Releases

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Several players who played in the organization were released over the last week (many just today) by the Phils.  The list is as follows, along with where they played last year:

Alan Robbins, C, Age 25, Clearwater

Scott Thomas, C, Age 24, Williamsport

Herman Demmink, Ut, Age 25, Lakewood/Clearwater

Daniel Hargrave, 2B, Age 23, Williamsport

Tim Binkoski, OF, Age 25, Williamsport

John Urick, 1B, Age 27, Clearwater

Bryan Frew, 2B/Of, Age 23, Williamsport

Moises Melendez, P, Age 22, Lakewood

Ben Pfinsgraf, P, Age 25, Lakewood/Clearwater

Yen Fing Len, P, Age 23, Williamsport/Lakewood

Andrew Cruse, P, Age 24, Clearwater

Justin Pope, P, Age 29, Reading

Cristobal Mata, P, Age 22, Gulf Coast

Reymond Cruz, P, Age 25, Lakewood/Clearwater.

A couple of other notables who were fighting for jobs in Lehigh Valley were let go as well: P Yorman Bazardo, P Yoel Hernandez, OF Chris Walker, and OF Damon Hollins. 

64 thoughts on “Releases”

  1. Yoel’s been in the system for a long time. He was signed out of Venezuela in 98. I think he might have even cracked our BA top 10 in 2002 or 2003. I know they once credited him as having the best slider in the system.

    He looked like a decent enough prospect through Clearwater, but he wasn’t able to make the vaunted jump from A+ to AA. I remember thinking that he had back end of the rotation potential at the time.

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  2. I think Hernandez was a control pitcher without a good fastball to work off of. You’re right he was our #10 prospect after the 2001 season. He was out of the Phillies system, pitching in Mexico last summer. He will be 29 in mid-April.

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  3. No real surprises, but I didn’t expect Cruse to be one of them. He had a decent year as a swing man for Clearwater last year.

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  4. Pope had the looks of an “Org Filler” type guy. He had a nice year at AA last year, but I guess he saw the writing on the wall and probably decided that it was better to move on with his career after baseball.

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  7. I think that PP might be weeping a bit over Pfinsgraf, but otherwise it seems like these guys are just a bunch of career minor league types

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  10. I thought yoel was signed out of korea and the scout got fired the next year because he and the other prospect, who name excapes me couldn’t pitch.

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  11. The Phillies web-site said this: “The Phillies released Giles and optioned outfielder John Mayberry Jr. and right-hander Carlos Carrasco to Minor League camp. They also informed right-hander Mike Koplove, infielder Pablo Ozuna and outfielder Jason Ellison that they would not be making the 25-man roster, but would accompany the team to Philadelphia on Thursday for the On Deck Series Friday and Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park.

    The moves leave infielder Miguel Cairo as the only potential extra right-handed bat for the bench, which currently includes Greg Dobbs, Geoff Jenkins, Matt Stairs, Eric Bruntlett and Chris Coste. The Phillies still are looking to acquire an extra right-handed bat in a trade or via the waiver wire.

    The moves also leave right-handers Gary Majewski and Bobby Mosebach as remaining possibilities for a bullpen job, although their chances took a hit on Friday when the Phillies acquired left-hander Steve Taschner in a trade with the San Francisco Giants. ”

    LHV will see Mayberry for a while. Ozuna and Ellison look like solid AAAA players. Pitching is pretty solid. I don’t think the Pigs will start 0-20 this year. They had strong attendance numbers last year and I hope the suffering (I can’t say long suffering) Allentown folks will see an exciting team this year.

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  13. Yoel hurt his shoulder a few years back and was never the same again. But then he never was anything in the first place.
    I see some A-ball pitchers going into their 4th summer with the organization were released. If you can’t make it to AA by then, you should expect a pink slip.
    I never could see Marcus Giles in a Phillie uniform. This off-season signing made no sense to me.
    Mike, one of those two Koreans was named Il, like the dear leader. The other one’s name escape me too. He lasted much longer though through AA.

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  14. DickBlaney – The Phillies signed Giles when Utley’s health to start the season was still up in the air. I think their philosophy was to sign as many veteran 2B as they could, with the hopes that one of them would stick.

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  15. Nowheels – remember that the bulk of this roster won a World Series last year.

    That being said, I would have liked to have seen some new young blood on the team. If they weren’t envisioning Donald as an everyday 3B, I wonder if he would’ve forced Bruntlett out (who had a heckuva spring and probably earned the job outright). I also feel bad for Mayberry, but a Jenkins dumping could hopefully open up the door for him.

    I’m also wondering when the Marson era will begin – if Ruiz continues to hit the way he did last year, how long will the “he does a nice job with the pitching staff” compensate for the automatic out from the 8 spot, especially if Marson is sporting an on base percentage over .400.

    – Jeff

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  16. I’m surprised to see Urick’s names on the list. In fact, I expected Urick to start in Reading so this opens up the position for someone else to move up (Rizzoti?) because they may want to split up Durant and Rizzoti so they both get time at first. Cruse and Pfinsgraf are simply victims of last year’s pitching haul.

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  18. I don’t think Mayberry will be spending the entire season at LHV, hopefully he can show some signs of improvement and be a real asset moving forward….what happens with Stairs?

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  19. I think the Phils are just trying to be conservative to start the season and do not want to move young players up on the free agency eligibility queue too soon. There will probably be a lot of adjusting as the season goes on and there could even be some moves b/f the season starts if they run into a decent right-handed hitter for the bench.

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  20. Mahar wil be the first baseman at Reading to start with, but do not look for him to be there for long. Tracey on last legs, and Mahar was a top rated outfielder with the Rangers, mad it to the majors. Is a better defensive player than Mayberry and can play all three outfield positons as well as first base. He played center for the Rangers big league team

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  22. DickBlaney-

    I think the last name of the Korean pitcher that you mentioned was Kim and the other, who hung around a little longer, was Seung Lee.

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  23. PP- I too am surprised to see Melendez cut as I wrote in the Workgroup Update thread:

    MLL Says:
    March 25, 2009 at 2:22 pm
    I am a little surprised that Moises Melendez was released. He had a nice year as a middle reliever, and while he will never be more than Condrey II a big league club still needs guys like him.

    I also saw Andrew Cruse as a potential middle reliever in the ML.

    What happened to Bazardo- he was Detroit’s 5th ranked prospect, according to BA, in 2008- 2nd ranked RHP behind Rick Porcello. How did he fall that fast?

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  24. To answer the Bazardp question you would probably have to know what happened to him in Florida . He was ranked high
    there too.

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  25. Koreans in question were Seung Lee and Il Kim. Both received substantial signing bonuses back in 2001 – $1.2 mil for Lee and $800k for Kim. Lee topped out at SWB and was released in 06; Kim never made it past Lakewood following only two years in the system (anyone know what happened?)…

    Numbers for both guys here:
    http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/L/seung-lee.shtml
    http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/K/il-kim.shtml

    Meantime, in looking for info on the Koreans I came upon this archived BA chat from 2003…some funny questions (How hard was it to rank Byrd ahead of Utley?)…some of the names discussed show how hard it is to make it from prospect to major leaguer:

    http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/chat010603.html

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  27. Domingo Santana played in an intrasquad game today, in the 2 AB’s I saw he struck out(against S. Nestor) and grounded out (against Bisenius). Physically he’s another Dominic Brown clone( for that matter so are Jiwan James and Damarii Saunderson) tall and lean with speed and a lot of athletic ability. Let’s just hope they can hit like D. Brown.

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  28. wow, that was a fast turn around for Domingo Santana- i wonder if he was going around with the nationa team or something in florida like C-Rod was when they signed him (or maybe that was Garcia).

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  29. In the new workout groups they have Galvis and Overbeck at Clearwater and Hanzawa and Mattair at Lakewood. Harmon is with Reading as most of us expected. Hewitt is listed with Lakewood, I hope that changes, I don’t think he’s ready. Collier and Gose are also listed with Lakewood. Worley and Stutes are still listed with Reading, if that stays that way they are really being pushed pretty fast. Valle and D’Arnaud are still both with Lakewood which I think is a good thing, I’d rather see him get some AB’s there instead of XSP, so when Williamsport starts he can always go there. Knapp is the only HS SP from last year’s draft on the Lakewood roster.

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  31. Regarding that old BA chat, posted by tjc, that Utley question was actually mine.

    And blast from the past, I completely forgot about Keith Bucktrot.

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  33. i don’t know if dan brauer is going to be cut or not, but i watched him in a spring AA game, and he actually knocked off his hat during his delivery. the hat fell over his eyes so he had to stop and kind of tripped. It was pretty funny and everyone on the field was laughing at him. i thought of this as a bad omen because i watch alot of baseball, and i don’t remember seeing that very often.

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  35. Will these guys all play rookie ball this year or be at Williamsport ? Domingo Santana , Jiwan James and Damarii Saunderson I know Saunderson has been rehabbing because of a shoulder injury in GCL July and is still rehabbing they only let him Dh because of a shoulder injury but I seen him throwing again , when is this determined?

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  36. Domingo Santana hasn’t even played in the DSL yet, has he? I think the Phillies, and probably other teams as well, bring their underaged Latin prospects to Florida for a few weeks in the spring in order to start the acclimation process. Later, those players play Summer ball in either of Venezuela or the DR, also spending class time in the Phillies-run Acadamies. perhaps they also spend some time in XST, I’m not sure. Let’s remember that this is a 16 year old, and regardless of how underdeveloped we may think the DR is ,and to a lesser extent, is mainland Venezuela, these young men must still complete there formal education process according to some standard. I doubt we will see Santana in the GCL until 2010 at the earliest.

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  37. Wait, Santana is already here? Isn’t this unusual of a guy of his age, regardless of his talent? I thought he’d do a year or two in the VSL or DSL at 16.

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  39. From 2007 Draft

    This kid has been my top sleeper pick for a couple of months now and the second sentence from this article gives me hope that I’ll hear Marti Wolever call his name on June 7th. This kid is a tremendous athlete, having earned All State honors in Florida in three sports – baseball, basketball, and football. This is so impressive it must be repeated – he’s earned All State honors in three sports… IN FLORIDA! He’s signed with the University of Florida on a baseball scholarship, but has made comments since signing his LOI about also trying out for the Gators football team as a wide receiver. He carries maybe 170 pounds on his 6-4 frame and with the Gators loaded at receiver, I’d be surprised if he went through with this attempt to play two sports. Besides, unlike Riley Cooper, it sounds like James’ first love is baseball, not football. I view James as a combination of D’Arby Myers (physical build, college option) and Dominic Brown (two-way talent, football option – wide receiver). James has probably made more news with his pitching, but it’s hit offensive potential that excites me and like I mention about Michael Main, I’d start James out as a centerfielder and hope his hitting develops. If it doesn’t, he has more than enough arm to be a very good pitching prospect. Anyway you look at it, he could prove to be a tough sign, but well worth the extra money, I believe, if the Phillies are willing to possibly go over slot to sign him.

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  41. James had shoulder problems, so they junked the idea of using him as a pitcher. Mets were rumored to want to draft him as a hitter- phillies preferred him as a pitcher though when they selected him.

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  42. Thanks for the report. After I posted I looked at perfectgame.org and found a report there. My first thought was this guy looks like a higher risk Dominic Brown. I then found his stats and saw he was a pitcher. I’m glad to hear they are making him an hitter now.

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  43. Hmmm – James sounds really intriguing. I guess he starts out in Williamsport this year. I’m assuming he the typical Raw Toolsy Outfielder(tm) that the Phils always go for

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  44. So he wouldn’t do GCL as he has not Swung the bat yet? I think Damarii Saunderson could repeat GCL he only had 29 at bats last season,

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  45. My belief is that cold weather players need more time to catch up, especially right out of High School, Derrick Mitchel is from Michigan also I believe he did GCL for 2 years , even though Damarii Saunderson Looks to have more upside

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  46. James is a legit prospect but he hasn’t hit much for awhile now because he focused on pitching last year. His athletic ability jumps out at you when you see him. He’s the kid that easily wins their initial camp run that all the players have to do.
    By the way, I watched Mahar take bp a couple of times and I have to assume he can’t hit offspeed pitches because he crushed the ball and he’s huge and athletic and i was surpised he’s bounced around. He absolutely could go to LHV (not Reading) and be the first call up because I think he could be way better than Mayberry. He looked like a major leaguer to me but again, I didn’t see him try to hit slow stuff.

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  47. Zolecki on phillies.com is reporting that the phillies have released geoff jenkins and may have interest in sighing Gary Sheffield.

    I know this isn’t directly related to the farm system, but it could effect whether the big club keeps Mayberry in the majors or starts him out in Lehigh.

    Phillies would only have to pay 400,000 for Sheffield because the Tigers are responsible for the other 13.6 mil. So it’s like paying 8.4 mil for Sheffield.

    You know what…. I still would like to see them go north with Mayberry.

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  48. Just got back from the complex looking for the new workout groups, but they have not released a new one. I was told they are “waiting on a few more moves at the major league level that would affect the minors …”

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  50. I just saw that…somewhat of a surprise, although he was brutal this Spring. ‘Pigs need a closer.

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  52. I’d say Zagurski, Koplove, and Majewski will end up at Lehigh. I think any one of them could close

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  53. By the way, thanks Jeff for checking on the working groups. Maybe you should hang around the complex an hire some of the recently unemployed to work in your ice cream shops. Bet you could get them for cheap.

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  54. Well, that would be fine, except for the fact that I am no longer in the ice cream business. Another unfortunate victim of the horrible economy. Maybe you, could hire me?

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  55. Park is the 5th starter, does Happ go to the pen or does he go down to Lehigh to start? I think he is more effective and has greater value as a starter. Any good staff needs at least six starters in all truth, so I’d rather keep him ready for the first sign of injury or ineffectiveness by the starting 5.

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  57. See what happens, I move out of Florida an you go out of business. I spent a small fortune in your shops. Sorry to hear.

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  61. Two guys stood out today on the Lakewood roster at the Complex in a game against the Yanks farmhands, Jason Knapp and Anthony Gose. Even Dubee stopped by to watch Knapp. What a competitor Knapp is. He seems to demand excellence from himself. His fast ball down was unhittable and when he gets an off speed pitch up he showed his frustration with himself. After he was done he went over immediately reviewed his pitch chart.. Anthony Gose has been nothing but consistent in the three games I have watched him. Today he drove his trademark line drive extra base hit down the left field line but the ball was hit so hard on the line and the catcher Arzeno was held at third in front of him or Gose would have had yet another triple to left. But more impressive was his hit and run single to right the next time up. He showed he can pull a ball as he drove it into the hole between first and second with the runner on first moving.

    Looks like a couple of positon changes have taken place. Derrick Mitchell is now a left fielder and Justin DeFratus came on as a reliever both for Clearwater today.

    For Clearwater Overbeck looked strong at the bat with two doubles but Dom Brown looked embarassed as he hit what appeared to be a home run to deep right center. He chose to admire it but the wind knocked it down. The ball hit the wall as Dom trotted into second on what should have been a triple had he been running hard. Then he was thrown out trying to steal third.

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  62. It is not unusual for 16/17 year olds from the Dominican or Venezuela to start in the U.S. This is the norm for most high priced signees ($200K+). Looking at the Phillies, the following players never played in the VSL/DSL: Carlos Carrasco, CRod, Robinson Tejeda, Freddy Galvis, Carlos Silva, Edgar Garcia, Heitor Correa. I am sure there are a few others that went straight to GCL.

    I’d say it is better than 50-50 that Santana starts at GCL. You want your best prospects to have the best coaching, nutrition, language training, etc. The only problem for the Phillies is there are now 9 OF that probably should be at GCL next year. That being said, the better prospects like Santana have to play and get significant numbers of AB.

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  63. andyb: Thanks for the insight on Carrasco, CRod, Galvis, etc. never having played in the VSL/DSL. I’m not sure how to feel about 16 y.o. making the jump to the US and taking on what is essentially a full-time job. As a Phillies fan, I know it MIGHT be in our best self interest to see these guys get the best coaching, nutrition, etc. as soon as possible. But on a compassionate side it seems like robbing some one of part of their last few years of childhood. If I had a 16 y o son, not sure I ‘d want to send him to a foreign country just yet. But, I guess in reality he’s just a few month younger than new draftees that graduate before their 18th b’day and head for Florida/Ariz.

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  64. I am not a big fan of signing 16-year-olds in the first place. At the very least I would push the age limit to 17 which would help keep kids at home for an extra year and limit the exploitation somewhat. Of course the reality is that they probably are playing full-time once they hit age 14 in camps run by the buscones/agents.

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