A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Matt Winkelman 
The Top 50 starts at the very bottom, where the differences in rankings are very slight compared to the differences between players towards the top of the list. That does not mean it lacks for talent, but these ten players still have a lot growth in front of them before we can consider them among the … Read more
There seems to be no better time to kick off the most ambitious ranking project I have undertaken than the beginning of the year. The whole exercise was both very exhausting and fun, and I am very excited to share the finished product with everyone. Before moving into the actual ranking, I just wanted to … Read more
Vacation is over, so it makes it time to jump into a brand new year of baseball. The only big news over the past two weeks was the Marlon Byrd trade (which I coveredBen Lively from Reds for Marlon Byrd” href=”https://philliesminorthoughts.com/phillies-ben-lively-from-reds-for-marlon-byrd/”> here), so there is not a lot to recap. But lets recap the minor … Read more
The last piece that Amaro had to move this offseason was Marlon Byrd, and given the amount of interest to this point a trade seemed almost certain. The trade ended up being Byrd plus a pile of cash to Cincinnati for RHP Ben Lively. Byrd should slot into LF for a Reds team that seems … Read more
I will be returning back to the Philadelphia area for the holidays, which means family, food, drink, and hopefully relaxation. I will be taking a break from writing, outside of any breaking news and possibly work on the Top 50 (which will begin either the first or second week of January), so as long as … Read more
Rollins Trade: The Jimmy Rollins trade is now official. I posted my thoughts about the deal back when the players were first hinted at, and how Eflin and Windle will fit into the Phillies newly found pitching depth. I will start by saying I like this deal for the Phillies. As Amaro stated “This transaction … Read more
While we wait for the Jimmy Rollins trade to happen, there are still Phillies prospects playing around the world. Here is a quick look at the best and most interesting lines going on in winter ball. Odubel Herrera – 2B/OF – VWL G AB HR SB BB K AVG OBP SLG 48 185 5 7 … Read more
I have heard a lot lately about how bad the Phillies farm system is, and frankly it bugs the crap out of me, so you all get to join me on the exploration process. Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus, and Fangraphs have put out varying amounts of lists, so we are going to compare them to … Read more
Both Zach Eflin and Tom Windle were not eligible for the list because the Jimmy Rollins trade has not been officially finished. Also due to BA’s publishing deadlines neither will appear in the book on the Phillies list, and will be listed for the Padres and Dodgers respectively. Today Baseball America released their Phillies Top 10 prospect … Read more
The biggest weakness in the Phillies system coming into the 2014 season (outside a general lack of talent) was that their minor league system was out of arms, and especially healthy starting pitchers. My Top 30 Prospect list coming into the season featured a grand total of 8 pitchers, of which 6 were starters. Of … Read more