Adios, Ron Paul.

No, not this Ron Paul. The Pirates' backup catcher who forgot how to hit and field like a major leaguer somewhere between 2006 and 2007.

Enter Jason Jaramillo, who is basically the same player with (hopefully) a better attitude.

Also, here's Eric Seidman's take (basically Phillie-centric) at Fangraphs.

Personally, I'm not shedding any tears now that Paulino is officially gone. I had expected him to be dealt sometime before spring training, since he had made it clear he had no interest in contributing to the team, and turned it on in fall ball (presumably) for the purpose of increasing his trade value.

Jaramillo is an upgrade mostly for psychological reasons, but he does get on base at a decent clip (for a catcher), and between him and Robinzon Diaz, we seem to have a couple decent options for a backup catcher. Of course, that's more than a small concern, given the injury history of Ryan Doumit. It's a minor deal, and I'm fine with it.

Of course, that will surely anger many who expect the Pirates to undo recent history by making a big splash at the Winter Meetings every year. The fact that this is the only trade executed so far will not soothe their anger, to be sure, and will only help to pour gasoline on that raging fire.

Honestly though, what more could be expected from a team that has little to offer at the major league level? There's no chance of any small-market team landing any of the big free agents (Sabathia, Teixeira, Ramirez, etc.), and when you don't want to trade what little minor league talent you have (since you just drafted them), or the fairly talented major league players you have control over for multiple years (since you'd get basically the same thing in return), the best you can do is try and sign a lesser name free agent for less than they're worth (like the Tigers did with Adam Everett) to fill a gap until you can improve at that position internally.

Of course, that doesn't make headlines, and just angers your already insane fan base. These are the reasons why I don't envy Neal Huntington. We'll see what happens tomorrow in the Rule V draft, and the free agent market over the next two months.