A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Matt Winkelman I have agonized about nothing more this offseason than the order of these three hitters. Ultimately, the order does not matter in terms of value, it is really all about the same. The reason it is agony is because it is close, but also it is because it is about the hardest thing to judge, … Read more
The Phillies system has a clear number 1 prospect, and for me a clear 2 and 3, followed by prospects 4, 5, and 6. There are some that disagree with the 3-6 order, but the top 6 are likely to universally be the top 6 on all lists. The gap to this group is a … Read more
When someone offers something risky we expect the other side of the equation to be some sort of reward. The same is true in baseball, if I say a prospect is at an extreme or high risk of not achieving their ceiling, it is much easier to accept that risk if the payoff is a … Read more
I already used the purgatory or waiting room analogy (or will later use it if you are coming to this late and starting from the beginning), so I won’t use it again. This group of 5 prospects are sort of a spectrum of the Phillies prospect experience. There is an older player who has broken … Read more
The bulk of any minor league system ranking like this is going to be made up of players with a major league upside, but with a low probability of achieving that outcome. It could be because they are so young and far away that they do not yet have the skills, and while the hints … Read more
Another year, another list. After an unexpected run through the postseason to the World Series, the way Phillies prospects viewed changes dramatically. No longer are prospects the future of the franchise on which hopes and dreams are solely placed. They are now pieces of a whole. Andrew Painter will have the weight of expectations upon … Read more
As detailed in the Rule 5 draft preview, the Phillies gambled that a handful of interesting prospects would not be the most interesting prospects available in the draft. That gamble paid off as no Phillies were selected in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft. That means Erik Miller, Carlos De La Cruz, … Read more
The Rule 5 draft is the last major event of the Winter Meetings. The Phillies made their lone protection (Johan Rojas) a couple of weeks ago and without the Trea Turner signing official have a 40 man roster at 38 names leaving two spots available. Since the draft last happened, circumstances have changed around it. … Read more
Next Tuesday all teams will need to add any prospects they want to protect from the Rule 5 draft to their 40 man rosters. The Phillies have largely made moves at the deadline (Brown and O’Hoppe) and during the season (Guthrie and Hall) that have decreased the number of players that are in contention for … Read more
Yesterday, I kicked off the offseason by resetting the 40 man roster, and surprise I decided to write two days in a row and break up sort of the offseason moves portion into the obvious and the crazy, and start with the obvious. These are the moves that sort of must happen. Now some have … Read more