Reader Top 30; #6

2009 Reader Top 30

Michael Taylor was the big winner for the #5 spot, taking 49% of the vote, while Dominic Brown and JA Happ battled for second, and will likely battle for the #6 slot. The voting breakdown

Taylor — 53
Brown — 28
Happ — 18
Mayberry — 4
D’Arnaud — 4
Savery — 1

This rounds out the Top 5

01. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
02. Lou Marson, C
03. Jason Donald, SS
04. Kyle Drabek, RHP
05. Michael Taylor, OF

2 pitchers, 3 position players, including two up the middle prospects. That’s a pretty solid Top 5, and I think if you’d go back and compare that Top 5 to previous years, even last year, you’d have to say the system is improving. Just for reference, the Reader Top 30 list last winter, through 5 spots, looked like this

01. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
02. Adrian Cardenas, 2B
03. Joe Savery, LHP
04. Josh Outman, LHP
05. Andrew Carpenter, RHP

Shows you just how fast things change in the life of a prospect. So, we move on today to #6.

158 thoughts on “Reader Top 30; #6”

  2. Dominic Brown…the plate discipline is just too good to pass up.

    I feel like it’s pretty equal between him, D’Arnaud, and Happ. Everyone else is pretty clearly behind those three.

    Like

  3. yes, now that taylor is off the board it has to be dominic brown, his approach at the plate for his age is very encouraging, he draws a ton of walks and hits for a good avg.

    Like

  5. Brown. What PP said is why I prefer Brown to Taylor. He said that it “shows you just how fast things change in the life of a prospect.” Taylor has had one absolutely fantastic season, while Brown has had two very good seasons at a younger age. It is a mute point, however, as Taylor won. Hopefully, he will turn that one great season into many more. That quote is also the reason why I can understand the people who vote for Happ. I would never consider him this high, when you have the likes of Brown and D’Arnoud left. But, some people just like to have their eggs in hand, or in the basket, or somewhere safe, I don’t know. Anyway, I think Brown will run away with this voting by a decent margin, followed by D’Arnoud, and then finally all of the Happ voters might get their guy at number eight.

    Like

  6. D’Arnaud.

    Really close call between him and Brown, but I’m just so impressed with D’Arnaud’s performance in the NYPL this year, and he more than held his own at Lakewood as a 19-year-old. Plus, he’s a catcher.

    Like

  7. I’ve got to go with Brown here. He had a great fall season after a very, very good year at Lakewood. Happ was hard to pass up because he is already a Major Leaguer.

    Like

  8. I am going to color outside the lines. I am a Mike Cisco fan.
    1.Achieved at two levels despite a ave. college career
    2.Blood lines
    3.His one loss can on unerrand runs
    4.With .051 era as a starter at Lakewood and no walks
    it is obvious he could of pitched at Clearwater.
    5.No one here or experts there know what his ceiling is so
    Mike Cisco gets a little luv no matter when he was drafted

    Like

  10. nowheels, shouldn’t the fact that Cisco had success despite an average college career be considered a negative? Which career of his is the more substantial in length, college or professional?

    Like

  13. # Neduol Caz Says:
    December 5, 2008 at 7:35 am

    nowheels, shouldn’t the fact that Cisco had success despite an average college career be considered a negative? Which career of his is the more substantial in length, college or professional?
    That is the question isnt it. sometimes the light just goes on.
    Or someone gets away from a bad coach(see Carrasco,Bastardo,etc)
    Cisco has achieved more than any one in this draft so
    it is exciting like a mystery novel to see what’s next
    Frankly once drafted I could care less about college(see Taylor) As far as college coachs go Atlee Hamaker once threw over 150 pitchs in college and the sob had him in the outfield the next game where he hurt his arm and had to settle for an average career instead of possible Stardom or HOF

    Like

  14. Toss-up between Brown and Happ, and maybe Cisco or Stutes. I feel like Stutes, despite Cisco’s pedigree, really shined in his time at Lakewood – and was part of a championship team in his college days. Probably the most surprising late-season performer in Lakewood.

    **I vote Brown**, despite my arguments against him in the Taylor/Brown debate – he is a pretty close 2nd to Taylor. Lets pray/hope he stays healthy this season.

    Also – I don’t really know a whole lot about college baseball, but I imagine the rotation isn’t nearly as set as “every 5 days” for 140 games. Cisco was pretty impressive IMO, and I think it says something that the Phils didn’t think he needed the extra work in FILs.

    Sorry if that was hard to follow – I’m on post-op pain killers and a little loopy 🙂

    Like

  34. Happ. Agree with woody that his value is a major league ready pitcher. I don’t think he should even be on this list but he does meet criteria. Brown easily moves up to this soon to be vacant #6.

    Like

  36. A couple of point looking at last year’s list:

    1. I did not like the Blanton trade initially, having bought into the Cardenas and Outman love. But Donald outplayed Cardenas by light years in 2008. So maybe we will have to give some credit to Phils scouts, Arbuckle and Gillick for recognizing which of the two infield prospects had a better chance. Cardenas can still be Kevin Youkilis, as I have comped him before. But he could also be a slightly better fielding Wes Helms, vased on last year’s medicocrity and his continued lack of power production.

    2. Same might be said for Outman. It’s possible he is what he appeared at Oakland last year. A mediocre lefty, maybe slightly better than a journeyman. And maybe they see something better in the rehabbed Happ than some of us see.

    Not saying those two won’t be good players. Just that maybe the scouts decided they will not be the stars or solid regulars they had hoped.

    Like

  37. Dom Brown

    Also, major credit to Carlos Carrasco. Things change fast in the life of a prospect, but he’s been the guy to watch for awhile now and isn’t doing anything to kill his value.

    Like

  43. Ryan says
    Also – I don’t really know a whole lot about college baseball,

    Most are only out for themselves and the players are rental
    useful only for a time. I cant tell you how many pitchers have been ruined in college for selfish reasons

    Like

  45. Stupid Cataldi (not sure why I even flipped to the station with him on) was going on about Donald being one of the 5 or so most attractive minor leaguers in all of baseball. I would be surprised if he could name 5 minor leaguers

    Like

  46. Travis d’Arnaud.

    Looks like Brown will probably take this one, and for good reason — it’d be a shame to see him fall any lower than #6. But the same goes for d’Arnaud, who has a key thing going for him: as Seth notes above, he’s a catcher.

    Come on people… jump on the d’Arnaud train after Brown takes this, or at the very least, after Happ takes #7. If d’Arnaud comes behind Mayberry on this list, I might go insane.

    Like

  48. Gotta’ go with Brown.

    Can you image a Victorino-Taylor-Brown outfield in two years? I can… and its awesome.

    Like

  50. Thanks NoWheels, you’re sweet.

    RULZ – Maybe Cataldi meant physically attractive? I can’t think of any other way that statement can possibly make sense.

    Like

  52. If it were up to me I would have Drabek here at number 6. But he is already long gone, so I will go with Brown. Incidentally, it just hit me that if the Phils had traded for Sabathia, many of these top prospects might be gone. Not only that, but we probably would not have won the World Series or even been there since Sabathia would have jumped over Hamels as our ace and would have started the first game of each series, probably putting us in a hole each time, given his playoff record. Thanks, Pat, for all that you did and for all that you didn’t do!

    Like

  56. Dominic Brown. I just don’t view Happ as a prospect, so even though he can be counted as one, he’s off my list. I’m so excited for Taylor and Brown, and I’ve been saying that for a while.

    One thing I would like Brown to work on is taking a few more pitches. It’s not that he swings at bad pitches, it’s that from the times I’ve seen him, he hacks at the first pitch too much. I think because he has a good feel of the strike zone, he could draw that many more walks just by waiting for something good rather than swinging away at a first pitch high fastball.

    Like

  57. It seems to be a Brown landslide, but I’m going to stick with D’Arnaud. I concede Brown is a very legit choice here, but D’arnaud put up better offensive numbers and plays a more valuable defensive position very well. Also younger and they both finished at Lakewood, where the limited D’Arnaud numbers also better.

    Like

  58. I go with Happ. His numbers were very good throughout his minor laegue career with the exception of 2007. But since he proved that he could be a very good pitcher in AAA this year, that doesn’t really bother me. D’Arnaud easily be better in his career, but he is unproven, of course, as all 19 year olds are. But to disagree with DPhrey who said he liked that he did it two years in a row, he didn’t. Brown had a .626 OPS in 2007 and batted .241. Meanwhile Happ had 151 Ks in 135 innings at AAA this year which is a better mark than Carrasco put up in AA. So for that reason I take Happ.

    Like

  59. I have voted for Mayberry in the past, but the Brown/Taylor faction has convinced me so I will go Brown and wait for Mayberry next. As far as Cataldi goes you are right there is no way he could name 5 minor league players. I’m not sure he could name 15 major league players not on the Phillies. Now that I think about it I’m not sure he could name 15 Phillies.

    Like

  62. John Mayberry. Only guy in the system to hit .350 with a 1.090 OPS against lefthanded pitchers at AAA with a chance to be in the opening night starting lineup in leftfield if Tom Glavine opens for the Braves.

    Like

  63. I’m with Brown here. The big question with the guy seems to be if he’ll develop enough power to somewhat justify the Strawberry comparisons (not that I think he’ll be a league leader in HR as Darryl was, but if he gets into the 20-30 HR range as in the majors that’s plenty). If not, it seems like he’ll still be a decent regular.

    Like

  66. D. Brown. Not only was I very impressed with his season, but EVERY expert CAN’T be wrong. All of these people expect big things from him.

    Like

  68. Brown

    He’s got a better upside/potential. This top ten is pretty deep. 2010 and on we could have some big time prospects earn spots on the Phils roster.

    Like

  69. Gotta give this to Dominic Brown. I like Happ but feel that Brown is much more valuable to the system than Happ.

    Like

  77. Agent Linden-

    I voted for Dom Brown, who absolutely did put it together two years in a row.

    2007: NYP OPS .756
    2008: SAL OPS .798

    I think that you’re using confusing Dom Brown for Travis D’Arnaud’s stats.

    Like

  78. Apparently Brown will win this round but JA Happ gets my vote here because he’s a starting pitcher with nothing left to prove in the minors.

    I agree that Brown could become something special but will he really have a better ML career than Happ? Until Brown shows me he can handle AA, I’d say it’s less than 50/50 at this point so I have to vote for Happ. Besides, Happ isn’t done progressing just because he’s reached the Show.

    This gets into the bird-in-hand vs. two-in-the-bush debate but it also comes down to the roles they play. A solid #3 starting pitcher is more valuable than an outfielder unless he hits 3rd or 4th. If Happ maxes out as a #4, he’d still be more valuable than an outfielder who hits 6th or lower in the lineup.

    Like

  83. Anyone think the Phils are ready to let Burrell walk and settle for a platoon in 2009 because they feel that Brown or Taylor may be the next LF come 2010? This is my gut feeling…

    Like

  86. Happ. Brown has more upside, but Happ has shown the ability to dominate in the minors and pitch well in the majors. His performance in the fall league is not enough to make me nudge Brown ahead of Happ. I want to see more.

    Like

  87. Dan C. – 2010 is basically why they should have offered Burrell arbitration. He likely wouldn’t accept, but if he did he would have provided a great one-year transition to Taylor, Mayberry or Brown. With Taylor’s age and college experience 2010 is a reasonable estimate for the big club, albeit on the short end of the spectrum.

    Like

  90. RodeoJones, I was thinking the same thing. With this in mind, let’s hope for a bigg 2009 for Michael Taylor with the opportunity to take his place in the 2010 lineup.

    Like

  91. this one is, for me anyway, the easiest of the votes.

    DOM BROWN

    and as for cataldi and his statements regarding donald, perspective needs to be added. a certain poster on this very site acts as cataldi’s “expert” on the phillie’s minor leaguers as a caller from time to time….that particular caller likes to tell stories about a “no hit shortstop and how much Pope loved him….”

    Like

  95. I will go with Brown, even though its entirely based on hype. Have not seen Brown play at all, so its tough to make this call. He did pretty well in the SAL statistically, though he was hurt quite a bit. The Hawaii success says alot. People really seem to like his tools. Well, tools are great, but he has to hit .300 in the FSL for a full season before I annoint him Vic’s 2012 replacement.

    Like

  96. Dominic Brown, once again.

    As a matter of clarification, someone could let these people know what the official definition of prospect is.

    The notion that Burrell would not have accepted arbitration is severely deluded. He would not have been reduced in salary in arbitration and he made $14 million last season. So you look at least $16 million for a season. He will not get anywhere near that in open bidding. I would wager he gets significantly less. Don’t give me that multi-year contract from somebody else stuff. It is highly unlikely he gets $8 million a year in a multi-year deal, and even if he did,you think he would take that over 2 years when arbitration would give him that in one. When you see what he actually gets you will know.

    Like

  97. Marfis – ton of prospects get a cup of coffee here or their before they ‘break’ into the roster. I never considered Happ a part of the rotation or a lock to make the ML roster in 2009 so I consider him a prospect (and will vote for him next round if he doesn’t win here).

    Consider the case of Edison Volquez, who received ROY votes this year although he didn’t qualify based on 50 innings (80 to be exact) over 2005-2007 for the Rangers. He had some starts here or there and never established himself, so he remained a prospect in most people, and baseball writer’s, minds.

    Also, due to the reasons stated above, I think they should have offered him arbitration. It would have filled the gap nicely for the transition to Mayberry/Taylor/Brown. They didn’t, that’s fine, and I’m going to wait and see what they do with that money before I pass judgment on the decision.

    Like

  103. Had Brown at 5 and Taylor at 6 so with Taylor winning 5 I have to go with DOM BROWN again here. I almost strayed from my 4-8 prediction in the vote for number 4 here though, as Allentown made a pretty good argument for D’Arnaud. I have some things to think about before the vote for 7.

    And DOM BROWN is running away from the field.

    Like

  105. Happ. for#6

    Just Curious, why D’Arnaud above other catchers that seem closer to me behind Marson ? Jaramillo, Suomi, Naughton, Gosewich etc. ??

    Like

  106. Phl – I often wonder the same thing. I can see d’Arnaud over Gosewich, Suomi, and *maybe* Jaramillo, but I was way too impressed with Naughton’s defense/offense combo to give d’Arnaud the nod over him.

    I don’t know how much work Naughton had to do to get to where he is, but I do know that Aussies in general are a bit behind the curve due to the lack of competition they generally face in their home country. Point being – I hope d’Arnaud can make the defense work…but until I see a little more of those instincts in d’Arnaud, Naughton seems to be the more valuable catching prospect IMO.

    Like

  109. d”Arnaud may be far away- but he has FAR out performed any of those catchers. He projects to have star potential- those others are fringe prospects at best- probably will never amount to anything but AAAA types or major league back-ups at best.

    You’re rating an Australian international signee over a comp 1st round draft pick? I mean seriously, are you crazy? Naughton has NEVER even had a season with a 700+ OPS and a whopping 6 HR’s in 696 AB over 4 seasons… so what exactly impresses you about his offensive package? d’Arnaud posted like an 830 combined ending at the same level last season and has more homeruns in like half the AB’s in his career.

    Maybe Jaramillo? Jaramillo is 26 and mulling around in AAA-
    And Suomi? Is that a joke? He’s been in the minors for like 8 seasons.

    Like

  112. I didn’t say his offensive package impressed me, I said his offense/defense COMBO package impressed me. It’s a pretty distinct differece especially because catcher is one of the more difficult position on the field. No team would sacrifice the defensive necessity and importance of the catcher for one that could hit well.

    I hope for the Phils’ sake that I’m wrong. I’d love for him to catch his defense up to his bat – but knowing he was drafted for his defense, and then his offense outshines said defense, concerns me enough to vote others over him.

    Like

  113. So then his defensive impresses you…. because he has little offensive potential to speak of.

    And by all accounts d’Arnaud has all of the tools to be above-average defensively…. he’s still only 19 so he may need some time to put it together. And anyway- have you seen him personally? because I haven’t read anything that knocks his defense.

    Like

  115. The funny thing is that his defense is pretty good. You have to take stats like passed balls and CS% with a grain of salt when it comes to the minors. Much of it is out of his control and more on the pitchers with their pickoff moves, time to the plate and control issues.

    Having seen him in person, D’Arnaud was not slouch defensively…far from it actually.

    Like

  116. I was a season ticket holder in Lakewood last year, and didn’t miss all too many games.

    The exposure to d’Arnaud was fairly limited, since he came up late in the season, so for me he should be at his best for this year after working with coaches all year (including Compton, the guru of catching, who spent much of the last couple weeks in Lakewood).

    That being said, I wouldnt call him a slouch either…but Naughton was far superior, runners feared his quick release…again, IMO.

    Maybe it’ll pan out and d’Arnaud will be an above average defensive catcher….and I certainly hope so. What’s great is that if he doesn’t make it at catcher, they could pull a Kenelley and put d’Arnaud’s arm to good use in the OF – the bat is definitely there.

    Like

  118. OK OK Someone line up who catchs where next year I am confused
    P.S I think you could of had Mclouth for Jaramillo last year
    with so many catchers sigh

    Like

  119. We may have been able to trade Jaramillo for McLouth’s jockstrap, but that is about it. As for the catcher inquiry, that is going to be very interesting. I imagine Coste’s days may be numbered, as both Marson and Jaramillo are knocking on the door. The only thing Coste has in his favor is that he is just as cheap as both Marson and Jaramillo, even if he is just a tad bit older. My geuss is that D’Arnaud starts at Clearwater, seeing as their really is nobody blocking him. Jaramillo gets put back into AAA, before being traded for a nobody. It is a shame that we never gave him a chance in the bigs, as I think he would be a very capable second catcher, but oh well. Marson probably starts at Reading, but is called up to the bigs during the season. I just can’t justify bringing up Jaramillo before Marson, even though Jaramillo is older and has played against stiffer competition for a while, Marson is simply better than Jaramillo. Also, excluding D’Arnaud, Marson, and Jaramillo, the Phils still have Valle and Diaz in short season leagues. I am geussing Valle moves to Williamsport, with Diaz spending another year or two south of the border. Catcher is definitely the orginizations deepest position.

    Like

  120. I suppose I will clarify my previous post with a listing…

    Philadelphia MLB – Ruiz, Coste (to start the season)
    Lehigh Valley AAA – Jaramillo
    Reading AA – Marson (before leapfrogging Jaramillo to replace Coste)
    Clearwater A+ – D’Arnaud
    Lakewood A – Cannon Fodder
    Williamsport A- – Valle
    DSL – Diaz
    GCL – Cannon Fodder
    VSL – Cannon Fodder

    Like

  121. Neduol Caz
    wrong before the season Pittsburg was begging people to
    take Mclouth. For gods sake it IS Pittsburg. They pulled Mclouth to morgen somebody or somebody morgen. That is history dont rewrite it. What about the aussie?

    Like

  125. Caz – Where do you have Mr. 40 man roster Naughton in those projections?

    NoWheels – I think you’re right. McLouth wasn’t very highly regarded until recently, but I don’t know if Jaramillo could have gotten it done.

    Like

  127. Truth be told, I am not all that enamored with Naughton, in fact, I think he is terribly overrated. However, if I had to place him somewhere, it would probably be back in A ball. In my opinion, it is much more important to allow D’Arnaud to progress rather than Naughton, even though Naughton has already repeated Lakewood. Plus, with Naughton supposively being a defensive wiz with a weak bat, staying put in Lakewood would allow Naughton to better develop his bat. D’Arnaud, however, already seems to have the bat to play in Clearwater, and his defense can progress at any level.

    nowheels, are you referencing a Jaramillo-McLouth trade pre 2007? If that is the case, then yes, Mclouth did not have nearly as much value back then. I still do not think Jaramillo would have gotten it done, however, as McLouth had a pretty nice minor league resume, and was still only 24.

    Like

  128. Last year, Jaramillo’s splits as a lefty hitter shot up big time from a pretty even split to a decidedly lefty hitter bias. If that was a true breakthrough from the left side,, his value goes up, IMO. How many LH hitting catchers are there. With many teams splitting duty between two catchers, it’s of high value to have one hit well from the left side.

    .288 BA, .374 OBP, .421 SLG last year from left side. Not bad.

    Like

  129. D’Arnaud, it is interesting that we have some catching depth, nothing like the Rangers (Teagarden looks amazing with Salty and Laird), but beyond them I think we have the best catching prospects in the league. D’Arnaud is great, but if Marson is everything we expect is he just trade bait. Regardless, I go D’Arnaud.

    Like

  131. Actually Mclouth play part time after sept 15 2007. Pittsburg can screw up anything . They picked John Russel as manager
    didnt they

    Like

  133. I have Francisco Diaz in the Venezuealan League. That’s about as accurate as the rest of it. Somehow the baseball professionals saw fit to include Naughton on the 40 man roster. But what do they know compared to obsessing over minor league home run stats and seeing who waits on a walk and all that. A catcher who provides good defense and hits for a high enough average would be a highly desired commodity when they get to MLB level, But instead some would rush a top prospect to jump a level because of good stats based on a half season of short season leagues.
    Based upon what?

    Like

  134. I highly doubt they’ll skip d’Arnaud over Naughton to A+, especially after adding Naughton to the 40-man. I expect d’Arnaud to stay in Lakewood for at least the first half of the season. This would be especially true if Roadcap (a catcher himself), stays on as manager up there.

    Like

  135. Maybe it is just me, but what is so special about Naughton? He was a 21 year old struggling against A level competition last year. His batting average, which is nothing more than mediocre, is as hollow as can be. His walk rates aren’t very good, he has no power to speak of, and it appears he runs like, well, a catcher. So, what are we looking at here? Maybe, if everything breaks right, Carlos Ruiz? That is about all I see in Naughton. Now, if D’Arnaud was promoted I concede it would be aggresive, but I don’t feel it would be out-of-this-world unusual. Finally, I ask you, at this point in both of their careers, whose bat do you feel is more advanced, Naughton’s or D’Arnoud’s? I would answer D’Arnaud, and, thus, would prefer to see him promoted. In fact, the only reason to promote Naughton (which, I concede, is more likely to happen) in my opinion is because of age and experience.

    Please, somebody tell me why I should appreciate Naughton.

    Like

  137. D’Arnauld will probably start in Lakewood, there’s no point in rushing him. We have depth, plus you figure they protected Naughton so he’s going to be playing in A+ ball.

    Like

  139. Yes, D’Arnaud has way more upside. But starting him in Lakewodd and Naughton in Clearwater makes sense. If they both hold theor own, maybe a mid-season promotion for both. Who will catch at Reading, that Naughton can’t come up there if he is not overmatched at Clearwater?

    Like

  140. Am I the only one not impressed with Saltalamachia? He screams Andy Marte to me personally. When the Braves are willing to give up on a guy that says something to me. Teagarden looks pretty solid though.

    On our catching quandary: I think they’ve pretty much written Jaramillo off at this point and are looking to move him as he is getting past his prospect stage and could still be of value to a team that doesn’t have Ruiz and Marson with D’Arnaud/Naughton in the wings. There has to be some sort of market for a switchhitting catcher who has above average defense…at least as a good throw-in in a bigger deal.

    Like

  141. Naughton just finished the first week of the Aussie Claxton Shield national tournament going 6 for 14 with three doubles and a homer in four games. He was voted the best defensive catcher in the Sally by the managers there throwing out 38% of base stealing attempts. He played in the Sally mid season All Star game. He is a coveted left handed hitting catcher with a build, 6’1″ 180, similar to Darren Daulton, 6’2″ 190. Dutch hit .230 with 3 homers when he played in the Sally.

    Like

  147. How many teams would Ruiz start for, a low obp and 220 average without power. Not a lot of teams that are trying to win can have a catcher who gives so little offense. I would be willing to bet there are a lot of great defense catcher who can hit 200 in big league with more power.

    Like

  148. Maybe the catcher debate should be another thread, didn’t mean to hijack this one.

    Little known fact about Joel Naughton is he is actually a converted Pitcher.
    Started Pro at 18 with GCL Phils in 2005 and would have only started Catching at 16-17 or so. Most his Junior Years were on the mound, There is no question he his a strong defensive catcher, also a good lefty bunter which helps.

    So , if he does start at A+ , i’m thinking he needs to be closer to .300 and say 10 hrs for the season to prove himself at the next level?

    I don’t see how the Big Club added him 40 man for no reason. Trade Bait??
    Marson should start MLB for sure I would think in 2009.
    Other Aussie Kennelly converted from Catcher as already too many, it seems Phils have a great depth in catchers to choose from.

    And what about all these guys??
    Nelson , Guevara , Gosewich , Robbins .

    Like

  149. I doubt Jaramillo will be in the Phillies organization by 2010.

    I like the fact that the odds are heavily in our favor of having a respectable catcher for the next 5-10 years.

    Like

  150. “I don’t see how the Big Club added him 40 man for no reason. Trade Bait??”

    He was eligible for the Rule V draft if not added to the roster.

    Like

  151. Yes, MM, that was proven last year when Phils almost did not win the WS with Carlos and when Cards almost did not win with Yadier.

    Like

  154. DD – The Phils won despite Ruiz, not because of him. He awful at the plate and below average (borderline bad) in throwing out baserunners. Molina was a very service-able offensive C, who was awesome behind the plate. Just because your weakest link is good enough to play on WS winner doesn’t make him a good ballplayer…

    The catcher situation should be straightforward over the next 3 years. Marson will probably be the backup to start the year and will take over as starter by the beginning of 2010 at the latest. D’Arnaud is only 19. I don’t see the Phils bringing him to the majors before 2012. They don’t rush their players in general and it’s extremely rare a catcher comes to the majors until they’re 23 (Piazza – 23, Posada-23, Varitek – 25 being high end examples). Ruiz or Jaramillo will be the backup after this season. Dosen’t They’re pretty much the same thing.

    Like

  155. I’ll have a shot at possible Starting catchers for 2009.

    Phils : Ruiz Starts -Marson Backup-Coste maybe traded or stays as 3rd Catcher /utility ?

    AAA : Jaramillo Starts , Suomi

    AA : Gosewich starts and Robbins or Naughton as backup
    A+ : Naughton or Robbins Starts
    A : D’Arnaud Starts

    Martis said Nelson and Guevara released.. Is that Official ?

    Like

  156. Pat well said!!!
    I took a quick look at Phils stats vs the league and could find
    nothing exceptional except Lidge. Every good team has hitters
    maybe not like Howard and Utley but Ruiz and Feliz had to be carried offensively. Pitch matched up ok not great. LIdge was an incredible gift from Mr. Ed( the talking jackass).
    It would be insane to think Lidge could be THAT good again.
    The Marlins are thinking about pudge let them. Baker and McCann cant throw out the thanksgiving turkey. You have to force them off the field . ” Run baby Run” 2009 Motto

    Like

  157. Baseball America put out a list of the (6yr or other) minor league free agents and Nelson and Guevara were on it.
    They may have signed one or the other back and not announced it yet or they may sign one or the other or somebody else shortly, who knows? Usually when a player reaches Minor League Free Agency I consider them out unless proven otherwise.

    Like

  158. Due to the proliferation of catching projections on this thread, I shall put out my projections for next season based on players known by me to be available as of this date. Needless to say , this is subject to change.

    MLB- Carlos Ruiz
    Lou Marson
    note: though at times have advocated keeping Chris Coste, due to the excess of catchers available I project Coste as a non-tender
    LV– #Jason Jaramillo
    *John Suomi
    RDG- James Gosewisch
    *Alan Robbins
    CLW- *Joel Naughton
    Luis Reyes Arzeno
    LKW- Travis D’Arnaud
    Caleb Magnum
    WPT- Sebastien Valle
    Ferrell Gomez
    GCL- J.C. Rodriguez
    Francisco Diaz
    Joe Blackburn
    (note: I have Jesus Sanchez as a pitcher)
    DSL- Pedro Aguilar
    Emmanuel Checo
    Nathan Ventura
    VSL- Jorge Guerra
    (note: I actually have this vacant, given Francisco Diaz going to the states. Guerra has played there in the past, and if he is not released he might move there. I predict they sign some new players.)

    Like

Comments are closed.