A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Matt Winkelman 
Each year fan bases get excited about the prospects they will get back in deals, they pour over top prospect lists dreaming about the potential returns. The truth is much more stark, there haven’t been franchise players moved, and when they have they have been far away from the majors. It is extremely rare that … Read more
This morning at 9am the July 2 signing period opened. The Phillies have been linked to 3 SSs and a catcher, all should get mid-six figure bonuses. I will update this thread as signings come in. Bonus Pool: $3,221,800 Confirmed Signings: $2,540,000 The Phillies Sign SS Arquimedes Gamboa for $900,000 Gamboa was Baseball America’s #8 … Read more
On July 2 the International signing period opens for players over the age of 16, those turning 16 over the next few months while become eligible as they turn 16. Over the past 3 signing periods the Phillies have spent a lot of their budgets on Carlos Tocci, Jiandido Tromp, Deivi Grullon, Jose Pujols, Luis … Read more
Yesterday the Phillies announced that Jesse Biddle was being placed on the temporary inactive list. About 4 weeks ago Biddle was hit on the head with a piece of hail that caused him a concussion, the Phillies skipped a start and then he was cleared to pitch again. He has since pitched 15.2 innings over … Read more
I could tell you a bunch of box score scouting tidbits about what each player is doing, but you can do that on your own. So rather than that, here are some tweets by guys watching the players. They can tell you a lot more than me paraphrasing their work. Miguel Nunez (Clearwater) Miguel Nunez … Read more
MLB has announced that Clearwater shortstop, and Phillies 2013 1st Round Pick J.P. Crawford and Lehigh Valley 1B/3B Maikel Franco will be representing the Phillies at the Futures Game. Crawford will be joining Dodgers shortstop prospect Corey Seager as the shortstops on the American team. Crawford hit .295/.398/.405 in 60 games for the Lakewood Blueclaws … Read more
Most of the draft picks are signed so it is time to revisit the preseason rankings. It is still a small sample size, and an even smaller one for those newly drafted, so this list may be a bit conservative on any large scale changes. In general the system is heading in the right direction, … Read more
July 2 is coming up quickly, and frankly I can’t tell you who the Phillies are going to sign. I do know they have been linked to 3 players: a bat first catcher, a glove first shortstop, and a hit first SS, who is probably a center fielder. The bonuses should all be under $1 … Read more
Coming into 2013 Yoel Mecias was on the fringes of Phillies prospect discussions. There were reports of a skinny Venezuelan lefty with a fastball up to 94 and a nice looking changeup, and this for a kid coming off a year where he put up a line of 2.16 ERA 2.4 BB/9 7.3 K/9 over … Read more
The big news coming out this weekend is that Phillies first round pick (#7 overall), Aaron Nola will make his pro debut with the Clearwater Threshers today. On the mound Nola will bring a fastball that sits 91-94 but touches 96 when he needs it. He has shown the ability to command the fastball around … Read more