A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
For the second year in a row Mike Drago of the Reading Eagle asked me to participate in his end of year prospect rankings. The rankings aggregated rankings from bloggers, beat writers, announcers, and those that cover prospects for public sites. You can read about the 2015 list here and I am going to do kind … Read more
The Phillies don’t have the best farm system in baseball, and it is easy to look at a list like this and see a system bolstered mainly by the trade that sent Cole Hamels to Texas. This list does give me a chance to peel back the top of the system a bit to show … Read more
Last part of the series on midseason updates after looking at players off the list on Tuesday and hitters on Wednesday. This time it is pitchers, a position that has become and org focus in the past few years. With quantity comes some quality, but also some players that have dropped off. Up: Ben Lively … Read more
Since I am not doing a full prospect list update until August 1 so I wanted to do an update of sorts at the midway part of the minor league season. Yesterday I wrote about players off of the list who will jump on to the list this year. Today is the chance to talk … Read more
Last year I held off until August 1 to a midseason ranking, with the Phillies big trade chips it made sense to wait to integrate them. This year I am going to hold off until August 1 for a different reason, I want time. Right now the Phillies have not signed all of their draft … Read more
Minor League rosters came out this weekend and there will be plenty of movement and time to talk about who is where and why it matters as we get into the season. For now here is where my preseason Top 50 prospects were assigned, both as the actual list and then by affiliate. J.P. Crawford – … Read more
Ranking season is still going on, and today Baseball Prospectus rolled out their organization rankings. The Phillies ranked #4, their highest ranking yet (BA #8, MLB #7, ESPN #6). Here is what they had to say about the Phillies’ system: These are four very strong systems that just don’t quite have the depth of the … Read more
Just when you thought ranking season might be over another list comes along. This is the first list from 2080 Baseball, a new venture founded by former head of Baseball Prospectus. Their minor league team includes a lot of familiar names from previous scouting teams at places like Baseball Prospectus and Fangraphs. The list this … Read more
The definition of a reliever has changed rapidly recently. Starting pitchers are throwing less, while pitchers overall get more dominant. There has been a velocity spike across all of baseball, throwing in the mid 90s does not make you a major league prospect anymore. To make a major league bullpen, a pitcher has to show … Read more
Starting pitchers are many things in the minor leagues. They can be legitimate starting pitching prospects. They can be future relievers who are still working on getting everything to work before their flaws force them to the bullpen. They can be pitchers with fringe stuff hoping to be at the right place, at the right … Read more