Ever since Roy Halladay‘s injury in 2012 the Phillies have been in a downward spiral of competitiveness. That summer they traded Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence to bolster a very poor farm system. The Phillies finished that year with the 15th worst record in baseball and followed that up with a 7th worst record in baseball the following year. This year they are 67-77 and Ruben Amaro is once again talking about being competitive in 2015, much like he did a year ago. This has caused some outrage among fans who believe everything that Amaro says to be a show of his incompetence. But are the Phillies really harming their potential future by not bottoming out?
Matt Winkelman
J.P. Crawford and Luis Garcia Named Paul Owens Award Winners
Not much to be said about Crawford other than he didn’t put up the best statistical year in the system, but it was an incredible year for the Phillies top prospect and he is near the top prospects in the game. As for Luis Garcia it is certainly an incredible year as his 0.96 ERA … Read more
Phillies Scouting Staff Graduates 13 Players to Majors in 2014
Over the years the Phillies amatuer talent acquisition staff has gotten a lot of crap from fans. I personally think a lot of it is unfounded and comes from a set of unreasonable expectations for the developmental process. The scouting staff has no control over the developmental process, especially after a player is traded to another organization. The staff deserves huge amounts of credit for finding the player in the first place, and with a huge 2014 it is only fair to give them their due.
This is not an indictment of trades that have been made, merely the originally signed players
What to Expect From Maikel Franco
Maikel Franco has been on Phillies fans radar’s for almost 2 years now, ever since he mashed pitching in the Florida State League. There was some clamoring for him to win the third base job out of spring training in 2014, but the Phillies sent him to Lehigh Valley for the season. But now it appears they will be calling up the right-handed third baseman, so who is Maikel Franco, and what should Phillies fans expect from Franco going forward.
Low Minors Starting Rotation Crunch
The Phillies entered the season with one of the thinnest systems in terms of starting pitching in major leagues. Through the draft, international development, and trades the Phillies have turned this weakness into a strength. The result has been starting rotations in the low minors that ended the year in 6 and 7 man rotations … Read more
Fall/Winter League Assignments
We will be tracking the assignments of prospects to winter and fall assignments: All Winter/Fall League stats can be found here Winter League: Maikel Franco – Gigantes del Cibao (DWL) Carlos Tocci – Phillies Complex (Clearwater) Yoel Mecias – Phillies Complex (Clearwater) Jose Pujols – Phillies Complex (Clearwater) Aaron Altherr – Aguilas del Zulia (VWL) William Cuicas – Tigres … Read more
Phillies Acquire Victor Arano to Complete Roberto Hernandez Trade
A couple of weeks ago the Phillies acquired the first of two PTBNL in a trade that sent Roberto Hernandez to the Dodgers, in second baseman Jesmuel Valentin. Today they completed the trade by acquiring 19 year old RHP Victor Arano. Arano is already physically mature for a 19 year old (6’2″ 200lbs) so it … Read more
September 40 Man Roster Implications
This morning at The Good Phight Dan Cormican wrote about some players who could get the call to the big leagues this September, so I am not going to rehash a list of minor leaguers and their chances. Instead lets build on that and talk about the Phillies 40 man roster and what kind of space exists on the roster, what space can be opened up, and then from there everyone can make their guesses and assumptions about who can get called up.
Roman Quinn Headlines Phillies Arizona Fall League Participants
Here is your Phillies Arizona Fall League participants, outside of Quinn there are a lot of relievers trying to get protected from Rule 5 draft.
Roman Quinn – CF – Clearwater – .252/.330/.361 6 HR 30 SBs
Roman Quinn has returned from an Achilles injury better than anyone could have predicted, with his speed still intact. In deference to J.P. Crawford, Quinn has moved to center field and the fall should give him plenty of reps in the outfield. Quinn should be an outstanding defender in centerfield with his elite speed and plus arm. The bat is now the main focus as Quinn will need to become comfortable from both sides of the plate and begin to show more ability to drive the ball.
Phillies Diversify Minor League Talent Acquisition
After half a decade of trading away prospects the Phillies system bottomed out in the winter of 2012-2013. The system lacked impact and it lacked depth. This lead to a large fallow period for the Phillies farm system, one that sat over Clearwater and bled up into the high minors. The Phillies responded to this crisis of depth with high school heavy drafts in 2012 and 2013, and those prospects have been slow to move through the system. The Phillies have started to do something they haven’t done in a long time to help their draft classes, they have started to diversify their talent acquisition.