A special treat for you today as I exchanged emails and questions with James over at PhuturePhillies about our newest acquisition(for the next few hours at least) and got his thoughts on Jaramillo.
Click the link to shoot over there to see my answers to his questions on Ronny Paulino.
I have also added them to the links page as well.
That will help keep an eye on some of our favorites that have passed through from Lakewood,such as Dominic Brown.
TRS:I saw Jaramillo play several times here (Hagerstown) with Lakewood.
He seemed to be solid defensively and had quick feet.
Is that pretty accurate?
James:Defense has been his calling card since he was drafted. There was one suspect report in 2006 I want to say that said he was having some issues defensively in terms of his positioning/blocking balls in the dirt, but nothing else ever came of it. He was basically viewed as a defense first guy who might hit for average.
TRS:I saw Lou Marson here as well and his tools far exceeded those of Jaramillo.
Did Marson pass Jaramillo as a prospect immediately or more as he climbed the ladder??
James:Yeah, this is accurate, Marson definitely bypassed him this season, and if we're looking at overall prospect value, he was also bypassed by Travis D'Arnaud, a supplemental 1st round pick in 2007. The Phillies chose to add Marson to the 40 man roster and call him up in September despite Jaramillo already being on the 40 man, so that was kind of the writing on the wall for JJ.
TRS: Normally,when players repeat levels their offensive numbers improve.
Jaramillo's remained roughly at the same level,albeit on a bad team.
In your opinion,is this what we can expect from him- .260 and 5 Hrs???
James:Its really tough to figure out what happened, as Lehigh Valley got off to a terrible start before recovering. The team was filled with minor league mercenaries for the most part, with Jaramillo and JA Happ the only real prospects of note until Carlos Carrasco arrived late in the season. After a terrible start (.193 in April), he hit .284 from May till the end of the year. In the big leagues, I'd project him as a .270/.335/.390 type guy, maybe 20 doubles, 5-6 HR and solid defense.
TRS:Throwing wise,do you consider his arm highly above average or slightly above average?
With Doumit as the main catcher with defensive skills that are often lacking,Pittsburgh seems to be need of a backup that has the ability to gun runners down occasionally-your thoughts?
James:His arm is above average, from all accounts, and from the times I've actually seen him catch and throw, I didn't notice a lot of sailing or tailing on his throws. He threw out 26% of attempted base stealers in 2008, but its really tough to know how much of that has to do with the catcher and how much has to do with pitchers not holding runners, things like that. I feel he'll definitely be major league average defensively.
TRS: The Pirates have said that Jaramillo has obtained mainly because of John Russell's familiarity with him from their Ottawa days and would compete with Robinzon Diaz for the backup role.
Not sure on your knowledge of Diaz,but would you give the edge to Jaramillo against him and why???
James:I'm vaguely familiar with Diaz. He's got a decent arm if I remember correctly, but I know he DH'ed quite a bit in 2008, and some in 2007, so I wonder about his defense. I know he has the strong arm, but there's more than that to it. He might have a bit more pop in his bat than JJ, but I think as a whole, Jaramillo has a slightly better overall package.
TRS:Was this basically that the Phils thought they could lose him in tomorrow's Rule 5 draft or more along the lines of getting value for him now before he could lose some in 2009??
James:Well, Jaramillo was already on the 40 man roster, so he wasn't at risk of being taken. I think they basically viewed him as being very similar to Ruiz, ie, a defense first guy. I think they might view Paulino as having a bit more offensive upside, and if I read it right somewhere else, he's having a good year in Winter Ball. My guess is that Chris Coste is going to either be non-tendered/traded, and Paulino will assume the backup role. The front office feels Marson might need more time in the minors, and this will allow him to play every day at AAA.
Thanks to James for the time.
We could be back later if the Pirates select someone in the Rule 5 draft and add some comments!
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