A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
This year marks the 4th ranking I have done, and each year some parts of the exercise become easier, while others become more difficult. Every year there is something else to learn and explore as the Phillies’ system continues to evolve. Some parts of this become natural and intuitive, but as the system gets deeper, … Read more
Baseball Prospectus is the latest to publish their ranking of the Phillies farm system. Their list represents the first post-Ken Giles trade list, our first chance to see where some think Mark Appel rates. Unlike past years, the BP lists are free, so you can read their writeups of the Top 10, plus five extra … Read more
List season has begun and we kick it all off with Baseball America’s Top 10 prospects (the full Top 30 will release with their book). Before looking at Josh Norris’ list I just wanted to say that there are some definite tiers in the Phillies’ system with a lot of interchangeability. Additionally, there are some … Read more
The League Top 20s come to an end with the strongest AAA list I have ever seen come out. The only players on the list to not play in the majors were Jose Berrios, Robert Stephenson, and Josh Bell. Overall the #1 player on the list should win the AL Rookie of the year and … Read more
Much like Nick Pivetta in the Carolina League, the Phillies acquired some players at the deadline that had some previous pedigree. Today’s group come from the small (but prospect laden) Texas League and were the core of the deal that sent Cole Hamels to Texas to lead the Rangers to the playoffs (though Jerad Eickhoff … Read more
Just because the Phillies did not have an affiliate in the Carolina League did not mean they were not represented. Their trading spree at the trade deadline gained the Phillies’ prospects from across baseball and in this case a hot head closer brought the Phillies back a very interesting arm. 8. Nick Pivetta (RHP) Pivetta … Read more
After a short break the Top 20s continue with the South Atlantic League. The league is how to 14 teams so getting just one or two players on the list can be quite the accomplishment. Lakewood had two prospects made the Top 20, however the two chosen leaves some puzzlement with shortstop Malquin Canelo and … Read more
The League Top 20s march on with the New York Penn League. In general the list tends to be a bit weak outside the top few names. This is because the top HS picks tend to skip over the league, which leaves it with some college draftees who qualify for the innings and PA thresholds, … Read more
Baseball America is starting their league Top 20 prospects. Up today was the GCL, where the Phillies fielded a very competitive team full of high upside prospects lead by #10 overall pick Cornelius Randolph. The Phillies placed 3 players on BA’s list and probably would have had quite a few more had the list gone … Read more
Each year Mike Drago polls people involved with covering the Phillies’ minor league system for their Top 20 prospects and publishes a compiled list with his thoughts for the Reading Eagle. This year he asked if I would like to participate and so I updated my midseason list and sent it in. First lets look at … Read more