Jayson Stark name-drops Carrasco

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In his latest Rumblings column, under a tidbit about the Phillies interest in Erik Bedard

• The Carlos Carrasco Watch: Carlos Carrasco is no household name to most fans. But among the scouting community, he’s the most-watched pitcher in the entire Phillies system — a 21-year-old right-handed rocket-launcher the Phillies would have to agonize over seriously before trading. One scout’s review: “Why is this guy still in Double-A? He’s a big-time arm with quality stuff who could eventually be a top-of-the-rotation guy. I don’t see them trading him. I really don’t.”

Its good to see that scouts are still very high on Carrasco. Obviously.

43 thoughts on “Jayson Stark name-drops Carrasco”

  1. See Carrasco was selected to the Futures Game at Yankee Stadium. The Reading Phils will be well represented at the game on July 13th:

    Philadelphia’s Double-A affiliate, the Reading Phillies, are best represented in the game, sending four players. Catcher Lou Marson (U.S.) and pitcher and three-time Futures Game selection Carlos Carrasco (World) join Golson and Donald.

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  2. wow…i have been a carrasco fan and one of the guys that has always felt he is more than a #3 starter. but that is a very glowing review. really nice to hear.

    “a 21-year-old right-handed rocket-launcher” that’s got a really nice ring to it.

    and i might be just a homer, but i am equally excited about jason knapp. to throw mid-90’s at 18 is insane. he could have verlander type velocity when he develops.

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  3. rickey branch – where do you see that? if that is true, that is insane! 4 futures game players?

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  6. i saw that too, but a player from taiwan shouldn’t be on the US team, so maybe it is just a typo. it would be odd to include him randomly and make it a mistake. like saying the wrong name at an award ceremony.

    and the oscar goes to Tom Cruise…I mean George Clooney.

    that would be awkward.

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  7. If you click the link “stats” next to Golson’s name it shows the guy Lin’s stats from the World Team who happens to be on the same line for that team as Golson is for the US. I think its for real! Good for him…but will he be able to participate?

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  8. There is an article about the futures at Milb and includes quotes from Golson about the selection. No mistake

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  9. boooya!!!….that makes 5 phillies.

    that feels good. and cardenas isn’t even on there. maybe since he was injured most of this year.

    PP – does this change your perspective on Golson’s and/or Bastardo’s prospect status/ranking?

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  11. this should change all of those commentators who say “the phillies don’t have a deep system.”

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  12. ummm….this is the most pristigious honor a minor leaguer can have. it is a bit much to suggest that you know more than a combination of the top scouts/GMs from all 30 teams and won’t re-examine your opinion on a player.

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  13. Who is the person or group that chooses the teams for the futures game? That should be included in the discussion of how the phils put 5 on the team

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  15. PP fan, I hate to do this, but you might want to start visiting other sites if you’re going to constantly do this. The format of this event means that the best prospects in baseball aren’t necessarily going to be there. Chris Tillman is one of the best pitching prospects in the minors, he’s not there. I’m not going to continue to just let you insult my intelligence on every topic that is discussed here. I’m entitled to my opinion and don’t need to be told how to think on any number of issues. You asked me if this changed my opinion, I said no. Then you told me I was wrong.

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  16. PP – relax. challenging your position doesn’t mean challenging your intelligence. everyone is wrong from time to time and everyone should be open to changing their opinion. i am wrong all of the time and i never take it personal when someone proves me wrong. i am happy to admit when i am wrong and i think that it makes for good debate/discussion when people challenge each other and are open to changing positions.

    i have never and will never insult your intelligence or make anything personal. i only argue the facts.

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  17. You said this

    ummm….this is the most pristigious honor a minor leaguer can have. it is a bit much to suggest that you know more than a combination of the top scouts/GMs from all 30 teams and won’t re-examine your opinion on a player.

    First off, making the Futures Game isnt the highest honor you can receive as a minor leaguer. Second, the format stipulates that every team needs to be represented with at least 1-2 players. The Red Sox and Rays have the two deepest systems in baseball, and if we were just assembling rosters of the best players, those 2 teams would have 6-7 guys each. Third, my opinion of a player isn’t going to change because he gets to go play in a minor league talent showcase.

    I don’t pretend to know more than scouts do, but scouts don’t just pick the best 50-60 guys to make up these rosters.

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  18. ok. this is a valid debate. not personal at all.

    so i am trying to understand how you rank players. as you just admitted, the phillies have 5 prospects when only 1 is mandatory. how can we not interpret that to suggest that these guys are among the best prospects in the game?

    sure, there may be a few guys here or there that belong, but that doesn’t mean that it is not a very high honor to be included and doesn’t indicate that on average, mlb scouts think that you are among the best prospects in the game.

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  19. Um, I was just going to say I favor bringing Carrasco up and giving him a shot at starting rather than trading him as part of a package for a short-term rental, but you guys seem to have this thread covered.

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  20. “how can we not interpret that to suggest that these guys are among the best prospects in the game?”

    By remembering that the Futures game is an exhibition and the selection is based on production over a three-month span. Small sample sizes are not the best way to go about judging “the best prospects in the game.”

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  21. The credibility of a game like this, a non-mandatory all-star game, is compromised by the reality that the rosters end up being formed as much by the convenience of the players invited and their organizations as by the talent of the players themselves. For example, if the game conflicts with a pitcher’s throwing routine, some if not most orgs will probably decline his invitation.

    The first thing that comes to my mind when I see 4-5 phillies invited is that the Phillies organization is more open-minded than others to having their players involved in a meaningless, if status-inflating, event. If anything maybe it means they want to increase the visibility of their prospects for trading purposes.

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  22. ***By remembering that the Futures game is an exhibition and the selection is based on production over a three-month span. ***

    Padriac – where did you get this information?

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  23. Jason Heyward, OF (Age 18): .333/.397/.493 in Low A

    Not in the game.

    Chris Tillman, RHP (Age 20): 74 IP — 3.04 ERA — 75 K in AA

    Not in the game.

    If arguably the best position prospect in baseball doesn’t get a roster spot, and the youngest pitcher in AA dominating the Eastern League doesn’t get a spot, then I have to question the integrity of this showcase as anything that should alter my opinion of prospects involved or not involved.

    The White Sox are sending Clayton Richard. If Richard was a Phillies prospect, he’d be in our Top 20, maybe, likely in the back end of the Top 30. In the Red Sox org, he wouldn’t be in their Top 30.

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  24. Will – what GM doesn’t want “to increase the visibility of their prospects for trading purposes”?

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  25. i have no idea why Jason Heyward or Chris Tillman are not in the game. that is a valid point. as for Clayton Richard i don’t know either. but even in the major league all star game all teams have to have a representative and there are always some snubs. but that doesn’t take away from the prestige of the game especially if you are 1 of 5 players from a team.

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  27. PP Fan – the pirates. the mariners. the nationals. You get how this works? None of those teams will be trading a prospect any time soon. They don’t care what baseball america thinks of their minorleaguers – at least I should hope not.

    But for the Phillies (and this is just speculation) maybe they think getting a couple tradeable commodities into a centralized forum where lots of organizations could have scouts will make it easier to pick someone up at the deadline.

    Keep in mind, this game was started purely as a marketing ploy by baseball america (and as far as I know it still is). There are no doubt lots of variables that go into picking the players that end up going, but prospect status is only one of those.

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  28. Al’s Diamond does Carlos frequent your establishment in Reading? Sorry PP but I had to ask!

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  30. I say we all meet up for a game in Reading and then see if we can get the Lounatic himself to go to the cabaret with us!

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  31. as i said 3 months ago donald will be the phillies 3rd baseman of 2009 and carrasco should have been up a month ago, but you might have thought i said the pope wasnt catholic by the responces i got. also thanks to whoever it was, i think pp, for alerting me to marson. opp,s i forgot we dont compliment anyone they might know something we dont.

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  32. “Padriac – where did you get this information?”

    I think the “information” is an obvious deduction from realizing that it is an all-star game. That’s how all-star games work. They are exhibitions; the selections are not based on a long process of evaluating the best talent or prospects.

    That’s what the offseason top 100s are for. If five Phillies show up in the top 50 of one of those, then I’ll get excited.

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  33. phuure phillies, I have been looking at signing by other clubs and to me,it seems slow, by all clubs is this what you are seeing and is this something that happens,after all drafts.a couple of players from two year college that the phillies drafted still haven’t sign, I thought they would sign faster,instead of draging it out.

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  34. In many cases, signings will go down to the last minute because teams don’t want to piss off the Commish by announcing over slot deals, even if they are only over slot by 25-50K, because it could “affect other signings”. Even though it might sound ridiculous, a lot of clubs work that way. I think the Phillies will sign Shreve, but if they do, it will be an over slot deal, one that was probably agreed to prior to the draft. If thats announced now, it could affect similar situations, or it could affect discussions between “regular” guys taken in that part of the draft. At least thats how the Commish feels about it. Last year, tons of deals were announced on August 14th and 15th.

    The Phillies have quite a few high school guys in the first 10 rounds, and those guys might require over slot money. If the Phillies are planning on signing them, they might just be waiting. Hewitt is a formality, I think, so I’m not even worried there. Drabek didn’t sign until sometime in July, if I remember correctly, and he signed for close to slot.

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  35. thanks phuture phillies ,if you would,then doesn’t it make sense for the commish to worry more about contracts like santana and arod,to me if you can’t pay these types of salary .then paying more for drafted players is the way to go for small market teams to compete, and if I am right you can conrol that player for six years for little money compared to making a mistake on a big contract and having to wait until its gone to go on.

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  36. So who gets called up first: Happ or Carrasco? The Phils could definitely use a burst of youthful enthusiasm.

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  37. I’d personally go with Carrasco and hope to catch lightning in the bottle with his talent (which is far superior to Happ). Therefore I predict that Happ is called up first.

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  39. Jason Heyward isn’t in the game because he’s 18 and in A ball. If you notice there are very few if any A ball players on the US team roster. The World roster has some A ball players but it seems they want players who are at least in AA.

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  41. Teams all make tons of mistakes on prospects. So does Baseball America. Obviously so do we, the fans. Past performance is no guarantee of future success or picking them would be easy.

    There are two ways to “judge” prospects: mine and yours. I use production. I track guys by age and level and put down their stats and look for continuing improvement. If the guy does well, I move him up. If he doesn’t I move him down. Prospects to me have to show consistency and improvement as they move through the system. Pitchers more than position players who can actually get better in the majors. Pitchers are another matter altogther. They ahve to improve particularly in their WHIP.

    I have no way to know if a prospect has ‘lightening stuff” or not, so I just watch what they do on the field. And I am proud to say I am as wrong as anybody else but at least I have the stats to back me up. (I am still waiting for the Phillies to call me for my input.)

    Having said al that, I am shocked – shocked I tell you – that five menbers of the Phillies were selected for the Futures game. But I don’t knowwhat it really means.

    Golson still has holes in his performance (K’s) and this is his second year at Reading. And his power numbers aren’t much. Marson does look like the real thing and could be in Philly before long. I am also getting a better opinion of Jason Donald (moreon Jason in a moment.)

    Carrasco: lighening stuff or not, so far he has been terribly inconsistent. I am looking at his game by game performances in this, his second year at Reading. It shows me promise but not consistent performance. I think he will stay right where he is for this year, and maybe look better next. At least I hope he does. He is almost 22 and he has been in the system for some time now but he still is not ready.

    Bastardo: As the writer of this blog predicted a year ago, he has experienced command problems at the higher levels. He hasn’t done badly but I remember one game where he didn’t give up a hit but man, was he wild. He walked six in six innings. He has talent but for now, his future is unpredictable.

    Happ: This guys puzzles me. He has been in the system forever, he’s about 26, he actually has had some great games at Lehigh but he’s had some bad ones too. Overall, his grade is good enough that he has earned a chance to pitch in Philadelphia, even if its in long relief. I just don’t know which guy we are going to see: the guy Lehigh has seen in 10 of his 15 starts or the guy they have seen in 5 of the 15 starts. Bring him up. Let’s give him a chance to succeed or fail on the diamond.

    Nobody else is even close. I am watching Brummett and Garcia and maybe Naylor but they have a long way to go.
    Slayden is coming on so maybe he will surprise. And I will keep an eye on Michael Taylor.

    On the field, I am becoming more optimistic about Jason Donald and wonder if the Phillies would consider sending MVP Jimmy Rollins home to Oakland for Rich Harden, and bringing Donald up to take his place. I think the only way the get a top picture is if they drop some salary because they are not going to flat out add 10 million to their current 108 million. So it’s Rollins, or Victorino or for a long shot, Ryan Howard.

    For an ace.

    Joey.

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  42. “cum to see us”?? Wow.

    The futures game selection process proceeds like this–teams nominate players from AA and sometimes high A. They can nominate as many or as few of their own players as they like, but must nominate at least one US and one World guy. Commish encourages the teams to offer more nominations, but teams have the option to withhold or nominate certain guys (for health or disciplinary or organizational priority or many other reasons). Then the teams are selected from the nominations. MLB can request teams make other players available, but usually don’t if the rosters fill out appropriately according to position.

    This comes from a conversation last year with a friend in MILB who’s a coach for another organization. Take it for what it’s worth.

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  43. joey since you follow the minor league so much can you tell me if schilitter and simon are prospect or organization fillers

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