Hot Stove Notes: Chooch, Cruz, Beltran, Morse

Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly reported today that catcher Carlos Ruiz is the catcher the Phillies want most, citing his right-handed bat and his familiarity with the pitching staff.  Salisbury reports that in addition to the Phillies, the Red Sox and Rockies are known to have called Chooch. The Rockies, as we found out early this week, are interested in bringing in Ruiz on a multi-year deal.

Some other tidbits floating around today:

• Ruben Amaro has acknowledged internal discussions about making a trade offer for David Price, but Ken Rosenthal, like everyone else, believes the Phillies are simply too thin to trade for Price. Rosenthal thinks a deal would start with Domonic Brown and Jesse Biddle. I’m not sure the Phillies can add to that too much or, more specifically, compete with other team’s offers.
• According to Todd Zolecki, the Phillies have already made a number offers to “several” free agents. Zolecki speculates Nelson Cruz, Carlos Beltran, and Mike Morse are among the players that have been contacted.