Baseball America put out their comprehensive list of minor league free agents today. The Phillies have a decent amount of players up for free agency. For the most part players that reach minor league free agency have little in the way of ceiling left. Occasionally some guys slip through with a ceiling of being a contributor to a major league team. For the Phillies one guy really falls into that category. but first the complete list.
Pitchers: Chris Bootcheck, Brad Lincoln, B.J. Rosenberg, Matt Hoffman, Greg Smith
Hitters: Lars Davis, Raywilly Gomez, Koyie Hill, Sebastian Valle, Jim Murphy, Albert Cartwright, Tyler Henson, Nate Spears, Matt Tolbert, Leandro Castro, Zach Collier, Brandon Short
Lets Talk About Zach Collier:
Collier was the #34 overall pick in the 2008 draft, he was raw but a lot more polished than fellow first rounder Anthony Hewitt. The biggest problem for Collier over the years has been a lack of playing time due to injuries and a drug suspension (self medicating for undiagnosed ADD). The lack of playing time really shows up in how inconsistent he has been at the plate. Collier was outrighted off the 40 man roster this summer after hitting .222/.311/.335 in the first half of the season. Over the second half of the year he went on a torrid pace including and August where he hit .284/,348/.605 giving him a very respectable line on the year. He is only 4 months older than Aaron Altherr and actually out hit Altherr in AA this year. The thing with Collier is he does have a major league role, he can play solid center field defense, can handle both corners, he has 70 grade speed and may be able to be molded into a base stealer. At the plate he has bat speed, he has sneaky pop (hit 9 HRs in 86 games), and he has the correct platoon split (he hit .259/.332/.455 against RHPs). All in all he doesn’t have the monster ceiling we were looking for, but he does have the pieces to be a major league piece for a team in a 4th/5th OF role. That is worth a minor league pickup for every team.
If you look back over the Phillies’ annual minor league free agent lists, this one is by far the shortest in years. I think that it is an indicator that the Phillies have more good talent percolating up through the farm system, thus requiring fewer re-tread signings. On the other hand, it may also indicate that they do not have to have as many semi-competent major league ready replacements signed as they will not be competing and calling up a minor leaguer who is a bust during his major league time will have no bearing on the outcome of their season. I would assume that they try to resign players like Collier, Valle and Castro- much rather have them for the unlikely scenario that they break through than a couple of 30 year old outfielders to fill up roster spots.
Question is why would Zach Collier and Castro want to come back.
Collier’s season reminds me of Dom Brown’s 2013, since most of the good he did at the plate came during one stretch. With Collier it was even more pronounced with 7 homers in 6 games. I guess that means that the impact talent is still latent within him somewhere, but you’ve got to wonder if he’ll ever show anything like that again.