Matt Winkelman

Matt is originally from New Jersey, but after a 4 year side track to Cleveland for college he now resides in Madison, WI. His work has appeared on Baseball Prospectus, Crashburn Alley, Phuture Phillies, The Good Phight, and TheDynastyGuru.

Rule 5 and 40 man Roster Preview

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We are about a month out from the deadline for the Phillies to add players to the 40 man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft.  The promotions of Maikel Franco and Ken Giles during the season eliminated two of the most interesting names needing protection, but there are still plenty of decisions that need to be made.  Currently the Phillies roster is at 39 players, some will move on as free agents, others will be cut, and a small group might even get traded.

Roster Locks (21): David Buchanan, A.J. Burnett, Justin De Fratus, Jake Diekman, Ken Giles, Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, Cole Hamels, Mario Hollands, Cliff Lee, Ethan Martin, Jonathan Pettibone, Carlos Ruiz, Cody Asche, Maikel Franco, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Aaron Altherr, Marlon Byrd, Kelly Dugan, Ben Revere, Domonic Brown

I think there is a good chance that any of Burnett, Hamels, Byrd, and Brown aren’t back next year.  This is more showing that if they are moved it will be a player outside of the org sliding right into that 40 man spot.  In other words they aren’t going to free up space.

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Phillies Release 9 Minor Leaguers

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According to Baseball America’s Transaction Report the Phillies have released nine minor leaguers.  They are RHP Mark Meadors, RHP Gregorio Santos, RHP Jeb Stefan, LHP Francibel Alejo, 2B Olvy Marte, 2B Robinson Torres, 3B Trey Williams, SS Anthony Phillips, and OF Nick Ferdinand.  We don’t know if all of these were involuntary (sometimes a player … Read more

The Past Week 10-17-2014

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The Past Week:

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Baseball America Phillies Draft Report Card

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Contrary to the name the BA draft Report Cards contain no grades, no comparisons, and to someone familiar with the Phillies system it is not going to add a lot to your knowledge.  But the report cards are always fun little snapshots looking back at this past June.  So here are some of the superlatives … Read more

Ranking Retrospective: The Evolution of the Top 10

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The most scrutinized part of any prospect ranking is the Top 10 and then the last 1-2 spots on the list.  The latter is because we want to argue for someone who missed the list, but the former is what I am interested in.  Everyone ranks at least a Top 10, and this makes the easiest to compare one list against another.  In this case we are going to compare three lists, all by the same writer.  I have been ranking Phillies prospects since after the 2012 season, so here is my 2012 and 2013 published Top 10s and the first draft of the 2014 Top 10 (which is subject to lots of change over the 4+ months until I release it).

2012 2013 2014
Jesse Biddle Maikel Franco J.P. Crawford
Adam Morgan Jesse Biddle Aaron Nola
Roman Quinn J.P. Crawford Maikel Franco
Tommy Joseph Carlos Tocci Roman Quinn
Ethan Martin Kelly Dugan Jesse Biddle
Maikel Franco Aaron Altherr Kelly Dugan
Cody Asche Roman Quinn Deivi Grullon
Carlos Tocci Deivi Grullon Yoel Mecias
Jonathan Pettibone Ethan Martin Carlos Tocci
Shane Watson Cord Sandberg Matt Imhof

Lets take a look at this spot by spot and see how it compares over the years:

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Maikel Franco named #4 Prospect in the International League

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Today Baseball America named Maikel Franco the #4 prospect in the International League.  He comes in behind Gregory Polanco, Mookie Betts, and Francisco Lindor.  For those that thought Franco would build on a breakout 2013 and rocket to the majors 2014 will be viewed as a disappointment.  Instead AAA proved to be a steep learning … Read more

Jason Zgardowski Pitching in Instructional Leagues

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As those that read this blog are aware of the Phillies signed a couple of undrafted free agents this summer.  One of those was Jason Zgardowski a 6’5″ RHP, who just turned 21 about 3 weeks ago.  This weekend he posted the following video of him pitching against the Baltimore Orioles in the Florida Instructional … Read more

The Past Week 10-10-2014

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The Past Week: The Phillies hired a new head of Amatuer Scouting J.P. Crawford was named the #2 Prospect in the Florida State League Affiliate Recaps wrapped up with Lehigh Valley Ranking Retrospective (Slow Growth and Consensus Rankings) Minor League Org Rankings (C, 1B, 2B) – Jay Polinsky (The Good Phight) 2014 Phillies Report Cards (Mario … Read more