A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
There is a repeated adage that teams are generally populated by smart people and when they make a puzzling move you should probably take a second look at it and see what the team saw and why they did it. When the Phillies acquired Jonathan Bowlan for Matt Strahm the general consensus was that it … Read more
In a flurry of work before everyone goes home for the holidays the Phillies remade the middle of the bullpen in a set of three moves that really should all be packaged together. In: RHP Brad Keller, RHP Jonathan Bowlan, LHP Kyle Backhus Out: LHP Matt Strahm, OF Avery Owusu-Asiedu The Phillies got about $5M … Read more
Winter Leagues Australian Baseball League Saltiban has been on fire over the last week, but the walk and strikeout numbers are concerning given prior knowledge. Ferrebus is swinging freely and making plenty of contact. He needs to find a better approach, but also he is not striking out either. Joining the Giants this week will … Read more
There will be plenty of time to get into offseason moves, but here the day after a brutal loss in a war of series, here some snap thoughts. Dodgers Pitching Was Incredible and the Phillies Didn’t Hit It Pitchers not named Clayton Kershaw this series: 73.2 IP 51 H 2.69 ERA 26 BB 76 K. … Read more
In 2024, the Phillies went 55-29 (.654, a 106 win pace) over the first 3+ months of the season and went 40-38 (.513, a 83 win pace) over the last 3 months of the season. This has been seen by fans as the portent of doom that affected the Phillies through the 2024 postseason and … 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 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
In 2020 and 2021 the Phillies tried desperately to avoid the luxury tax. It came with increased penalties on qualifying offer free agents and money out of John Middleton and other owner’s pockets for not much gain. In 2022, that changed with Dave Dombrowski getting Middleton to jump over the tax line and take the … Read more
Buddy Kennedy, Kody Clemens, Rafael Marchan, Kolby Allard, Tyler Gilbert, Cal Stevenson, Freddy Tarnok, Jose Ruiz, Rodolfo Castro, Tyler Phillips, Yunior Marte What those 11 players have in common is that they have no more remaining minor league options and no firm grip on a roster spot. The Phillies currently have 43 players occupying 40 … Read more