Phillies trade catcher Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz to the Dodgers!

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The Philadelphia Phillies have traded catcher Carlos “Chooch” Ruiz and cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers, for catcher AJ Ellis, right hander Tommy Bergjans, and a player to be named later.

The trade will reunite Ruiz with his 2008 World Series Champion teammate Chase Utley as members of the Dodgers, and allow him to chase another post season appearance and World Series ring.

In 48 games (165 AB’s) as a backup catcher for the Phillies, Ruiz was hitting .261 (.368 OBP/.352 SLG / .719 OPS) with 3 homers and 12 RBI’s. He also had a good walk — strikeout ratio : walking 24 times, striking out 28 times. Ruiz is under team control for next season with a $4.5 million option, or can be bought out for $500,000. Ruiz will now back up catcher Yasmani Grandel on the Dodgers.

The Phillies posted a nice “Thank You Chooch” tribute video on their Twitter account :

As for the return, the Phillies receive 35 year old AJ Ellis, a veteran catcher hitting .194 ( .285 OBP/.252 SLG / .537 OPS) with 1 home run and 13 RBI’s. He has a lesser walk — strikout ratio : drawing 16 walks while striking out 24 times. He has also been Clayton Kershaw’s personal catcher this season. Ellis is a free agent after the season and with the Phillies having Jorge Alfaro and Andrew Knapp waiting in the wings, it is probably doubtful that they re-sign him.

In 23 year old Tommy Bergjans, the Phillies get a right handed pitcher with some upside. He has been pitching for the Dodger’s High A Rancho-Cucamonga in the California League this season. Although he has an underwhelming 3–13 record with a 4.98 ERA, he has only issued 29 walks while striking out 133 (ranking second), with a 1.28 WHIP, while averaging six innings a start ( 24 games/21 starts/130 innings pitched).