Lou Marson rolled over the field in round 2, claiming 81 votes. The breakdown was as follows
Marson, 81
Donald, 16
Drabek, 8
Taylor, 3
Happ, 3
So now we move on to #3, which should prove a very interesting vote.
01. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
02. Lou Marson, C
03.
Lots of participation for #1, I hope that it continues as we move through the Top 30. There were 117 votes cast, and the breakdown was
Carrasco: 52
Marson: 47
Donald: 11
Drabek: 4
Happ: 2
Taylor: 1
So then, Carlos Carrasco is the Readers’ #1 pick. He obviously cannot be selected in future polls. When voting for #2, you can vote for any eligible player, the same process as day one.
01. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
02.
So I’ve decided that we’ll start the Reader Top 30 this week. I’ll start #1 today, #2 on Wednesday, and then #3 either on Friday or next Monday, and then we’ll do one a day until we’re done. If you’re new to the site and missed last year’s version, you can go here and see how it works. This year, instead of excluding anyone like I did last year, we’ll just use the MLB rookie requiremets. No more than 130AB or 50 IP. I don’t have all of the service days, so ignore that aspect of it. Basically, anyone with less than 130 AB or 50 IP is eligible. At the end of each voting period, I add up the votes and the player with the most votes gets selected for that day. When we start a new round, every player but the players already voted into the Top 30 are again eligible. We do this until we get to #30. At the end of the process, I’ll solicit people’s personal Top 30 lists and put them into a spreadsheet again just like last year.
Ok, have at it. Please only vote once.
The Arizona Fall League came to its conclusion with the play of Jason Donald taking on a new importance in light of the hip injury to Chase Utley. The 24 year old Donald ended the Fall campaign hitting .407, with 5 HR and 17 RBI’s in his 91 at bats. His OBP was .476 and his SLG .747, both outstanding. Additionally, he won the Stenson Award for his hard work, unselfishness and leadership, traits that sound awfully similar to Utley (no I am not comparing them). He played primarily at SS and 3B, but is capable of playing second as well. His fielding, although not spectacular, was steady during the Fall. Jeremy Slayden, 26, did not play well enough in the Fall (in the Phillies minds at least) to earn a spot on the 40 man roster, now subjecting him to the Rule 5 draft. Slayden, as usual, hit .286, with 3 HR and 27 RBI in his 105 at bats. His OBP was low at .322 (he only walked 5 times), however his SLG was .476. His fielding was adequate, however, his projections as a #5 outfielder at best did not change. The soon to be 24 year old Quintin Berry had a good Fall hitting .311 in his 90 at bats, with 1 HR and 9 RBI, hitting high up in the Mesa order. His 6 walks continue to be problematic, along with his baserunning, which took a step backwards this Fall, having been thrown out as much as he stole. Tuffy Goosewich, 25, saw limited action this Fall in place of Lou Marson, while Marson was up with the Phillies. Goosewich hit .280 in his 25 at bats and generally called a good game behind the plate. He projects to open the season in Reading. Marson scalded the ball in his limited time in Mesa, hitting .324 in his .324 in his 34 at bats, collecting 10 RBI’s. Six of his 11 hits were for extra bases. Continue reading Fall League Review
Ok, so I’ve taken some time to digest the trade. My initial reaction? Good trade for the Phillies. Just glancing at the comments of the previous posting, I’m kind of shocked that so many people don’t like the deal. But I have my reasons for liking it, so lets go through them one at a time. Click below for more..
Wow.
(Update, 5:52 p.m.): Ordinarily, I’d do a separate entry about this, but I don’t want to distract from the Utley conversation. So, here goes: In a swap of former first-round picks, the Phillies have dealt outfield prospect Greg Golson to the Rangers for outfield prospect John Mayberry. Mayberry, 24, split the 2008 season between double-A Frisco and triple-A Oklahoma and hit a combined .264 with 38 doubles, 20 home runs, 71 RBIs and 10 steals in 135 games. Golson, 23, batted .282 with 13 home runs, 60 RBIs and 23 steals at double-A Reading, but there was a feeling that he wasn’t progressing offensively.
Scott Lauber broke the story, thanks to our own codyrhoads for pointing it out.
Ill have more on this later.
[Update 1] For you Rangers fans who stumble on over looking for Golson info, click here. That should be a start.
In the article talking about Chase Utley’s injury, its mentioned that Donald won the AFL’s Darrell Stenson Award, given to the player who displays hard work, leadership, and unselfishness. A nice way to cap off his 2008. He better rest up, because I think he’s going to end up playing a big role in 2009.
I figured this would be an interesting topic of discussion, just to get an idea what others are thinking. Taylor came out of nowhere this season, after a very mediocre debut in 2007. So, who is the 2009 version, if we have one? Who will come off of a very pedestrian 2008 season to really jump up the rankings in 2009?
Edit > The Phillies have finalized their 40 man roster heading into the Rule 5 draft. Joel Naughton, Carlos Carrasco, Sergio Escalona, and Drew Naylor were added. Jeremy Slayden and Pat Overholt were not. There’s a very good chance Slayden will be selected.
With the Phillies need for a left fielder, as well as possibly another starting pitcher or reliever, there will be trade rumors over the next month, heightening at the GM meetings. We discussed this back in June, but I thought maybe now would be a good time to re-visit the conversation. So, do we have untouchables now, and is the list different than it was in June? Go.
Mesa won 2 of their 3 games played since the last update with the relief pitchers, starting to take things up a notch, and Andrew Carpenter continuing to struggle. Sergio Escalona, Tyson Brummett and Pat Overholt all pitched a scoreless inning apiece in relief over the last several days. Carpenter started Mondays’ game and took the loss, going 4 innings and giving up 6 runs on 7 hits. He walked 2 and struck out 3. His ERA stands at 6.86 and his WHIP, almost as bad at 1.67.
Jason Donald played third again on Monday and went 2-4 with 2 runs and a double, keeping his average above .400. Quintin Berry played Tuesday in Center and Wednesday in Leftfield, going 2-10 with a run scored. A concerning statistic is that he was caught stealing again (5th time in the Fall), and picked off in Tuesdays’ game. His average is at .325. Jeremy SLayden played in all three games, starting in RF. 5-12, with 2 runs, a double and 3 RBI’s, continuing his very productive Fall. Lou Marson caught his first game of the Fall on Tuesday, was the designated hitter Monday and pich hit Wednesday, going a combined 3-6, with a run, double and 3 RBI’s. He is hitting .313 since joing Mesa.
Phuture Phillies 