Phillies Nation

43 Responses to “Report: Phils Showing Interest In Catcher Ross”

1. Fred Says:
   August 18th, 2008 at 11:20 pm

   The Reds cut him and we’re interested??? What about this doesn’t make sense?

2. ACo Says:
   August 18th, 2008 at 11:26 pm

   Yeah….I don’t see it. But hey, maybe he won’t be like the double play machine.

3. philsphan Says:
   August 18th, 2008 at 11:29 pm

   Ross is putting up better numbers than Ruiz is this season. I could see Ross being signed and Ruiz being sent down to AAA. Or Ross could be signed and play at AAA until Sept 1st. I wouldn’t mind this deal, but we need a bigger bat than this, and not really at catcher if Jaramillo is brought up to be the third catcher.

4. That Guy Says:
   August 18th, 2008 at 11:51 pm

   The trollydodgers get Manny and Greg Maddux. We show interest in this shitpile. Adavantage Phils.

5. Georgie Says:
   August 18th, 2008 at 11:56 pm

   Would Ross be considered a B-list player or do we need to move down the alphabet a little?

6. Jim DeWeis Says:
   August 18th, 2008 at 11:59 pm

   Pat Gillick is mailing it in.

7. GM-Carson Says:
   August 19th, 2008 at 6:51 am

   Campaign Cheer is in full effect tonight!

8. NJ Says:
   August 19th, 2008 at 7:08 am

   If the FO are prepared to send Ruiz down then this is a positive move adding a veteran catcher that freshens things up a bit. Jaramillo’s not going to impact this team unless he magically becomes a Soto clone.

   The question going into next year is what is Ruiz role? Is he the back-up? He’s defensively superior but Coste’s as good a back-up as your going to get. If Marson doesn’t have a lights out spring showing uncanny maturity behind the plate then who’s the starting catcher going to be?

9. The voice of reason (original) Says:
   August 19th, 2008 at 7:45 am

   Because the Phillies would rather take a chance on a guy who’s proven he sucks than give a guy a chance to prove that he sucks.

10. bull Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 8:07 am

    Just absurd!!! If they thought they needed another catcher, like most of us have this season they probably could of had Pudge.

11. Fred Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 8:31 am

    Does everyone forget Ruiz batted .300 in the minors? Just because one’s a .300 hitter in the minors doesn’t mean anything in the bigs.

    Coste had a .299 avg in the minors. But there’s a reason he spent 12 seasons in the bush – he’s a 24 or 25 man at best in the bigs.

    Lou Marson is a nice ‘prospect’ but he only has a .274 avg in the minors. Prior to this year he was only a .261 hitter. In addition, he’s another of the smallish type catchers at 6′1″ 195 lbs. (The Phils seem to favor the smaller catchers.)

12. Mike N Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 8:38 am

    Like some of the others here, I don’t understand why you would bring this guy in instead of giving Marson or Jaramillo a shot in the bigs. At least they have upside, especially Marson, who walks a lot and is hitting .325 this year.

13. Fred Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 8:44 am

    The Dodgers get Maddux – we get Eyre
    The Yanks get Pudge – we get Ross
    The Cubs get Harden – we get Walmond
    The Dodgers get Manny – we get Cervenak

    Is there a pattern here?

14. Don M Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 9:13 am

    Maddux wasn’t going to leave the West Coast.. The Tigers wanted a bullpen reliever for Pudge, we were looking to add that too, not give it away.

    Harden is awesome when healthy, but he’s .. and I was on board with going after Manny…

    Fred good point about the Catchers Avg’s in the minors.. people were bitching that Myers success when he was sent down was because it was against Minro Leaguers… but at the same time, they were going crazy over Marson and Carrasco, who weren’t dominating or anything at AA… They’ll be nice players, but they aren’t saviors..

    The Phillies like catchers who are good defensively and who call a good game behind the plate… Ruiz does that .. he just doesn’t hit like Joe Mauer or Brian McCann so nobody likes him

15. Mike Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 9:13 am

    There is a pattern….but you can’t “blame” management..

    Remember we “tried” to get C.C.

    We inquired about Holliday and Fuentes.

    We said if no one else wants Manny we’ll take him for dirt cheap.

    We also tried to acquire some reliever junk with no success.

    The important thing here is that Management tried. (they just dont want to win as bad as the Dodgers, Brewers, Cubs, Mets, or Yankees.

16. Geoff Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 9:25 am

    Why even go after david ross at all? what is the point of that? another high K-rate, low average hitter. we have WAAAY too many of those already. why not just allow marson to be your third catcher sept 1 and expose him to the majors maybe in a few starts as a backup or pinch hitter to limit costes at bats because coste gets worse the more at bats he gets, just like dobbs. its supposed to work the other way arouind, but apparently not with the phillies.

    or, why not bring up jason jaramillo? hes producing the same or better than ross and hes the senior catcher in the minors and should get first crack anyway. whats SO WRONG with that?

    Why do the phillies always do this? bring in more expensive veteran TRASH when you can cheaply fill a gap and get semi-acceptable production from within. PLEASE, DO NOT SIGN DAVID ROSS! it makes no sense at all.

    right-handed, contact hitting bench bat? sure, they need one, they also need someone to spell howard, but i dont really see anybody out there thats decent whos hit the wires yet. im sure a few more guys will be put on waivers, and perhaps one of them would help. this problem is going to have to be addressed in the offseason. you need to make it clear that contact hitting and good situational hitting wins baseball games. not taking golf swing rips everytime up and junk. whoever in this lineup aside from howard and burrell doesnt completely accept that in the offseason and gear their entire preparation towards improving their hitting and fielding fundamentals SHOULD BE IMMEDIATELY TRADED.

    im not going to sit through another season of this offense with the same level of patience.

17. Fred Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 9:34 am

    I’m Ok with Ruiz at catcher. He calls a good game and is pretty good defensively. The 7 and 8 position in the order aren’t the problem with this team. Nor do I have a real problem with JRo – he’s having an average year for him statistically.

    Offensively, Utley and Howard are the engine that drive this team. Both are having off years even though both are among the leaders in HRs and RBIs.

    Perhaps we need a good on-base/contact hitter to start the engine. Someone who hits for average and has a high OBP. Right now our starting nine is without a .300 hitter.

    Or maybe we are one of teams that looks great on paper but then comes up short on the field.

18. Don M Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 9:42 am

    Somebody gave me hell a week ago for laying into Utley a little bit (he had a 12 game hitting streak at the time)… and I said that of course he is our best hitter, and hustles all the time, and he’s awesome.. BUT.. the best hitter on our team needs to start carrying this team, and its starting to become more and more clear that Utley doesn’t want that burden..

    MAYBE Rollins started all that junk as a way to get people to focus solely on him, taking a step back and thinking about it.. there really isn’t a reason to BOO Ruiz or Bruntlett or whoever.. Unless they pop-up a first pitch after a pitcher walked a few guys.. mental errors, etc… But I think that the home crowd will be a little slower to jump on the rest of the team, so maybe Rollins took a calculated risk by having the fans focus their anger on him he allowed the other guys to work through their kinds and get their swings going again..without the wrath of the fans..???

19. OZ Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 9:59 am

    Fred speaks the truth – we shouldn’t be worried about our catchers. If some stats geek ran the numbers, I’d be we’d see that a catcher who keeps his pitchers comfortable, and in turn boasts a good-to-great ERA, that’s gonna be a much bigger (and better) difference in runs as opposed to a lousy defensive catcher who gives you 25 HR’s.

    OWNERSHIP’s fault. Leadership 101 boys and girls – it trickles down from the top…

20. OZ Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 10:01 am

    Mike – just curious: do you really believe management “tried” to get those guys?

    I don’t for a minute, but I long ago gave up any hope on the wormrats who run this inept organization.

21. Fred Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 10:02 am

    Is it me or does Utley appear to be robo-player? Does this guy ever get excited, upset or angry? Half the time it looks like he’s in la-la land. For 7.5 mil I expect that the guy would at least act like he cares.

    On the catcher front, I heard Dutch was planning on spending a few days on Earth next week. Maybe he could fill in.

22. jeff Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 10:41 am

    Guys, marson is hitting .319 in AA and is the organization’s only pospect at catcher. Jaramillo’s not considered a real prospect any more and is hitting mid .260 something with 15 errors. If they want a catcher, bring up Marson and see what he has. Coste can handle being the “starter” for the rest of the year if we have to.

23. Geoff Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 10:44 am

    dude, coste is a horrible starter. the more at bats he gets the less he hits, he starts wildly fishing for pitches out of the zone.

    marson does make more sense but you know, its the phillies.

24. Fred Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 10:54 am

    Again, Marson is only a .274 minor league hitter. Exclude this year and he’s only a .261 hitter. What makes anyone think he’ll be able to hit for average at the major league level? Ruiz hit .300 his last two seasons in the minors and look at him now. And Ruiz is a more than capable major league defensive catcher.

    Why make a change? What can Marson bring to the table more than Ruiz? Hitting? Maybe but doubtful. Defense? Not a chance. So why will Marson be an upgrade? He can’t even crack the Olympic starting nine. Catching is not the problem with this team.

25. Don M Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 10:58 am

    For what its worth… Ruiz strikeout less frequently than those guys..

    Strikeout:

    Ruiz, every 6.83 at bats..

    Jaramillo, every 5.47 at bats..

    Marson, every 4.59 at bats..

    As evidenced by Kendrick last year, defense in the majors IS THAT MUCH BETTER, which means that base hits in the Minors might not translate that way in the Majors.. Considering that Ruiz plays better defense than the other two.. I don’t think he should lose his job because he’s hitting .220 or whatever

    ROSS should not be signed… and I think Marson should get a callup in September, but I don’t think we should expect him to be any kind of star for this team

26. bull Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 10:59 am

    Not sure if he is on waivers or has cleared waivers but they should look at Millar in Baltimore, RH bat that can pinch hit and spell howard with some pop and veteran leadership that they probably really could use right now.

27. Geoff Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 11:00 am

    GIDP is worse than striking out. what are the numbers for the system catchers there?

28. Geoff Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 11:01 am

    i think millar cleared. glue guy, usefull to bostons championship run in 2004.

29. Don M Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 11:03 am

    I think everyone sees that Coste is a nice story.. and has some power off the bench, but he can’t cut it as a starter…

    Ruiz’s bat really shouldn’t be as big an issue as it is, but when the rest of the team gets 3 hits people start looking at each position for an upgrade

30. Geoff Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 11:06 am

    you need the back end of the order to NOT be 3-4 automatic outs, tahts the problem. dobbs and bruntlett as starters are automatic outs, so is ruiz, so is coste. you just cant have that. feliz helps but coste needs to be replaced by a younger catcher who hits for at least a decent average.

31. Geoff Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 11:06 am

    jenkins is another automatic out. cant have it, gotta fix it or get it out of here.

32. Michael Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 11:07 am

    Boy are we beating a dead horse. I agree with Fred that the catching isn’t the problem. Its the big 4. Rollins, Utley, Howard, and Burrell. Of all of them, only Burrell is going to match his average numbers this year. Sure the bench is pathetic which give you no flexibility to juggle the lineup but if the big 4 continue to struggle we are not going to win.
    And oh yes. If you think management wants a contact hitter who won’t strike out and does the right thing, Look at the stadium they built. Remember Polanco?

33. Don M Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 11:08 am

    Marson 10.. (317 at bats)

    Ruiz 11.. (246 at bats)

    Jaramillo 11.. (383 at bats)

    Ruiz does that most frequently of the three catchers.. Jaramillo with the least double-plays per at bat.. BUT.. im not sure who many times they where guys on base and all that stuff either

34. Geoff Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 11:11 am

    yeah the more i think about it, their stadium is really a cancer if they refuse to bring in disciplined hitters. and without discipline in the locker room even disciplined hitters become bad hitters trying to hit home runs all the time. its really not hard to come to the plate, assess the situation, and reach out and flick one into the alley when your team needs it. most teams have at elast one guy that can do that, even bad teams. the coaching is very poor in terms of discipline at the plate. this is the worst plate discipline team i have EVER seen. EVER.

35. Geoff Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 11:12 am

    don..it looks like marson and jaramillo wont be as bad. but it could still be a wash.

36. Fred Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 11:12 am

    Marson has GIDP 10 times this year – Ruiz has 11. Not much difference except that the talent level in AA is obviously less than the bigs. So I would think Marson’s GIDPs would be dramatically higher in the bigs.

37. Fred Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 11:25 am

    How many catchers – young or old – actually hit for ‘average’? I would imagine you could count them on one hand. I believe the first and foremost job of the catcher is to handle the pitchers and play good defense – Ruiz meets both of these requirements.

38. Geoff Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 11:32 am

    napoli, martin, mauer, mccann, doumit, soto, pierzynski, b molina, suzuki just to name a few. theyre all better than chris coste and carlos ruiz

39. Fred Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 11:48 am

    Mauer and McCann are the only two you named who have consistently hit for ‘average’. Good defensive catchers who hit for ‘average’ are rare.

40. Matt Kwasiborski Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 2:30 pm

    Who? and why?

41. Tyler Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 2:30 pm

    Fred, just replying to your earlier post:

    The Dodgers get Maddux – we get Eyre
    The Yanks get Pudge – we get Ross
    The Cubs get Harden – we get Walmond
    The Dodgers get Manny – we get Cervenak

    Is there a pattern here?

    The Mets get Santana – you get Pedro Feliz

42. Don M Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 2:37 pm

    That was the best you could come up with Tyler?? Pedro Feliz, instead of like Kris Benson?

43. Tyler Says:
    August 19th, 2008 at 8:08 pm

    Well, Pedro Feliz was you’re ‘major’ off-season acquisition.

Leave a Reply