A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
The Phillies have traded left handed reliever Antonio Bastardo to Pittsburgh for . Bastardo has been one of the most inconsistent and maddening LHPs over his 5 years in Philly due to his high walk rate and proclivity for blow up innings. But he has been flat out dominant at times and his near the … Read more
The Rule 5 draft wraps up the winter meetings tomorrow. The Phillies finalized their 40 man protections almost a month ago and look to be more in the category of picking players over being picked. However, the Rule 5 draft is weird and scouts sometimes see players in a different role going forward than what … Read more
Kiley McDaniel at Fangraphs released his top Phillies prospect list. There is a lot to the article and you can read it all here, as Kiley has a writeup and video on each ranked player. I am just going to run down the list and then give some thoughts about it at the end. J.P. … Read more
Starting pitcher Cole Hamels is the Phillies top option on the trade market as the Winter Meetings get underway in San Diego. Chase Utley likely isn’t getting moved either due to his desire to stay in Philadelphia. Jonathon Papelbon could also begin the 2015 season pitching at Citizens Bank Park and GM Ruben Amaro will … Read more
Last week we looked at the team roster and the past few Rule 5 drafts. Today lets look at players available and later this week we will take one last look at what the Phillies have left exposed in the draft. Some quick stats to keep in mind: Since 2004 only 4 position players who … Read more
Today Jessica Jensen (@JessicaFastball) interviewed me for her #BehindTheSeams interview series on Twitter. The series is interviews with people primarily around the game of baseball, really highlighting the dynamics and personal stories of the people involved and discussing topics normally outside of our normal conversation. Jessica is well worth the follow overall and the entire #BehindTheSeams series … Read more
Today MLB.com released their first go at a top 50 for the 2015 MLB draft. As most of you know, it is way too early to be slotting guys in to their final roles and draft places, but it is nice list to start getting used to some names. Some guys will rise and some … Read more
Chris Crawford who writes about the draft for ESPN and writes both about the draft and the minor leagues at his own site Draft to the Show has released a list of his top 15 Phillies prospects. The full list can be found here and you should go read Chris’ comments. J.P. Crawford Aaron Nola … Read more
Before discussing the players available in the Rule 5 draft we need to know where the roster stands now and what past Rule 5 drafts have looked like. As we go through this exercise there are some things to remember. The first is that roster spots are finite and valuable. The second is that modern … Read more
So now that Yasmany Tomas has signed a contract, the next big unknown is Cuban teenager Yoan Moncada. Moncada is praised for his bat and his ability to play anywhere on the diamond defensively outside of shortstop and catcher (he is currently a shortstop, but no one seems optimistic he can stick there). Many have … Read more