Chooch Traded to Dodgers

2012 Phillies Fan Appreciation Day #9

We took a quick, two-day trip to Washington, D.C. this past week where we toured the city and took in two Nationals games.  While at Nationals Park on Thursday night, sitting at the rooftop deck prior to the ballgame, I checked my Twitter feed and was stunned to see the Tweets coming through that the Phillies long-time catcher and a fan favorite, Carlos Ruiz, had been traded to the Dodgers.

I'm slightly numb to this type of thing by now, having endured the Jimmy Rollins, Cole Hamels and Chase Utley trades, but it still caught me off guard and I still managed to get nostalgic for the wonder years as I thought about Chooch moving on.  I completely get the move (from the Phillies standpoint) and I hope the trade affords Ruiz the chance for one more shot at the postseason.

2014 Topps Heritage #22

Coming to the Phillies from the Dodgers is catcher A.J. Ellis, who has spent his entire 13-year professional career within the Dodgers organization.  One of Clayton Kershaw's closest friends, Ellis has served as the ace's personal catcher.  The trade of Ellis has seemingly brought nothing but negative comments from the Dodgers players and their fan base.  I totally get this too, and the move is beyond bizarre from the Dodgers standpoint.  Statistically speaking, Ruiz is a slight upgrade to Ellis but trading your unofficial clubhouse leader in the middle of a pennant race is baffling.

From a cardboard perspective, I'll feature a final tribute post to Chooch featuring a gallery of his Topps flagship cards.  Ellis has appeared on mainstream Topps products since 2012 and his sole 2016 baseball card to date can be found within the Topps Now set, limited to 261 copies.  The other known player coming to the Phillies is pitcher Tommy Bergjans, who has only appeared within Dodgers minor league team sets to date.

With Chooch's departure, only Ryan Howard remains from the 2008 World Championship team.

Here's an updated look at the Phillies in-season comings and goings so far, with potentially more moves on the way before the 2016 season is in the books.

Departed During the 2016 Season

• Daniel Stumpf - lhp (7/25/16) - Returned to the Kansas City Royals.
• Andrew Bailey - rhp (8/6/16) - Released and signed by the Los Angeles Angels to a minor league contract, 8/13/16.
• Brett Oberholtzer - lhp (8/6/16) - Designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Angels, 8/9/16.
• David Lough - of (8/22/16) - Released.
• Carlos Ruiz - c (8/25/16) - Traded with cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers for A.J. Ellis, Tommy Bergjans and a player to be named later.

Arrived During the 2016 Season

• Jimmy Paredes - of (6/1/16) - Purchased from the Toronto Blue Jays.
• Phil Klein - rhp (6/19/16) - Claimed off waivers from the Texas Rangers.
• A.J. Ellis - c (8/25/16) - Acquired with Tommy Bergjans and a player to be named later from the Los Angeles Dodgers for Carlos Ruiz and cash.