Phillies sign Pettibone, hopeful on Weber

2008 Draft

Wow. Just days after reading that Pettibone had hired Scott Boras and things weren’t looking good, the Phillies come to terms with Pettibone, for somewhere in the neighborhood of 500K. And while I’m really happy about that, you’ve also got to love this quote

The Phillies could still lose seventh-rounder Johnny Coy and 12th-rounder James Weber. The team offered Coy, a two-sport standout at Arizona State, the chance to join the organization after the basketball season ends, though he appears to be leaning toward returning to school.

As for Weber, Wolever said, “I wouldn’t rule that one out. There’s definitely a chance. I’m optimistic.”

This draft, without any more signings, is a B+/A- for me. Add in Weber and its the most promising Phillies draft in….well….ever?

36 thoughts on “Phillies sign Pettibone, hopeful on Weber”

  1. this is great news. I definitely think this draft is an A- at the moment. especially considering the early turnouts from the college pitchers. Add Weber or one of the longshots from the bottom and this draft is an A. Truely a great sign that this organization is starting to realize its had its head shoved somewhere it shouldnt.

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  2. A- for me too.

    A+ in style, drafting to the landscape that was out there.

    I have a question. Because Pettibone was a replacement
    pick for Workman, if he had not signed would there have been a replacement to for the replacement pick again?

    Here is hoping we are surprised with 2 more signings.

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  4. Best draft ever? We’ve come a long way from that #24 selection in June. But yes, I’d have to agree that the combination of picks/signings is really impressive.

    It’s hard to see how there won’t be at least three or four ML contributors and a possible star (Knapp) from this group. And if Hewitt develops at all, and they turn Gose back into a pitcher…

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  5. Well they suprised me in signing pettibone. I thought it was he wasn’t going to sign, I hope that the attitude to get better talent in the minors continues.

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  7. SirAlden,

    I’m fairly certain that teams only get one shot at a compensation pick. If they hadn’t signed Pettibone, they would have lost the pick for next year.

    Probably why they got that deal done for above slot…

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  8. SirAlden/3up3kkk…you are correct. You don’t get a compensation pick for a compensation pick. That is why it would have been so odd if they had not actually signed him. To take somebody with that pick, you should have a pre-draft deal in place, especially after taking Worley with the actual 3rd round pick.

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  9. Jeff: as that article mentions, Pettibone may get a few appearances in the GCL this year. Depending on how he progresses throughout the offseason and in spring training next year, we could either see him in Williamsport or Lakewood next year.

    Quick question: the phillies.com article must have erred in listing him as 6-foot, right? The DraftTracker and a couple of other sites all listed him as 6-foot-5.

    And yeah, you’ve gotta love that quote. It’d be odd for Wolever to say anything unless the Phils were pretty optimistic they could get something done by Friday. Who knows: maybe there’s a deal already in place?

    Congrats to Jonathan.

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  10. Money well spent. I would much rqther see them take risks at this stage than risk 21 million over three years for the likes of Eaton.

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  11. If you disregard Coy, who seems even more raw than Hewitt, then the Phillies have done a darn good job in this draft. When you throw in the added bonus of a lot of the draftees playing pretty well, there is some definite cause for excitement.

    – Jeff

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  12. Great news! Pettibone is 6’4″ according to different websites. He maxed out at 91 on his fastball at a showcase event last year. I also saw a quote mentioning that he throws a split, which hopefully the Phils will not dissuade him from. It also looks like in one of his final HS starts he threw 128 pitches. That’s crazy!! I didn’t put any links because I got all that from a number of different sites.

    I have to get back to work, but I’d be interested to see if anyone can find his final HS stats.

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  13. there is 0 chance russo signs I guess…. i shed a tear in disappointment… there will be many for good drafts I hope maybe nab him some other time…

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  14. I’m just happy that there are signs that the braintrust realizes if you invest money on amateur talent it’ll pay back dividends in the long run. It would be nice if they went and made some splashes in Latin America now.

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  16. Great news! Interesting that a lot of people here were bagging on the Phillies draft when it happened, now I see a lot of B+ and A grades.

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  17. Rodeo,
    I couldn’t agree more. Latin America is definitely a must but this is without a doubt a good sign and a positive draft.
    On a different note, we could see some very top (possibly major league ready) talent coming into the system after next season via a trade. I don’t see this ownership paying a defensive liability at first base $20 million a season in two years. I could be wrong but that might not be the worst thing that could happen to this franchise. But it’s a long ways off, I know.
    I’m very excited about this draft and the direction of the franchise.

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  18. yea…i think we all focused on the first 3 selections with hewitt (still not looking so hot), collier (looks like a ballplayer at this early stage) and gose (we were dismayed he was announced as an outfielder, hopefully he finds his way to the mound soon).

    when knapp and the college pitchers began to dominate (great for knapp, take it with a grain of salt for worley, stutes, cisco, rosenberg, schwimer) this draft began to really look up. throw in signing pettibone and schreve as well as a couple late round flier guys and you have a surprisingly sharp draft 2 months later.

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  19. The Phils FO does things by a strict financial book….well spending a couple of million on a draft and allowing it to blossom makes a thousand times more sense than spending tens of millions on FA like Eaton, Lieber, and Gordon.

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  20. I wish I knew who is more excited about this, Arbuckle or Amaro. Then I’d know who the next GM is. Someone is building a team from 2012 thru 2018.

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  21. Tampax,

    I agree – but the question is who will replace his production, especially if Burrell leaves?

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  22. PhuturePhillies. Can coy still sign even thought he went to school.I Thought that once he reported it was over.Yet you mention they might lose him.

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  23. Simply awesome!!!

    This draft is a success…I’d give it a solid A…neither + or -.

    We signed all the major picks and got some possible steals in Susdorf and Shreve…and maybe even Collier at 34.

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  24. rocky, PhuturePhillies is quoting the article. The article says “The Phillies could still lose seventh-rounder Johnny Coy…” You are right that he has already enrolled and cannot sign. Whoever wrote that article did not do enough fact checking!

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  25. Rodeo,
    It’s not about a single person replacing RyHo but a more complete lineup top to bottom that is more consistent (clutch), with less holes, and better situational hitting. The way the lineup has performed over the last two months, an infusion of new blood might not be so bad.

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  26. I give the draft an A. If they sign Weber, it goes to A+

    I don’t think you replace Ryho on offense with clutch and better situational hitting. That is more something the announcers like to talk about that harkens back to the deadball days. Yes, filling holes can help replace him And better first base D can help replace him. I guess I would trade him over the winter IF this was the difference between keeping and losing Burrell and AND IF the trade brings reasonably placed young talent that can fill several holes (like a youngish 1B with more D and less O, coupled with an upgrade at 3B and help on staff or RF).

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  27. I would say that the level of pitching in the system is now sufficently better than that of hitting that next year’s draft, 2009 needs to focus on the offense. I’d also love it if I never heard the word “organizational filler” again.

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  28. Organizational filler. I do not know why it is such a big deal, every team has them and every team needs them…

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  29. “next year’s draft, 2009 needs to focus on the offense.”

    Mike, my preference is to focus on drafting and developing pitchers, especially since they didn’t select a pitcher with any of the first three picks this year. Gose might go back to the mound, but for now, he’s an OF.

    Bats are still much easier to acquire at the ML level than ace pitchers. Besides, the top FA bats will be attracted to Citizens Bank Park, not so the top FA pitchers. We need starting pitchers who are younger, cheaper, and under control. Sure, we have Cole now, but he’ll get more expensive and tougher to keep. My guess is he’ll go to a west coast team as soon as he’s a FA.

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  30. neudol caz,

    yes but not everyone’s AAA affilliate is so littered with them,. I agree they have their place but we seem to have more than our fair share.

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  31. The best draft strategy is to take the best available player you have a reasonable shot at signing with each pick, especially if he is a pitcher.

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  32. i am all for a balanced approach to the draft. i prefer high upside college guys (juniors if possible), and an even mix of position players and pitchers. ideally position players who are not going to eventually only have a home in left field because they can’t field. obviously you have to favor certain positions that might be weak in your system, but in a perfect world you have a steady and balanced stream of hitters and pitchers coming up.

    the thing with drafting in baseball is that you cant really be drafting for need and reaching for guys in certain positions because draftees are so far away from being mlb contributors, as compared to football players that can fill that hole in your lineup immediately or in a year.

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  33. “I am all for a balanced approach to the draft.”

    Gov, I understand where you’re coming from but the balanced approach with the draft is no way to counteract the imbalance in value of an ace vs. a top bat at the ML level.

    Look at it this way: when Ryan Howard was ready the Phillies essentially had to get rid of Thome to make room for him. So position players are not only more obtainable at the ML level, but also they are less likely to be blocked as rookies. With 5 starting pitchers, the chances a Cole Hamels will be blocked is next to nil. Not so with position players.

    In essence I favor an imbalanced approach to drafting in favor of pitchers, especially starters. The fact that they are so far away only adds to the need to stockpile them, IMO.

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  34. Mike –
    Actually, I would say it is fairly common for AAA teams to be littered with organizational filler. Now, I admit the ‘Pigs are a particularly bad team, but that only means we have worst organizational filler than the other major league clubs. And really, who cares which organizational fillers come out on top? Not me.

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  35. AAA used to be where your MLB ready prospects would be…now its a place for MLB retreads, org guys and the occasional prospect that is blocked by a very good MLB player (example Happ). This is common across the majors and not unique to the Phillies organization.

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