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?
Major Leagues
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
September 40 Man Roster Implications
This morning at The Good Phight Dan Cormican wrote about some players who could get the call to the big leagues this September, so I am not going to rehash a list of minor leaguers and their chances. Instead lets build on that and talk about the Phillies 40 man roster and what kind of space exists on the roster, what space can be opened up, and then from there everyone can make their guesses and assumptions about who can get called up.
Phillies Acquire 2B Jesmuel Valentin for Roberto Hernandez
The first of the two PTBNL for Roberto Hernandez have been revealed, and it is Dodgers’ supplemental first round pick in 2012 Jesmuel Valentin (#51 overall). Valentin is the son of Jose Valentin who played 16 years in the major leagues. As an amateur he played second base next to Carlos Correa, and while there was some chance he would play SS, he has found his natural spot at 2B in the Dodgers system. Baseball America had this to say about him when he was drafted:
Freddy Galvis, Cesar Hernandez and Building the 2015 Bench
There are few things to say positively about the 2014 Philadelphia Phillies season. We’re nearing the final stretch to the season and September promotions should bring about an ounce of excitement for the faithful fans that still decide to watch this team. One area of the ball club that has been abysmal this season along with the previous years has been the bench.
The collective group of John Mayberry, Tony Gwynn, Cesar Hernandez, Wil Nieves and Reid Brignac is a group of mostly below replacement level players that don’t provide value offensively or even defensively. Nieves is the lone exception and works well with the pitching staff.
Offensively, the Phillies rank 24th in major league baseball, with a .245 on base percentage this season when pinch-hitting. They have a collective .542 OPS, 19th in the league. Their bench options lack positional flexibility and they struggle to get on base. Regardless of how the manager plays the matchups beyond John Mayberry against left handed pitchers, there are no strong options that will yield a positive outcome.
Phillies Face Decision With Cody Asche
Cody Asche ripped a slider from Mets closer Jenrry Mejia that sparked a Phillies comeback win Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, in a win that won’t mean much in the short-term. He held a .274/.351/.437 line after a three hit game in a Philadelphia loss against the Miami Marlins on June 23rd and has … Read more
Dodgers PTBNL Target: 1B Cody Bellinger
Earlier today Roberto Hernandez was traded by the Phillies to the LA Dodgers for reportedly two lower lever prospects. Enter 18-year-old 1B prospect Cody Bellinger, who currently is playing at Rookie Ogden for the Dodgers (equivalent to GCL). Bellinger a 4th round pick out of high school in the 2013 stands in at 6′ 4” … Read more
40 Man Roster and Rule 5 Look Ahead
With the trade deadline over and the team struggling it is inevitable we begin to look ahead to the offseason. One of the big events is the Rule 5 draft because the decisions made by the organization reflect their opinions on the players involved. We will go in depth on what cuts make sense to … Read more
Trade Deadline Recap
Ruben Amaro came into the deadline looking to acquire prospects for A.J. Burnett, Antonio Bastardo, and Marlon Byrd. In the end this year, no one traded prospects for major leaguers. Outside of Addison Russell and Jake Thompson, every named prospect has seen their stock plummet this year. For the Phillies trades for under control talent … Read more