The Phillies have released the rosters for the Florida Instructional League. This list was originally posted by Jim Peyton of Phuture Phillies.
Matt Winkelman
The Past Week (9-15-2014)
Since it gets kind of quiet here this winter, I am going to be putting up a weekly recap of articles from here and around the internet, as well as the bigger picture long term projects going on behind the scenes.
The Past Week:
- J.P. Crawford and Luis Garcia win Paul Owens Award
- The Future in the Outfield – Phillies Minor Thoughts
- 2015 MLB Draft Rankings, Way-Too-Early Edition – Kiley McDaniel (Fangraphs)
- Rebuilding and Competing Not Mutually Exclusive – Phillies Minor Thoughts
- Scouting Explained: The Mysterious Hit Tool, Pt1 , Pt 2, Pt 3, Pt 4 – Kiley McDaniel (Fangraphs)
- Crawford Stamps Himself As Phillies’ Future – Jim Salisbury (Baseball America)
The Future in the Outfield
Originally this spot was going to be filled by a mailbag, but the overall lack of questions coupled with one intriguing question has taken this in a different direction. Here is the question:
@Matt_Winkelman your projected phillies starting outfield for 2016.
— Jason Polinsky (@Jay_Poozle) September 2, 2014
In itself it is a very simple question that I can give an answer that will likely prove to be false anyway. What makes this question intriguing is that I have started the very early stages of the offseason ranking project. Right now penciled into the Top 20 prospects are 10 outfield prospects, which was very surprising at first, but once you go over the names it makes a good amount of sense of why they are all there. So with that, lets expand the question to what does the projected outfield look like going forward. Since we don’t quite know what free agents will be available, I will touch on the top names that we know of, but I won’t pencil them into the projections, rather I assume you, the reader, will take weaknesses in this projection and dream whatever big name out there you like, that could fill that spot.
Rebuilding and Competing Not Mutually Exclusive
Ever since Roy Halladay‘s injury in 2012 the Phillies have been in a downward spiral of competitiveness. That summer they traded Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence to bolster a very poor farm system. The Phillies finished that year with the 15th worst record in baseball and followed that up with a 7th worst record in baseball the following year. This year they are 67-77 and Ruben Amaro is once again talking about being competitive in 2015, much like he did a year ago. This has caused some outrage among fans who believe everything that Amaro says to be a show of his incompetence. But are the Phillies really harming their potential future by not bottoming out?
J.P. Crawford and Luis Garcia Named Paul Owens Award Winners
Not much to be said about Crawford other than he didn’t put up the best statistical year in the system, but it was an incredible year for the Phillies top prospect and he is near the top prospects in the game. As for Luis Garcia it is certainly an incredible year as his 0.96 ERA … Read more
Phillies Scouting Staff Graduates 13 Players to Majors in 2014
Over the years the Phillies amatuer talent acquisition staff has gotten a lot of crap from fans. I personally think a lot of it is unfounded and comes from a set of unreasonable expectations for the developmental process. The scouting staff has no control over the developmental process, especially after a player is traded to another organization. The staff deserves huge amounts of credit for finding the player in the first place, and with a huge 2014 it is only fair to give them their due.
This is not an indictment of trades that have been made, merely the originally signed players
What to Expect From Maikel Franco
Maikel Franco has been on Phillies fans radar’s for almost 2 years now, ever since he mashed pitching in the Florida State League. There was some clamoring for him to win the third base job out of spring training in 2014, but the Phillies sent him to Lehigh Valley for the season. But now it appears they will be calling up the right-handed third baseman, so who is Maikel Franco, and what should Phillies fans expect from Franco going forward.
Low Minors Starting Rotation Crunch
The Phillies entered the season with one of the thinnest systems in terms of starting pitching in major leagues. Through the draft, international development, and trades the Phillies have turned this weakness into a strength. The result has been starting rotations in the low minors that ended the year in 6 and 7 man rotations … Read more
Fall/Winter League Assignments
We will be tracking the assignments of prospects to winter and fall assignments: All Winter/Fall League stats can be found here Winter League: Maikel Franco – Gigantes del Cibao (DWL) Carlos Tocci – Phillies Complex (Clearwater) Yoel Mecias – Phillies Complex (Clearwater) Jose Pujols – Phillies Complex (Clearwater) Aaron Altherr – Aguilas del Zulia (VWL) William Cuicas – Tigres … Read more
Phillies Acquire Victor Arano to Complete Roberto Hernandez Trade
A couple of weeks ago the Phillies acquired the first of two PTBNL in a trade that sent Roberto Hernandez to the Dodgers, in second baseman Jesmuel Valentin. Today they completed the trade by acquiring 19 year old RHP Victor Arano. Arano is already physically mature for a 19 year old (6’2″ 200lbs) so it … Read more