Trade Talk Tuesday: Ronny Paulino Headed to Philadelphia
In our new series Trade Talk Tuesday, we will examine some of the best, worst, and middle of the road trades in Pittsburgh Pirates history. Today, we look at the trade that sent Ronny Paulino to the Philadelphia Phillies and brought back a catching prospect that would make an impact in the Major Leagues. The Pittsburgh Pirates have not had a lot of catching depth over the years and have always seemed to have to go outside of the organization looking for the help they needed. At the end of the 2008 season, the Pirates were left with a dilemma behind the plate. Catching prospect Ryan Doumit was starting to emerge as the team's starting catcher and veteran Ronny Paulino was seeing his career start to spiral downward. Paulino wasn't happy about the drop in playing time, and the Pirates didn't have a variable back-up option in the Minor Leagues. The Pirates had been shopping Paulino the entire off-season, and it wasn't until the Winter Meetings that they found a partner. Th...