A Critical Look at the Phillies Organization and Minor League Baseball
The Phillies are currently in a playoff spot thanks to a variety of factors, one of which is the contributions from their young players. Last January, the Phillies were staring at a long of questions about how they would have a deep enough lineup to outscore their other problems. Part of the problem was that … Read more
The Phillies system is not where it was at the height of the rebuild. It lacks depth, especially depth in the 11-20 range and it is probably short another top 100 prospect. That said, Alec Bohm and Spencer Howard are one of the best 1-2 punches of major league ready impact talent the organization has … Read more
Much of writing about prospects is about hope and optimism for the future. However, it can also be about failure and what that means and what the paths out of it are. It is no secret that the Phillies system is down compared to where it was a few years ago. Some of that has … Read more
The Phillies are holding a tenuous lead the NL East heading down the stretch in large part to graduations from their farm system. This year J.P. Crawford (1), Scott Kingery (3), Jorge Alfaro (4), Ramon Quinn (13), Seranthony Dominguez (14), Victor Arano (30), and Jesmuel Valentin (32) all have or will have graduated off of … Read more
When I sat down to write the pre-season Top 50 there were two glaring positional weaknesses in the system catcher and third base. Only one third baseman (Jake Holmes) made the list, and that position has seen some natural improvement with bounce backs by Zach Green and Luke Williams and the drafting of Alec Bohm. … Read more
There are few in the business with a better feel for the pulse of the international market than Baseball America’s Ben Badler. This past week, Ben has been releasing various tables and rankings of total numbers spendings and signings, before then diving into individual teams. Ben does his breakdowns by calendar year, not signing period, … Read more
Name: Rafael Alejandro Marchan Born: 2/25/1999 Position: C Height: 5’9″ Weight: 170 Bats/Throws: S/R Options Remaining: 3 Rule 5 Eligible: 2019 MiLB Free Agency: 2022 Drafted: International Free Agent (2015-2016 Class) From: San Cristobal, Venezuela Signed: 7/3/2015 Bonus: $200,000 Stats: MiLB | B-Ref | Fangraphs | Baseball America | Baseball Prospectus [section=Reports and Scouting:] 2018 … Read more
Int'l signing period opens now. Phillies to sign Venezuelan C Rafael Marchan. Slugger Jhailyn Ortiz in agreement. Must pass physical — Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyNBCS) July 2, 2015 As expected the language here tells the story. The Phillies can easily fit Marchan in now, but can’t fit Ortiz in without going over. No news on what … Read more
So July 2 is upon us. It is the second most important day of the year outside of the draft, however everything about it is the exact opposite of the draft in terms of clarity. Must deals have been place for months even as long as a year. The Phillies have spent to their bonus … Read more