Carlos Ruiz

In spring training, the Phillies lack of depth was laughable. Really. Legitimate punch line. But if you look around, this club seems an awful lot like one with options. Behind the plate, they've got Carlos Ruiz and Erik Kratz, maybe Brian Schneider...

AUDIO (CSN Philly): Carlos Ruiz: Inspirational. (So long as he's not nervous.) Also shorthand for "comfort" for Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon

AUDIO (ESPN): In clowing on the weekend’s top slop series, John Kruk concedes that fifth place in the NL East is exactly . Karl Ravech asks the white elephant question — “Yeah, so they’re probably not making the playoffs, huh...

AUDIO (NFL.com): If this is how Mike Vick sounded when talking about his talk to first-years at the NFL Rookie Symposium Monday, imagine how it must've felt to hear the real thing. (More here.) AUDIO (CSN Philly): Speaking of chills: Chase Utley , sends entrepreneuring authors scrambling to publishers for first dibs on book deal rights...

It's a simple question. Should Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz be an MVP Candidate?

Maybe Ruben Amaro isn't the wunderkid we thought he was.