Saw this asked in the comments on a previous post. The Phillies receive a sandwich pick (#34 overall) plus the Giants 2nd round pick for the loss of Aaron Rowand. The second round is not set yet, as the number of comp picks hasn’t been decided, but the pick will be somewhere between #50 and #55. The Phillies 2nd round pick will be somewhere in the 75-79 range, and then we also receive a compensation pick at the end of the 3rd round for not signing Workman last year. So all told, we have 6 picks in the first 3 rounds. Let’s hope Gillick doesn’t take the cheap route (as mandated by the owners) and can sign 6 quality prospects to help give the system a boost. We’ll have lots of draft coverage come spring time, but you have to be optimistic about having 6 picks in the first 120 or so spots.
Monthly Archives: December 2007
Hey Orioles fans, welcome
Looks like everyone is hunting for info on Mike Costanzo. Well, thanks for stopping by. Here’s the profile I wrote on him last year. He showed the power was for real, but other flaws still exist.
I did interviews with Keith Law and Bryan Smith, who both talked about Costanzo. I also wrote a piece back in June looking at his struggles against LHP, which you can read here. My readers here voted on our Top 30 prospects, and he ranked 4th
You can also use the search feature on the right side of the page to find mentions of Costanzo here. If you have specific questions, ask away in the comments section of this post and I’ll do my best.
Mailbag
You sent in some questions, I’ll answer a few of them today, and maybe a few more tomorrow. If I didn’t get t yours, I might use at some point in the near future.
From Chapel Hillian: does anyone else buy the Phillies’ argument about their first Rule 5 pick (Blackley, I believe)? That he is still on the upswing from his shoulder surgery and thus could be a legitimate big-league pitcher? Also, how long do you think the Phillies should give Jiwan James to show he can pitch before they switch him to the outfield?
Well, I don’t buy it. His numbers were pretty poor last season, though he had very good control before the labrum surgery, so I guess maybe the Phillies just took a flier, thinking maybe his control will return in spring training. I don’t believe the talk of him challenging for the #5 spot, considering we have Hamels, Myers, Moyer, Kendrick and Eaton under contract. If Eaton’s shoulder is really messed up, then I suppose he could compete for that final spot, but the Phillies keep talking about upgrading the pitching and looking for at least one starter, so I’m not sure he fits there. He doesn’t have the profile of a LOOGY, as he doesn’t have strong platoon splits. To me, he’s a mop up reliever candidate, but I don’t think he’s ultimately going to stick.
As for the 2nd part of your question. James was a highly regarded two way player, and is a very gifted athlete. The more I think about this actual question, the more I think it makes sense to start a guy as a batter, and if he can’t hit, move him back to the mound. I think it’s tougher to stop hitting on a regular basis and then just pick it up again against professional pitching. If the Phillies are going to give him a shot at the outfield, they should probably do it in 2008, and give him 2 seasons in the field to see where his bat is, and how he’s going to project out. If he struggles with a bat, you can always move him back to the mound, as arm strength really doesn’t diminish, as long as you’re working hard and getting your reps in.
From Section 113: My other question is if you had to rank the pitching prospects you would would like to hold on to who would they be? In other words, if their were several trades out their and you could protect 1 or 2 pitchers out of let’s say all those pitchers on your top 30, who would they be?
Interesting question. The two pitchers in our system I am most excited about, right now, are Carlos Carrasco and Julian Sampson. Carrasco has some control issues he needs to sort out, but he’s only 20 years old and has already made it to 2A. Sampson already sits in the 89-92 range, and most scouts think he’s going to add more velo as he fills out, meaning he could end up sitting in the 92-94 range. He has the perfect pitcher’s body, he already has some understanding of a changeup, and has decent secondary offerings as a whole. Since he can’t be traded until July, that’s an easy pick for me to hold onto. I think in the right deal, I’d trade Carrasco, but I wouldn’t give him away for less than full value. I don’t think a realistic trade is out there right now that makes sense for the Phillies. For Bedard or Haren, sure I’d trade Carrasco, but for a third tier starter, no thanks.
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Feel free to debate these issues below.
2008 Breakout candidate; Edgar Garcia
As I’m compiling a little list to come up with my top breakout candidates, Edgar Garcia is the first name that jumps out at me. No one mentioned him in the open thread to list possible candidates, but to me, he seems like the perfect choice. Baseball America has quickly soured on him, after placing him firmly around the top 10-12 prospects for the last 2 years, saying he’s going to drop well down the list. They cite his lack of velocity early, and then his work habits, which is the first time I’ve ever heard anything of the sort. Well, I’m not buying it, and I think 2008 is going to be a good year for Garcia. Check below for more
Lets do a mailbag session
There’s not a whole lot going on right now, the rule 5 draft has come and gone, we’re in the transition period till we get to spring training, and I’m going to spend the majority of my time here working on player profile pages. So, send me questions, the email address is phuturephillies at hotmail dot com, and put “Mailbag” in the subject. Then just ask a question you’re curious about, or one that you think others might be curious about, and we’ll use some of these as a jumping off point for discussion. Make sure to also give a display name you’d like used for me posting your question.
Side note, our Reading correspondent from last season, Gregg, is going to be doing the Allentown report this year. That means the Reading report is up for grabs. If you have interest, use the same email address above and let me know you’re interested. We’ll also have a Lakewood spot open, so inquire if you have interest in writing either weekly report. Thanks.
Breakout prospects in 2008?
I’m working on a little piece targeting guys I feel could have a breakout campaign in 2008, much like Dominic Brown and Drew Naylor in 2007. So I’ll toss this one to you guys first and get your picks, then I’ll give you mine later this week.
Player pages
A new idea I had for the site. If you look to the left, you’ll see a “Profile” link under Carlos Carrasco’s name. If you click that link, it will take you to a post with links and information on the player. I added a few articles I was able to find, a picture, and then I made a little career register, highlighting key peripherals. The plan is to eventually add things like video clips, more pictures, and rankings for each player, both from me and from other major prospect evaluation sites. If you have anything to contribute to a player’s profile, just leave it in the comments on each player’s page. For now, Carrasco is the only one I’ve worked on, but I plan to work on them slowly and surely over the next few months. Feedback on this idea is much appreciated.
Scott Lauber makes a good point
Lauber, who writes for the Wimington News Journal, wrote a wrapup article yesterday about the Phillies (in)activity at the Winter Meetings. The article itself is your standard fare, nothing exciting. However, he posted a followup in the comments section, and this is the part I’m interested in
You raise a very interesting point about the Phillies’ reluctance to go over slot value to sign draft picks. Was talking about this with a few people today before leaving Nashville, and it probably merits its own blog post/story in the paper someday soon. For those who don’t know, MLB sets a “slot value” for each pick in the draft and frowns upon teams that sign their picks for above slot. The Tigers are a routine offender. Yet, there’s no punishment besides a slap on the wrist. The Phillies typically adhere to the slot value, and sometimes, it costs them a chance to sign a pick (Brandon Workman last year is a prime example). One of the reasons the Tigers were willing to include Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin in the Cabrera/Willis deal with Florida is that they’re confident they can quickly reload their farm system because of their aggressive approach to signing picks. For whatever reason, the Phillies’ decision-makers don’t have that ability. So, they’ve decided to hoard what few prospects they have rather than package them in a mega-deal. It’s a philosophical divide that often gets overlooked. But it’s rather important, too.
Article link here. More below the fold
Phillies select two players in Rule 5 draft
The Phillies took two players in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft
Travis Blackley, LHP (From San Francisco)
Lincoln Holdzkom, RHP (From Boston)
Both players have to remain on the MLB roster
AAA Phase
Luke Appert, OF (From Oakland)
Neil Sellers, 2B (From Houston)
These players must remain on the 3A roster all season
The Phillies lost Scott Mitchinson to Oakland. A’s fans coming here for info on Scott, I actually ranked him as our 26th best prospect a few weeks ago. You can read it here.
*Update*
The Phillies think Blackley can compete for the 5th spot in the rotation. Mercy me….
Detailed thoughts below the fold
Continue reading Phillies select two players in Rule 5 draft
Housecleaning
If you notice, I’ve made some changes. I cleaned up the left side navigation, removing guys no longer in the org, guys who are no longer real prospects, and moving guys who have “graduated” out of prospect status into their own category, found near the bottom. I got rid of the pinkish color and replaced it with a gray color, and I formatted all players names into the last, first format, which someone had mentioned before would be better….I gotta say I agree. I also added a little feature on the right side, displaying the 10 most recent comments. This could be useful if someone makes a comment in a topic that was posted weeks ago, or months ago, and you want to re-visit that.
In the next few weeks, I’m going to be working on enhancing the content here, including detailed profile pages for all of our legitimate prospects. This will include links to full/detailed statistics, bios, and other goodies. More on that when I get to it. Also, as we get closer to the new minor league season, I’m going to again look for a few people who want to get actively involved in writing for the blog. Our new Allentown affiliate kicks off, so I’ll be looking for a dedicated writer to cover the team and all of our super exciting Triple A prospects. Also, we didn’t have anyone working on Lakewood last year, and I’ll again be searching for help in that department. So, start thinking about that, if you have interest, you know the e-mail address…and in case you don’t, there’s a link to it directly to your right.
It’s Rule 5 day, hopefully we’ll have something to discuss later on today.
Phuture Phillies 