June 21 Open Discussion

Daily Discussion

Last night’s scores

Williamsport won 4-2.
Lakewood won 6-3.
Reading won 7-4.
Lehigh Valley won 4-1.

Congrats to the Blue Claws, who won the first half title.

72 thoughts on “June 21 Open Discussion”

  1. 4 for 4, a good day for the farm. Reading is really showing a lot of heart lately, lot’s of late inning wins.

    Congrats to the Blue Claws. Barring any late season promotions to Clearwater (which in my opinion, isn’t likely), there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to win the title again.

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  2. Of course if Lakewood loses players, they will still get reinforcements from Williamsport when the time comes.

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  3. It seems that Reading is now more than just Domonic Brown. Rizzotti is now playing into fringe prospect status.

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  4. VSL- Williams Astudillo still hitting well, and it looks like they might move him to C for awhile, as he played his 1st game of the season there, as new signee Albertin Chavez played 3B.

    Lakewood- Ebelin Lugo filled a Long Relief role, and went 3 innings, while Jordan Ellis closed ater that. Looks like he is a versatile reliever.

    Reading- Rizzotti 2-3, HR ,BB, K
    Galvis 2-4 , 2B, HR, so much for the never drives the ball and will never hit for power thing

    Williamsport- Kyrell Hudson played his 1st game, leading off and playing CF. Miguel Alvarez moved to LF, Domingo Santana to RF (with another impressive game though I think he struck out for the 1st time at Williamsport) , Carlos Alonzo DH while Jake Smith played 3B, Kelly Dugan sat out.
    New Signee Eric Pettis stated the 3rd game (did not project him as a starter) 5 IP, 0 Runs, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 K.

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  5. Did Gillies reaggravate his leg? He hasn’t shown up in the box scores lately and I hadn’t heard anything.

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  6. I went to the Reading game yesterday, so here are my disorganized thoughts:

    It was ridiculously hot. There were seven of us there for Father’s Day in the picnic area ($22 bucks for great seats and a quality 2.5 hour buffet!) , so we were making sure there was a lot of sunblock application and trips to the shade to cool off.

    Brown was playing DH, so I didn’t get a chance to see him in the field at all, but he had a nice single up the middle in the first for an RBI. He also drew a walk in the eighth to help get the game winning rally going.

    Rizzotti is a big dude, and looks to have some pretty decent strength – his homer was an opposite field shot to left center (more center than left) and it clear the wall with some room to spare.

    Freddy Galvis hit the game winning three run homer. Are you kidding me?!?!? He also hit a double down the line earlier in the game. No big time plays in the field, although he certainly does have quite a bit of range – Bozied deflected a ball, and Galvis (ranging far to his right) was almost able to grab the deflection – that would’ve been a highlight reel play had he been able to grab it.

    Overbeck did not play, which bummed me out since I’ve been rooting for him since he was drafted.

    Flande did okay – he seemed to tire in the 7th. Pitching in 90+ heat will do that to you. Still, it was a pretty bland performance – not good, not bad, just “meh.”

    Nice save by Schwimer. Came in to pitch the ninth, sandwiched a couple of fly ball outs around a single, and then had a nice called strikeout (on a breaking ball I believe) to end the game. Knowing how Schwimer approaches the game, it looked like he set up the final batter perfectly.

    Speaking of the 6’8″ Schwim, the first batter he faced was a whopping 5’3″. It was a rather amusing contrast seeing Schwim on the mound pitching to a guy that he was a foot and a half taller than.

    After the game, I went on the field and had a brief catch with my two daughters, which was a nice ending to a entertaining game.

    – Jeff

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  7. Its going to be hard to keep Dom Brown in the minors at all next year the way he’s raking right now.
    Also, hard to deny Rizzotti prospect status, he’s shown that he can really hit. If he keeps smashing the ball like this he’ll be a big league pinch hitter at worst. That kind of power will get you places.

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  8. Also , after checking the GCL schedule, it appears they will begin their season at noon. Don’t see an accurate roster yet.

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  9. Jeff, that 5’3″ player is of course Chris Cates. One of Cates’ off/on teammates in the Twins’ system is 7’1″ Loek Van Mil. There are some great pictures floating around of that pair.

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  11. Lakewood – I also see Jeremy Barnes is back on the DL, this time with a broken nose. May be only 7 days this time. Hope he goes to All-Star game. Keoni DeRenne slid down from Clearwater to take his Place. Once J-Roll off of Re-Hab Clearwater left with just Harold Garcia and Hanzawa as Middle Infielders, and Korby Mintken to back them both up. After Barnes ready and SAL All-Star Game finished, maybe they move Barnes up and bump Garcia to Reading , and they should also add another MI so DeRenne back to Clearwater. Looks like a severe MI shortage, so maybe newly signed Matthew Payton goes to a full season team.

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  13. Barnes has really stood out as a solid utility or possible 2B prospect this year. Not spectacular, but does everything well and a consummate pro. It will be fun to follow him up. Hope he provides the same performance through high minors and makes us forget Brad Harman.

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  14. From BlueClaws blog site, on Singleton’s recent cool period:

    “It was a learning experience,” said Singleton who lifted his batting average to .373. “Those games actually led to today. I thought about how they were pitching to me and what they were doing and transferred it into today.”

    This was after hitting 2 HRs yesterday.

    http://blog.blueclaws.com/2010/

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  16. i was at the the williamsport game and kyrel and cesar alvarez colided luckily they were both able to finish the game. chase johnson is a big over powering pitcher so far he gets a lot of ground ball outs. 3 last nite. it seems so far that the williamsport team relies on their pitching. They have great defense especially edgar duran. Not much power shown by anyone YET other then domingo santana.

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  18. You all can stay as calm as you want about Singleton. I’m getting as excited as I can possibly be about this player. In the entire time I have been following organized baseball, I don’t ever recall having a very young hitter in the minors for my team who has started out performing like Singleton has. Never. Ever. Not even close.

    I have news for you folks, many of the truly great players, do start out like this. They start by hitting like crazy and they don’t stop until they’re about 40.

    Thanks for cautioning me all (it’s like being a teenage kid and having others explain to you that a girl is going to break your heart – trust me, I can live with him letting me down, I’ve got other things going on in my life), but I’m going to ride the wave with this guy unless and until it’s clear that I was in error. I doubt I’m in error, however.

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  20. Perhaps, but it’s unclear.

    Brown (MLB equivalency) – 264/321/464

    v. Ibanez – 244/339/401

    Brown has probably been the better player (slightly) thus far, but there’s a good chance that Ibanez will breakout, perhaps in a big way.

    Athletically, there’s no comparison – Brown’s fielding (according to reports) may be a little rough, but he’s a 5 tool athlete, whereas Ibanez hustles, but he’s just not a great athlete or a great fielder, nor does he have a great arm.

    So, here’s my verdict.

    If Ibanez were to continue not hitting, I think they’d be better off with Brown, knowing, also, that Brown continues to improve at a decent rate.

    What would I do? If I’m the Phillies, I would probably want to promote Brown with the next month or so, regardless of how Ibanez performs. The team needs a shot of adrenalin. Who better to provide that than the young star of the future? Also, if the team gets far in the playoffs, Brown is a super weapon to have and it makes them that much deeper in a WS (Ibanez as DH rather than shaky Ben Francisco).

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  21. By the way, Singleton’s MLB equivalents are

    257/314/418 – pretty damned good for an 18 year old, don’t you think? (yes, I know, it’s a small sample size – I get it – it’s still impressive nonetheless).

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  22. The play by play guy for the Cutters gets a little excited. He described the Duran to Hernandez 6-4-3 double play as equal to Rollins to Utley and could not get over Santana’s arm when he threw on the line from right field to third base.

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  23. I agree with Catch22…at the very least he could start in LF 30% of the time and be deplyed in the Michael Bourn role of late inning pinch runner. I know there are financial considerations, but if the Phillies/Ibanez are still treading water in a month why wouldn’t we try this? Whether we like it or not 7 of the starting 8 are 30 or older and Vic is 29. They do need some youth.

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  24. This Singleton kid is something else. It’s been awesome following him in the box score, and here.

    Of course, the pessimist in me worries that he’s becoming trade bait. And maybe that’s not such a terrible thing: he’s playing like he’s the next Heyward, but the chances that he is are remote, at best. So perhaps the Phils can capitalize on that perceived value and get a critical piece back for the stretch run?

    My question for the folks out there is this: if we do trade him, what would we want back? (btw, James, if this is too much big league talk, forgive me, didn’t mean to derail the conversation. I’m really just asking about Singleton’s value as a prospect at this point).

    I love Lee, but I don’t think you can give up a kid that could be special for a one-two month rental. How about Haren? He’s got a case of Hamelitis (high BABIP and elevated HR/9) but his K/9 and BB/9 are things of beauty.

    Ultimately, I sure hope they hold on this one.

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  25. A DSL grad Lisalberto Bonilla is the GCL opening day starter, so far so good for him. 5 Innings, 4 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 BB, 7 K’s

    Other names of interest on todays line up Altherr is leading off playing center field. 17 year old Maikel Franco is hitting 3rd and playing 3rd base so he’s obviously someone to keep an eye on. Nerio Rios is hitting 9th and playing short stop. Chris Duffy is the DH too for those wondering where he was going to end up.

    Here’s the box score http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2010_06_21_bljrok_phlrok_1&t=g_box&did=milb

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  26. On Singleton you wrote:

    “Of course, the pessimist in me worries that he’s becoming trade bait.”

    I cannot believe someone else is thinking that too. I had that sinking feeling this morning, particularly when the newspaper article talked about Phillies brass being at the stadium and other team’s scouts being there too.

    Honestly, the thought makes me dreadfully sick to my stomach. If we trade this guy, I’m not going to be very intersted in the Phillies for a while. This team desperately needs to get younger, not acquire more 30 year-old or marginal talent. But, hey, I’m just a fan, I just buy the tickets, pay for parking, sink a load of money into concessions . . . . what the hell do I know?

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  27. here is an interesting singleton nugget from the write up on last night’s game

    “Singleton’s homers were the first Hopps has allowed in 56 1/3 frames this season.”

    And the legend grows…

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  29. Catch, I saw him yesterday at Lakewood. He absolutely demolished that 2nd HR. His approach at the plate and high potential should have org fans excited. Wouldn’t consider trading him for a rental.

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  30. Catch22,

    I thought that today too. I hope they aren’t thinking of doing that. If they do end up trading him, to me that would be the equivalent of trading away Ryan Sandberg. The only way I would trade him, was for a Cliff Lee, or a player of his caliber, with the guarantee of signing a long term deal. Not a Ivan DeJesus type of player.

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  31. Catch – I’m right there with you. Will Singleton continue this type of hitting throughout the minors? Only time will tell. But there’s no way you can give up a possible elite talent at this point. There’s just no way. Not for a team that has so many holes already.

    In fact, I’m pretty confident that I’ll get banned from this site if they trade him.

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  32. Rizzotti putting up some interesting numbers at Reading. First R-Phil beleived to have ever hit homers in four straight games after hitting one in yesterday’s game. Ryan Howard did hit homers in three straight there a couple of times in 04. Matt’s 1,041 OPS at Reading in 120 at bats is similar to Howard’s 1,033 OPS there in 374 abs hitting 37 homers. Howard wound up at AAA to end that season and was a September call up for the Phils.

    Mike Drago in the Eagle on Rizzotti:
    “He’s barreling the baseball to all fields – it doesn’t matter (where it’s pitched),” Reading manager Steve Roadcap said of Rizzotti. “He’s jumped on some balls middle in and pulled them. Today a ball maybe a little bit middle away and he hits a line drive out to left-center field. He’s hit them to all parts of the park.”

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  34. Bonilla’s numbers in the DSL last season were pretty fantastic, and he had a great start today as the “ace” of the GCL staff. I wonder what he throws, but high K + low BB is usually a good combination, no matter the level. Gonna be interested in following him.

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  36. I hate to inspire confidence when I’m not positive its well-placed, but don’t worry about trading any top prospects during the 2010 season. Unlike the past couple seasons, the 2010 Phillies aren’t a player away from a championship. Its no longer a matter of mortgaging the future, because if the window has not closed, it doesn’t appear to be open. Even if this core is not done yet, getting Cliff Lee back would not make us favorites to win it all.

    The core players’ sudden decline has to worry the Phillies ownership and raise concerns about future revenue. Do you really believe they’ll add to payroll and trade away cheap young talent in order to take one last shot? Maybe, if they’re selling the team…otherwise, I really doubt it. It wouldn’t make baseball or financial sense.

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  37. baxter – hypothetically, I agree with you. But never undersell the ability of a desperate general manager to make a really stupid short-term move with disastrous long-term consequences. I certainly am not at the point where I trust Ruben Amaro with these sorts of things. In fact, I am still very suspicious of his instincts when it comes to adding veteran talent. Like money, it seems prospects tend to burn a hole in his pocket. I hope I’m wrong, but we’ll see.

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  38. Wow, the guy who wrote the Fanhouse article really knew what he was talking about. I’ll read what he writes carefully in the future.

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  40. if the phillies were short term focused, they wouldn’t have traded Lee. trading for him at the end of the season is even more short term focused. the phils might add a bench player or two, but i don’t see them trading a blue chipper unless there is a major injury to a key player.

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  41. One can make more than a credible argument that the Cliff Lee trade had nothing to do with the team being long-term focused. With all of the conspiracy theories, questions, stonewalling and intrigue, the Cliff Lee trade is like a separate entity in and of itself. It’s the Phillies’ version of the Kennedy assassination – it’s nearly impossible to figure out the truth.

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  42. Just found this scouting report on BA from when Rizziotti was first drafted. Seems to answer the people who think his power is a fluke

    “Rizzotti burst onto the prospect landscape as a freshman at Manhattan, batting .416/.530/.694 with nine homers and 57 RBIs. He tantalized scouts with his huge raw power in batting practice in the New England Collegiate League that summer and again in the Cape Cod League in 2006, but he was inconsistent in game action. Rizzotti struggled out of the gate in 2007, when the weather seemed to hinder his timing and rhythm. But he got hot in the second half and finished the regular season with a career-high 11 homers. Rizzotti flashes 70 power (on the 20-80 scouting scale) and can hit balls out of the park from foul pole to foul pole, but he hasn’t proven he can hit quality pitching with any consistency. He has a patient approach, but some scouts would like to see him be more aggressive. He also swings and misses a lot and is vulnerable to fastballs inside. Rizzotti lacks athleticism and mobility and is just an adequate defender at first.”

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  43. Catch, be as enthusiastic as you like. That’s the way to enjoy.

    If Singleton keeps up close to current performance, his Phils minor league comps will be two, IMO: Richie Allen and Ron Jones. Allen needs no explanation.

    Jones hit .315 his first year Low A. The next year he hit .371 in High A. It was very similar to JS. Then he blew his knee out and was never the same. After laboring in minors for a few years he got his chance and did have his days hitting. He accumulated 22 HRs and an .815 OPS in 4 partial MLB seasons, but his knees never let him play more than a minor role. He was the Singleton of the late ’80s, a very good athlete, a pure hitter, and an authentic special talent, no doubt.

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  44. “baxter – hypothetically, I agree with you. But never undersell the ability of a desperate general manager to make a really stupid short-term move with disastrous long-term consequences.”

    Its those freaken “winter meeting” I wish I knew what went on. Forever they have gotten silly and desperate with a touch of personal venom included, Ok they probably blown this year.
    Please let’s not make it worse.
    Hopefully Happ comes back and Beaz goes on the DL.
    sINGLETON STAYS

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  45. I remember Ron Jones very well. What a damned shame. The dude could flat out hit – but ripped up his knees. Twice, as I recall. I believe I was at the game when he did it the second time and I was incredulous. It was like the Correll Buckhalter situation with the Eagles, but Buckhalter recovered – Jones did not.

    But, even on the minor league numbers, there are huge differences between Jones and Singleton, and the biggest differences favor Singleton (Jones was faster, and played a more important defensive position, I’ll give you that). Ron Jones, as impressive as he was was 22 when he tore up high A ball. Barring injuries, Jonathan Singleton will make his high A ball debut at 19! That’s an enormous, enormous difference – nearly a night and day difference. Not only that, but Jones was more of a line-drive type hitter where as Singleton has, in addition to his plate discipline and contact skills, plus (maybe plus, plus) power.

    A better comp. for Jones was Lonnie Smith – a superb hitter in his own right. Singleton is a far, far better prospect than good ‘ole Ron Jones ever was and that’s meant in no way to disrespect Ron Jones.

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  46. Whenever I think of mid-season trades, horrible visions of Larry Anderson for Jeff Bagwell and Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz keep popping into my head.

    Perhaps we should all make our “untouchables” lists because we are getting dangerously close to that time of the year.

    For me, the untouchables are as follows:

    Singleton
    Brown (unless we’re getting a very young outfielder who can hit in return – but not a guy who is 33)
    Santana (too much upside to just trade away)
    Cosart (will end up as our ace after Halladay leaves – book it)
    Biddle (I don’t know if he’s untouchable, but how could you trade him know? A trade seems preposterous at this point).

    Nearly Untouchable:

    Colvin (could be a beast)
    May (is a beast, but needs to be tamed)
    DeFratus (a possible shut-down closer)
    Valle (great upside)
    Villar (our only legit. SS prospect)
    Gose
    Gillies (still like him a ton – will surprise)
    Shreve

    Touch, but only if you pay full price:

    Ramirez (on the fence with him)
    Garcia (him too)
    James
    Dugan
    Altherr
    Castro
    Schwimmer
    Mathieson

    Could easily be traded if helpful to team:

    Zagurski
    Herndon (sorry, I like him, but he’s not a big league pitcher yet)
    Rosenberg
    Hernandez
    Way
    Hewitt
    Aumont
    Overbeck (I like him, but in the right trade, see ya Cody)
    Rizzotti (I like him, but trade value may never be higher – sometimes I wonder if he is the next Mike Costanzo – maybe, maybe not)

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  47. Catch: Costanzo never had a stretch like Rizzotti’s this year. He would get hot for 2 or 3 games and then strike out 3 times a game for a while. Lots of Ofers.

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  48. Catch: Agree with the differences between Jones and Singleton. Only try to point out that those two have been the only ones in my memory who looked like dominant minor league hitters who could have almost gone to the majors at any time and done OK. Scouts knew they were the real thing. I am disregarding guys who were hot for a while and came back to earth and guys are are great now, but were not quite as developed and productive in low minors (Howard, Utley). Allen and Jones, like Singleton, were men among boys in the minors.

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  50. Recently, the Phillies asked for waivers and designated for assignment Scott Mathieson. This caused much concern with the Philly fans that the Phillies would lose Mathieson to another club. The people who exhibited this concern clearly do not fully understand how waivers, options and designating a player for assignment work. There was about as much chance of losing Mathieson to another club on waivers as there will be to lose Chase Utley when the Phillies ask for waivers on him in early August (more in this latter).

    What occurred with Mathieson is standard operating practice for players that are more than three years removed from originally being placed on the 40-man roster. Major League rules require that those players clear optional waivers before they can be sent to the minors.

    First you must understand that there are 4 types of waivers. The 4 types of waivers are general waivers, release waivers, trade waivers and optional waivers. General waivers and release waivers are not recallable while trade waivers and optional waivers are. Once a player is put on general or release waivers that player is lost if any other club claims him. A player put on trade or optional waivers can have the waiver recalled if another team put in a claim. 99.9% of the time no claims are made on trade or optional waivers. Trade waiver are used to make player available for trade while optional waiver are use to option player to the minors if they are more than three years removed for when they were put on the 40-man roster.

    When a player is called up and is eligible for optional waivers the team usually asks for optional waivers after 24-hrs of the call up in order to be able to send the player down whenever they want in that waiver period without having to wait for the player to clear optional waivers. I might add that when the club asks for optional waivers there is no immediate intention of sending that player down. In general 99.9% of the time the person put on optional waivers clears waivers. Waivers usually take 3 to 4 days to clear. If he clears waivers he is added back to the 40-man roster and optioned back to the minors. If a person does not clear then the team has the option of adding that person back to the 40-man and designate someone else for assignment.

    Mathieson was called up around noon on June 17. The Phillies probably asked for optional waivers on him about noon on June 18. Latter on June 18 Ruiz was hurt. Because the waivers on Mathieson had not yet cleared since it take 3 to 4 days. The Phillies then needed to designate Mathieson for assignment in order to open a roster space and allow time for his waivers to clear. Designating a person for assignment is a temporary holding area and a quick way to remove him from the 40-man roster to clear a spot for another person. The person designated for assignment continues to get paid and earns major league service time while he is on it. A person designated for assignment can remain on it for up to 10 days at that point he must be added back to the 40-man roster, traded, or released. It was designed to be use with waivers so that it gives the team time to allow for a person to clear waivers. Many people react to the Designate for Assignment for Mathieson because they think that it is used only to release or trade a person. This is not true although probably 75 to 80 % of the time it is used that way.

    The only way the Phillies could possibly lose Mathieson is if someone puts a claim for him (99.9% unlikely) and the Phillies determine that he has less value than someone like Quintin Berry or Brian Bocock and then they asks for general waivers on him. I should point out that once a person is call back from optional waivers when claimed then he would need to clear general waivers (none recallable) within that waiver period in order to be sent to the minors. Since the Phillies only need the roster spot for backup catcher Sardinha for a couple of days, the Phillies will probably reinstate Mathieson when Ruiz is ok’d to play and designate Sardinha for assignment.

    Earlier, I indicated that the Phillies will probably ask waivers on Chase Utley in early August. Most Philly fans will be surprised to learn that the Phillies probably will be asking waivers on Halladay, Hamels, Utley and Howard in early August and even more surprising is that they all will probably clear. The waivers that we are talking about are trade waivers.

    Virtually all players on the 40-man roster except for player with no trade contracts and 5/10 year player are put on trade waivers in early August of every year. This is done because in order to be ready to trade players before the trade deadline. Players must have to cleared trade waivers during that waiver period in order to be eligible to be traded. Even players that the team has no intention of trading are offered on waivers in order to mask the players they really want to trade. Just like optional waivers 99.9% of the players offered for trade waivers clear. August 1 opens the new waiver period that controls the critical late August trading period. Starting August 1, teams can put up to 7 players a day on the trade waiver list so by August 5 or August 6 virtually all the players on their 40-man roster could have been put on trade waivers. Teams can only make one claim per day and the fact that teams do not want to step on other’s toes so the others do not step on theirs so 99.9% of the players put on these waivers clear. If a player does not clear then the team recalls that waiver and that player can not be put on trade waivers again in that waiver period nor can he be traded.

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  51. Thanks for the dissertation NEPA Philly, but what does that have to do with what we’re talking about at all?

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  53. “Galvis 2-4 , 2B, HR, so much for the never drives the ball and will never hit for power thing”

    I hope this is sarcasm.

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  54. “Biddle (I don’t know if he’s untouchable, but how could you trade him know? A trade seems preposterous at this point).”

    You couldn’t trade him right now if you wanted to. Can’t trade a player within 1 year of their signing date.

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  55. Where can one find out how the Phils minor league pitching system ranks with some of the other clubs? Esp the pen. We have a good problem to have. A closer a each level ready for a promotion but not going anywhere soon due to this “log jam”. That’s not even counting some of the college bullpen arms drafted this month. Are we just loaded or is this the norm?

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  57. It’s also really interesting that Catch 22 only wants to trade guys who would get us absolutely nothing in return. Great list there buddy. Really realistic.

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  58. Does anyone know if there are any articles on the net which detail the trade deadline moves over the past 10 years or so?

    Just a gut feel, but I best the vast majority don’t end up helping the team (that much anyone) who is giving up the minor league “prospect” and receiving the “key” veteran player. I know we’ve gotten lucky the past few years with Blanton and Lee, but I don’t think that’s the normal for most teams. On the other hand, I’m not really sure how many of the “prospects” end up being solid MLB contributors (let alone stars).

    It would be interesting to see a list over the past 10 years so we can put a “winner” and a “loser” for each trade and see which side wins (the prospects, or the “key players”).

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  60. “It’s also really interesting that Catch 22 only wants to trade guys who would get us absolutely nothing in return. Great list there buddy. Really realistic.”

    Well, actually, I’ve listed 4 completely untouchable guys and a fifth that I’d do if we received the right player in return. Others would be in play, to varying degrees.

    But, yeah, I get it, the worse the group of players you’re willing to deal, the less likely it is you get good players in return – that’s not rocket science. Of course you limit your trade options when you limit the players you’re willing to trade. My point however, is that I don’t want to pull off a blockbuster because it would cost our best prospects whom I do not want to trade. You may or may not agree with the strategy, but I’m being very realistic about what limiting the available prospects does to our trade options.

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  61. Let’s see if Garner is the type who needs FIL this fall and XST next spring to play catch-up with more experienced, more fundamentally sound guys. Hope it is just first game pro jitters and he can show something this NYPL season.

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  62. That looks like a fun exercise.

    Here is my untouchable list:
    Domonic Brown
    Jared Cosart

    … and my list is probably negotiable, if Greinke, Jimenez, or Lincecum becomes available.

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  65. Clearwater w/a shut out…May 6 ip 1 hit…he is 2-0 last 3 games 16.1 innings 6 hits 12 bb 2er 16 K’s

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  66. If and when May finds his command, who has better natural stuff…him or Cosart? And would May even be ahead of Colvin?

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  67. Colvin was rated higher than May as a High School senior. Never heard May described as anymore than a mid rotation starter.

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  68. May is from washington. Colvin is from the southeast. Of course he was rated higher. Besides what does “higher rating in high school” have to do with natural stuff.

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  69. Being older, It’s harder for me to get excited about these kids, until they prove themself in higher level, love singleton right now, but remember mike anderson and stop and say nothing is sure, mike hit 36 homeruns over 300 average I think 623 slugging percent in triple a, great outfielder and never was more than a back up. better prospect in a lot of scouts minds then luzinski .so always cautious with these kids.

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  70. The simple fact is that most prospects (even a good number of “sure-thing” guys) never see the Majors let alone are stars there.

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  71. The Galvis comment was more of a back-handed swipe at those who speak in certainties, absolutes, and of unchanging outcomes. I never do such things.

    And NEPA…. yeah, good stuff. Way to lift something straight from the media without attribution.

    And to those raving about the Frankie Piliere article, it is not an old article, it has Singleton’s current numbers in it. And, yeah, he knows alot, just apparently not that Kyle Drabek is currently in the Blue Jays organization, and Carlos Monasterios is currently in the Dodger organization.

    All the stuff of trades of top prospects for pitchers on short term rentals, or with high salaries. It is seldom done. Why would it be. I also don’t think , at this point, you can consider it a foregone conclusion, that Philly gets a pass to the playoffs or World Series.

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  72. Somebody mentioned Ron Jones. That was a blast from the past. Before he tore up his knees he was viewed as a potential star. It is ashame he got injured at a time when knee injuries were still career enders (1980’s).

    Most of the knee injuries guys suffer today ended careers pre-1995. It is amazing how far sports medicine has come over the last 20 years.

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