A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Matt Winkelman I talk a lot about tiers or groupings of players, and to me there is a distinct drop from 5 to 6 and then from 16 to 17. In a deeper system it would be better if this group started at 10 instead of 6, but this is not a group of bad prospects. What … Read more
To me there is a distinct top 16 prospects in the system and what feels like a drop off in the late 20s. In between those two groups is an interesting set of players. It includes some injured players, some breakouts with questions, and some very flawed players that are one major developmental gain away … Read more
Starting today (January 15, 2025) teams can begin to make signings for the 2025 year. This season’s signings are obviously thrown into chaos by the Roki Sasaki free agency as the Dodgers, Padres, and Blue Jays may all seek to acquire signing money to lure him or sign players they have committed deals too. Additionally … Read more
Ever since the Phillies brought in Dave Dombrowski to run their baseball operations, they have been looking to overhaul the farm system and develop a sustaining long term pipeline. The process involved throwing aside large pieces of the previous framework, many of which have gone on to have success in other organizations, in order to … Read more
Teams in competition windows are usually in the business of reducing their amount of minor league talent. It is the cost of obtaining players from other teams, and with team record and spending tied to how teams acquire amateur talent the pipeline is squeezed as well. The really obvious answer to this problem has always … Read more
Just over a day after indicating that they were done making moves, outside of maybe a swing #5 starter/bullpen arm, the Phillies made a big swing. The big pieces are obviously left handed starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo going from the Marlins to the Phillies, and shortstop prospect Starlyn Caba going from the Phillies to the … Read more
I bet if you gave the Phillies front office truth serum their offseason plan would have involved flipping Alec Bohm, Ranger Suarez, and some non top prospects in a series of move that kept the team fairly still from a talent side, but remade the skillset and timeline of the team. They would have ideally … Read more
The winter meetings ends with the Rule 5 draft and while there was a big trade in baseball, the minor moves still occurred. The day started with the Phillies expected to lose as many as 4 players and in the end they lost the one they expected to lose. Major League Phase Minnesota Twins select … Read more
The Rule 5 draft is the highlight (or really in reality, last) thing of the Winter Meetings, occurring on Wednesday, December 11. Teams must set their 40 man and AAA protection rosters by 6pm EDT on Tuesday, November 19. This makes it a movement day for 40 man rosters across the sport, so it will … Read more
The word “window” is used in sports to describe a period of time in which a team is competitive, hopefully for a championship. The implication of a window is that it is open and then it closes, and in sports terms that means a rebuild, and restarting the cycle again. In most sports, a window … Read more