A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
Every couple of days I open up the Phillies’ roster and check for any new non-roster invites and overall just look for writing inspiration. With all the roster turnover this exercise has taken on a new turn with the the game “Who do I find on the roster and have to ask ‘Where did this … Read more
The Phillies have been slowly adding non-roster invites to big league camp from outside the organization, and today we get the internal candidates. Last year the Phillies invited almost no prospects who were not on the 40 man roster to big league camp, though Severino Gonzalez, Aaron Nola, and Zach Eflin all did start big … Read more
We always want to win all trades, whether it is our favorite professional team or it is the deal we just made with a child about their bedtime. But what is winning a trade? Is it having it work out better for you, or is it just being in a better place than before? Do … Read more
The goal of any free agent on the open market is to maximize their earning potential. This is a balance between guaranteed money and future contracts if that player improves (which is why player opt outs have become so popular). This means that free agents on the fringes of the market are incentivized to push … Read more
The answer to the big question, is of course that the 2016 Phillies are still bad. They went 63-99 last year, they traded a good player and brought in a lot of meh players and a ton of youth. But this team also went 34-37 over the second half of the year after a disastrous … Read more
So it is still December, and the Phillies didn’t really change their core, but over the last week things got a bit crazy. So let’s just take a step back and figure out where we stand and who is still actually on the team, and could break camp on opening day. Locks: Hitters: Carlos Ruiz, Cameron … Read more
The Phillies are young, the Phillies are starting to get exciting, and the Phillies have a lot of money to spend. That makes a lot of people gravitate to the youngest big name free agent on the market in Jason Heyward. There is a lot to like about Heyward, he is 26, he has put … Read more
The bullpen was far from the Phillies’ biggest problems during the 2015 season. It was no large on talent and often was forced into using inferior pitchers due to a pitiful starting rotation. But with the departures of Jake Diekman and Jonathan Papelbon (and to a much lesser extent Justin De Fratus) the bullpen was … Read more
There is a school of thought that says the road to contention for a team is linear with the team advancing little by little each year until success is assured. This theory been debunked by many teams over the year who seemingly leap to contention from nowhere. Now this doesn’t mean the Phillies can jump … Read more
It is November, we are still 4.5 months from the start of the season, and yet the Phillies’ opening day roster is pretty well set. Even with a new GM, the events of the 2015 season have set the course of the offseason. In figuring out what is locked in, we can figure out what … Read more