 and they just wanted a backup to Doumit making the minimum?

ToRS: Ordinarily with the Pirates everything has something to do with money, but in this case I don’t think so. Paulino had worn his welcome out with his getting out of shape and low work ethic and neither side was looking forward to dealing with the other for another season. Paulino was never going to accept being Doumit’s backup and the Pirates could not deal with the less than hearty hustle issues.

pp: Does Paulino have any character problems, IE, not getting along with other players/management/the front office? Was there a reason, other than the presence of Ryan Doumit, that they’d have actively tried to move him?

ToRS: To my knowledge,his problems were more with the front office and then with John Russell and staff. Paulino seemed to think that he had it made after a strong 2006 and then being coddled by Jim Tracy, who refused to lift him no matter how lazy he was or how much his performance lacked. That led to problems accepting the backup role. He didn’t get the nickname “Joggin Ronny” without meriting it. Pittsburgh needs to add talent (and preferably cheap talent) when and wherever they can and considering their lack of chips to deal, it was clearly going to happen. He thought he was better than Doumit and the Pirates didn’t, there is your issue. Paulino has talent, if he whips himself into shape and plays hard (two things he hasn’t always done in the past), if he can do that-the Phillies have a steal. I do wonder if he will accept sitting behind Ruiz after a while though, especially if he gets extended playing time and performs well. That could be interesting to see if he has grown up any.

Again, thanks to Shawn. Check out his site. And if you do, please behave, as you represent this site as well. Thanks.

16 thoughts on “Five questions with Thoughts of RS”

  1. I think this means Marson might be dealt. I won’t speculate on ML specifics, but the depth at the C position in the Phillies system now seems to indicate that they use Ruiz/Paulino as stopgaps until D’Arnaud is ready.

    This, at least, is what I would do – sell high on Marson in a place where the team has great depth at all levels.

    As a pure talent trade, this is a clear upgrade, but Paulino is just getting in the way unless they intend to deal Marson.

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  2. I agree, I think another catcher on the 40 man gets traded, and it could still be ‘Joggin Ronny’.

    Great stuff with the Rule V and JJ trade stuf the past couple of days James.

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  3. If Paulino turns around Ruben looks good I am ok with that
    but guys like him have a way of doing right for a while then back to the same thing. Its the other nonsense that bothers me.

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  4. Know what? Marson has only participated at AA level. So he could just move to the AAA level and continue to elevate his game. If you bother to read the interview on Delaware Online, Reuben said as much, there. It is no sign Marson has to be traded , whatsoever. I don’t know there are any needed players that are available in trade that would be worth trading that level of prospect.

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  5. Everyone should calm down. This has almost nothing to do with Marson. It is about giving Jaramillo a chance and having immediate insurance for Ruiz and competition for Coste. It’s a “redundancy move” to add depth and give a loyal farmhand a chance with a new organization. If it doesn’t work out, it will be no big deal, if it does work out, it’s all gravy.

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  7. I must agree this has little to do with Marson. The Phillies are going to have to give Ruiz at least a half of year grace period after how he played during the W.S. As previously stated, if paulino turns it around we got a bargin. Though I am a bit worried if he has problems with the ball in the dirt. Would be a shame to have Lidge’s first Phillies blown save because of a past ball, especially when Ruiz is so exceptional with balls in the dirt. As for JJ nice to see him get a fresh chance.

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  8. Ruiz was my WS MVP, so he does deserve a chance.

    It’s just uncommon for a team to carry 4 catchers on the 40 man. The Rangers were the only other I know of and they traded Larid. I agree this is a Coste, not a Marson issue, but with D’Arnaud coming on strong it’s not unthinkable Marson could be traded in the right situation.

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  10. Ok, let’s look at it this way. Hypothetically, if one were to think about trading Marson at what I think is his peak value, the downside would be that the C depth chart was awfully shaky after Ruiz. Coste and Jaramillo are simply not everyday catchers, and D’Arnaud is too far away.

    So, if one were to move Marson, this would be exactly the type of deal that would make it easier to do so.

    It should be noted that I specifically said this is what this move would mean to me if I made the trade – I’ll leave figuring out the mind of Amaro to others.

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  11. marson, pp you were the 1st person i remember being really high on him where are you, and donald only untouchables. ruiz starts marson gets 2 games a week, same with donald. feliz and donald platoon. if we acquire ibanez werth should hit 4 or 5

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  13. There is every reason to believe that the Phils–who LOVE him–consider Marson the “heir-apparent” to the main catcher position man of the club in the near future.

    Statements from the org (not just to boost his trade value) have revealed this plan. Ruiz, though he caught EXCELLENTLY in the WS and who deserves a renewal shot in ’09, still isn’t considered THE MAN for the future…unless he suddenly hits an oba of .350 w 20 HRs!! He is 7-8 years older than Marson.

    Marson is regarded as one of the system’s gems in catching and is almost ready for the bigs. Paullino gives the club the ability to polish Marson at AAA LV in ’09 and “catch-him-up” on digging the ball out of the dirt…now one of the catching essentials for the Phils. Adding a bit more cleverness to his game-calling (noting hitter’s feet placement before EACH pitch, etc.), as well.

    Meanwhile the Phils lose little in the this 2nd string catcher…who maybe has learned his lesson and will now play for a team whose members and manager appear unlikely to let him get away with his bad ‘tude.

    When Marson DOES arrive, the Phils will have the bonus of being able to trade a catcher with bone fides…a move that THEN could yield at least some good prospect or two.

    Overall…GOOD MOVE!

    Little things can mean a lot.

    Amaro/Gillick!

    Thanks to PP and the interviewee.

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  14. Very good move, simply put Paulino is a better catcher than Jaramillo. All the rest is meaning nothing. This move simply makes the Phillies a better team. I don’t think Coste goes anywhere either. Coste can play 1st and he can play some 3rd and I believe at some point he played some left field.

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  15. i like this. i think that 2009 could be a break out year for CC. plus amaro seems to be calling their bluff. let’s see if they fold and send him over with a lesser package.

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  16. Good interview

    And anyone saying this has something to do with Marson is crazy. They just cleared out AAA for him, he’ll be starting the year and most likely staying there til September unless he knocks the seems off the ball. This spells the end of Coste IMO.

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