A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
It is hard during this time of year to interact with prospects without running into a ranking list. This got me thinking about the first ranking I wrote and how results don’t equal the process. I had been writing for Phuture Phillies for a few months and had somehow ended up as the de facto … Read more
One of my favorite parts of doing a Top 50 prospect list is the exercise of statistically breaking down the list. I think it provides a larger snapshot of trends in the system. Because of things like risk, the Top 50 itself slants older and higher level. It also favors starting pitchers to relief pitchers. … Read more
I often get questions about whether the Phillies have elite prospects, prospects that are foundational pieces to the next great Phillies team. The answer is yes, and breaking up the list into groups of 5 highlights this. At this point, there is probably prospect fatigue on J.P. Crawford, Jorge Alfaro, and Nick Williams. Depending on … Read more
The Top 10 prospect list is the most universal ranking, and it is supposed to represent the top of the top. By splitting the Top 10 into two parts, a separation occurs as the elite are removed. As I mentioned in the 11-15 introduction, the prospects ranked 8-10 on this list are part of the … Read more
The top of the Phillies system has some real impact, but what makes it special for me is the group spanning 8 to 15. The whole group is interchangeable, and while I went with 3 younger upside players in the 8-10 spot, I see them as equal in value to me to the 5 players … Read more
This part of the rankings ends the long journey through a tier of prospects. There is not a huge difference between Gamboa at 16 and players 20 spots below him. What these players represent are upside and risk. Players like Ortiz, Gamboa, Stobbe, and Brito could be special, but that time is far away. Mark … Read more
The key to a healthy farm system is adding talent through every method possible. These 5 are not that example. These are 5 players that point to the value of patience. All were signed between July 2 and December 31 of 2011 out of Latin America. The Phillies signed 4 of them and traded for … Read more
The Top 30 has become the standard of prospect lists. It is often a natural cut off when systems start to transition into filler. For the Phillies system, the gap from 31 to 30 is not a gaping chasm. However, we start to really get hints at what lies at the top. There are prospects … Read more
Being a major leaguer has value, even if the player is not a particularly good major leaguer. For three players here they could be very valuable to a team, or just a value compared to the peers on this list of won’t make the majors. The margin between those two things is very small for … Read more
Part of ranking players is knowing you are going to be wrong and potentially very wrong. I know someone in this group is going to make me look stupid. The problem with highly volatile young players is that it is really hard to protect physical growth and coaching from an outside point of view. What … Read more