SFGate
Reliever Jack Taschner was the longest-tenured Giant on the 40-man roster, a left-hander who persevered through multiple arm surgeries and made it to the majors after a seven-year climb. It was a nice story that ended, not happily, with Taschner traded to the Phillies on Friday.
In return the Giants got Ronny Paulino, a 27-year-old catcher who batted .278 in 304 games for the Pirates from 2005-08. Pittsburgh traded him to Philadelphia in December. The Giants were looking for to upgrade their backup catching.
Taschner, who turns 31 next month, was 8-4 with a 5.01 ERA in 178 games for the Giants since his 2005 debut. He was at times a valuable reliever, but recent struggles with the strike zone troubled management. Over the past two seasons, Taschner walked 53 batters in 98 innings. He had 12 walks in nine innings this spring.
Before spring training, general manager Brian Sabean declared that relievers who do not throw strikes would not be on this team. In Taschner's case, he kept his word. For his part, Taschner was not always thrilled with the way he was used. Last year, he privately complained that one bad outing would land him in the doghouse for days.
Clearly, this is a trade that both sides wanted, and a possible change of scenery was discussed during a recent meeting between Taschner and manager Bruce Bochy. Taschner said he did not specifically ask to be traded.
"This is a good opportunity," Taschner said Friday night. "I get to go to the defending world champs and pitch a little. I get to go back and play with (former teammate) Scottie Eyre. Sometimes you get to a point in your career - I got to a spot where I wasn't getting it done in San Francisco all the time - and you look forward to going to another club.
"Plus you get a new set of eyes to look at you, and a new mentality."
It is unclear if Paulino will be Bengie Molina's backup catcher. Earlier Friday, when this deal clearly had to be in the works, general manager Brian Sabean said he and the staff were considering a two-man catching corps, with Molina as the starter and Pablo Sandoval moving from third to catcher if Molina was removed.
One reason, besides the potential need for a 12th pitcher over a third catcher, would be preventing a weak-hitting backup catcher from moving into Molina's cleanup spot late in games. Paulino's hitting has regressed since his .310 rookie season in 2006. He batted .212 in 118 at-bats for the Pirates last year. This spring for Philly, he hit .194 with 12 strikeouts in 31 at-bats.
Giants officials were not immediately available to comment.
BATS ALIVE: A lineup featuring mostly backups pounded reigning American League Cy Young Cliff Lee for eight runs in five innings in a 10-3 victory over the Indians.
Andres Torres and Eugenio Velez, who might be competing for the same bench job, combined to go 5-for-10 with five runs, two doubles and a triple. Juan Uribe hit two doubles and drove in three runs.
Jonathan Sanchez produced one of the best starts by a Giant this spring. He allowed two runs over seven innings, walked none and struck out six.
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