BY SCOTT LAUBERCLEARWATER, Fla. -- Having already determined that catcher Ronny Paulino isn't going to turn into everything they had hoped when they traded for him in December, the Phillies turned Paulino into the left-handed reliever for whom they have been looking.
In a deal that was finalized late tonight, Ruben Amaro Jr. swapped Paulino to the San Francisco Giants for Jack Taschner, who will serve as the Phillies' second lefty reliever, at least until J.C. Romero returns from a 50-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance. Scott Eyre is the incumbent left-hander in the bullpen.
"We've been looking for some left-handed depth, and we're hopeful that [Taschner] can provide that for us," said Amaro, reached moments ago by phone. "We'll see how it works out, but we figured he'd be a good risk to put in the mix to help us."
Taschner, 30, went 3-2 with a 4.88 ERA in 67 games for the Giants last season, and in 16 appearances against NL East teams, he was 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA. But he isn't regarded as a lefty specialist. Last year, left-handed hitters batted .279 against him, and for his career, he has been far tougher on right-handed hitters (.247) than lefties (.288).
He also fits into the Phillies' payroll. Taschner is due to make $830,000 this season, less than what left-hander Will Ohman is believed to be seeking on the free-agent market. The Phillies had some interest in Ohman during the offseason. Lefty reliever Joe Beimel recently got a one-year, $2 million contract from the Washington Nationals.
The Giants made Taschner available after he posted a 6.23 ERA in eight Cactus League appearances, and the Phillies were similarly disappointed in Paulino after acquiring him in a Dec. 10 trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates for minor-league catcher Jason Jaramillo.
Paulino, 27, was expected to challenge incumbent Chris Coste for the backup catcher job. And although Coste was slowed last month by a hamstring strain and is batting .095 (2-for-21) this spring, Paulino was batting only .194 with one home run in 13 Grapefruit League games. After Thursday's game, Charlie Manuel was critical of Paulino's approach at the plate, calling him "stiff."
"Coste is a better fit for us," Amaro said. "We just felt more comfortable with Coste as the backup."
(Updated, 10:57 p.m.): Andrew Baggarly, the Giants beat writer for the San Jose Mercury News, spoke to Taschner and posted some comments to his blog. The highlights: "I'm excited for the opportunity," Taschner said. "I get to play with Scotty (Eyre) again. He was huge in my first year in the big leagues. He helped me in a lot of ways. I'm looking forward to meeting new teammates and a new coaching staff and hopefully pitching well. ... Any time you can get a new set of eyes, a new point of view and hear new terminology on the way you're pitching, it's always a good thing. I expect that will be a good thing for my career."
No comments:
Post a Comment