A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Matt Winkelman 
Development is not linear. It is easy to look at many in this group of prospects and see disappointment. It is true that some of the prospects in this range dropped off cover the 2017 season, others jumped forward as they started into their pro careers, and two in Victor Arano and Ben Lively made … Read more
It is list time of year again, or in reality we are reaching the end of the list season. I apologize for the late start to this and the lack of content in general. Before getting into the numbers and names, my hope is that I provide you the resources to create your own order … Read more
After finishing up their major league coaching staff last week, the Phillies announced their 2018 minor league coaches and player development staff. The other bit of news is that the Phillies are adding a second GCL team. This move will weaken the talent level of the single GCL team, but will allow the Phillies to … Read more
The minor league season may have wrapped up three months ago, but it is never too late to take a look around at the events of the 2017 season in the Phillies’ system. The Phillies’ rebuild loaded up the upper minors of the system with top prospects, and for the past two seasons Reading has … Read more
Ever since J.P. Crawford broke onto the scene Freddy Galvis’ days at shortstop were numbered. After the Phillies traded Jimmy Rollins in the winter of 2014, Galvis held down the Phillies’ shortstop job. His reputation was for a good glove and not much bat. Galvis’ glove was inconsistent in 2015, but in 2016 and 2017 … Read more
This morning was the Rule 5 draft. As was indicated all week after the Phillies waived Cam Perkins and Engelb Vielma, the Phillies made their selection at #3. They selected Twins former 1st round pick, RHP Nick Burdi. Burdi is a hard throwing reliever with high upside. However, after missing most of 2016 to injury, … Read more
The Winter Meetings end with the Rule 5 draft. The draft is rarely impactful, with probably the best recent player being the Phillies own Odubel Herrera. The next year the Phillies took Tyler Goeddel with the first pick and he completely flamed out. Meanwhile, the Phillies have protected a high percentage of players leading to … Read more
The minor league season may have wrapped up two months ago, but it is never too late to take a look around at the events of the 2017 season in the Phillies’ system. The 2016 Lakewood BlueClaws went on a late season run fueled by elite pitching to reach the South Atlantic League championship series. … Read more
The last week has given us a lot of baseball stories revolving around baseball outside of the United States and it has led me to some thoughts on the whole things. So pardon the rambling. Yesterday the Phillies added 4 Latin American pitchers to their 40 man roster (3 Dominican RHPs and a Venezuelan LHP). … Read more
I wrote earlier today about the players the Phillies could protect and how they could protect them. Here is what the Phillies actually did: Added to 40 man: Seranthony Dominguez, Franklyn Kilome, Jose Taveras, Ranger Suarez Claimed on Waivers: Engelb Vielma Outrighted: Elniery Garcia Designated For Assignment: Mark Appel, Alberto Tirado I don’t have anything to add about the … Read more