A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Matt Winkelman To the frustration of many Phillies fans, the Phillies offseason has consisted mostly of resigning Aaron Nola and making some minor league moves. Fans see players like Ohtani and Soto change organizations without the Phillies involved, and not only a lack of rumors around top free agents, but outright denials from the team, and wonder … Read more
As predicted heading into the Rule 5 Draft the Phillies had an uneventful major league portion of the Rule 5 draft. They did not have any prospects who were likely to help a major league team in 2024 and picking late in a weak draft they decided to not make any selections. The minor league … Read more
The Rule 5 draft is this Wednesday. It is the capstone event of the Winter Meetings for the real sickos out there, but the event itself is often nothing due to the fact that the threat of it forces teams to actually make roster decisions on it. The last few years the Phillies have been … Read more
Yesterday was the deadline for teams to add players to the 40 man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft (and to the AAA roster for the minor league portion, but we don’t actually get that roster). The deadline helps spur movement as teams make decisions about the volatility of their 40 man … Read more
This piece assumes that you have read Robert Orr’s piece on Baseball Prospectus on Corey Seager and how Seager’s swing decisions are elite, so if you have not read that click the link and then come back here. From there Rob walks through various more traditional swing decision metrics before creating a new metric dubbed … Read more
I kicked off this series of musings with some thoughts about money and how it affects the decisions the Phillies can and should make this offseason. Next on the list of thoughts is laying out a general plan or sort of a framework of what they have and what they need to do. A framework … Read more
I am going to blame Destiny Lugardo who got me to actually start writing some offseason stuff with this tweet. Friendly Phillies offseason reminder: It’s not your money! — Destiny Lugardo (@destiny_lugardo) October 30, 2023 She is 100% correct, fans shouldn’t care about efficiency in spending or spending in general, for the most part. However, … Read more
There are many ways to win in the postseason, but in the last few years the trend has emerged that with the way rest days are in the postseason a team can rely on 2 starting pitchers and 2-3 shutdown relievers and ride them through the postseason. It is the model the Phillies took in … Read more
The Arizona Fall League has morphed and changed over the years, but ultimately it is more baseball to be played. It can be a time to catch up on lost time, work with new coaches, or work on something new. Normally the majority of players sent fall into two categories, those that missed time and … Read more
The Clearwater Threshers returned home to BayCare Ballpark on Tuesday night with their season on the line. They Threshers have been the best team in the Florida State League near wire to wire, but much of the team that had carried them to a postseason spot had been promoted to Jersey Shore. Down 1-0 to … Read more