63 thoughts on “Industry Mid-Season Top 50 Prospect Lists”

1. Who are some candidates for the 50-100 spots for off-season lists? Tocci, Crawford and maybe Quinn and Morgan if they finish strong? We could potentially have 3-4 guys in the top 100, something we haven’t had in a while.

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   1. Crawford has the best chance, particularly if he gets a late bump to Williamsport. Parks might consider Tocci based on his love for teenagers in full-season ball.

      Realistically, the organization has 2 Top 100 prospects. The other guys are real stretches right now. Maybe next year.

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      1. I talked to Parks about Tocci and he had good things to say about his floor. When we asked him about players that he likes more than other evaluators, they were all high floor guys.

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         1. Fair enough. I don’t think those things are mutually exclusive. Kids holding their own in A-ball probably have the physical tools and makeup to succeed all the way up the ladder, even if they don’t develop into superstars.

            That said, isn’t Tocci’s floor “body doesn’t develop and he gets the bat knocked out of his hands by upper-level pitching?” That’s not a major leaguer. Not saying it will happen, but there’s still a lot that needs to go right with him.

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            1. When I look at his body, I can easily see another 20-30 pounds on his frame. He’d look an awful lot like Carlos Beltran in his prime. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_inQIFWv0Mo

               The floor is always “he gets hurt and can’t develop.” So, barring injury, I’m not concerned about his body failing to develop.

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               1. like he beltran body type comp

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2. Fangraphs also had Biddle and Franco in their Top 50.

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3. You’re missing the fangraphs list as well, which I think had Franco at 32 and Biddle at 39

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4. Keith has been really pissing me off lately. Harps on sample size then tells me if he cant judge a player in 4 at bats hes in the wrong profession.

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   1. I don’t like that he thinks that every player outside of the Top 15 are all cookie cutter, and if they don’t match that “design” they are totally flawed.

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      1. I like how some people get slammed for having control issues but others like Bradley who averages 8 walks per 9 innings , is virtually loved by all, I think it was Sutcliff who called him a free spirit out there on the mound , when he threw one to the backstop during warmups , no doubt the kid has talent , but so does Ethan Martin , he just walks to many people ,

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         1. Archie Bradley: 1.232 WHIP, 3.04 ERA (career minors)
            Ethan Martin: 1.504 WHIP, 4.77 ERA (career minors)

            Even if you compare Bradley’s AA numbers this year to Martin’s AA numbers last year (by far his best as a pro), Bradley looks way better (2.37 ERA compared to 3.48, WHIPs even at 1.250 to 1.249). Bradley is loved by all because he is a very good prospect, not because of some sort of bias.

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   2. And then this …

      Todd (Georgia)

      What happened to Larry Greene? Thought he had decent power outlook, but haven’t seen him mentioned in any Phillies prospect rankings in a while.
      Klaw (1:53 PM)

      Power before hit, no other tools. No bueno.

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      1. More …

         Brian (Philly)

         How can you say a player’s pitch recognition is “atrocious” based on such a small sample (re: Franco)? What if he just wasn’t seeing the ball well against a specific pitcher?
         Klaw (1:55 PM)

         How big was the sample? I don’t see how you’d know that.

         ————–

         cory (pa)

         If you were Amaro what would your strategy be for the upcoming trade deadline. Who would you look to move, and if you were selling are there any specific prospects or players you would target to help compete in 2014?
         Klaw (1:53 PM)

         Trade ’em all. Let God sort ’em out.
         Klaw (1:53 PM)

         Seriously, any pending FA should go, and I’d at least dangle Cliff Lee and see what happens.

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         1. Jamal (Florida)

            What do you think about Cord Sandberg? Seems like a high-potential, raw guy.
            Klaw (2:12 PM)

            Exactly. Good pick by the Phils. Liked their draft a lot.

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         2. Seems like a sarcastic answer from Keith Law to you question? Keith Law is very knowledgeable but seems as huggable as aporcupine which turns people off.

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            1. Keith is snarky douche but hes a snarky douche who is right 90 percent of the time. Met him while watching Kohl Stewart pitch this year. Was very down to earth in person. So I think the online persona is almost troll like.

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            2. My Bad the …
               “Seriously, any pending FA should go, and I’d at least dangle Cliff Lee and see what happens.” was a quote from Klaw not me so he does in fact have a sense of humor.

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5. Did anybody see espns preposed trade for Cliff Lee , what a joke a bunch of really young kids , and nobody near major league ready, I also suppose the phillies would be eating salary along with that because I really dont think the Pirates can afford him at 25 mil per year , what is that a 1/3 of their payroll

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   1. what was the deal?

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      1. Trade No. 1: Pittsburgh Pirates acquire pitcher Cliff Lee from the Philadelphia Phillies for shortstop Alen Hanson, pitcher Luis Heredia and second baseman Dilson Herrera

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         1. Lee for Taillon, straight-up. #faketrades

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            1. Even if they did a trade like this Lee would have to accept (unless Pirates are on his list of approved teams for a trade) – I doubt he would.

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         2. Forget about it – not going to happen. Any trades will be done with the goal of making the Phillies more competitve for 2014. It will be a re-load, not a re-build. Think Red Sox.

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            1. Catchman did you read the original post, I laughed at this deal , no way they take kids so far away from the pros , and I try not to think about mass wholes

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               1. I did – I agree with you.

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            2. See. that’s another reason why I think nothing much is going to happen trade wise. On the one hand, the team will be highly motivated to acquire someone who will help in the short run. On the other hand, that’s going to severely limit the upside of the the players acquired. We (I include myself) were always kidding ourselves about Castellanos. The same is probably also true about Pederson. If we limit ourselves to acquiring players who will help in 2014, is there ANY player we have, apart from possibly Lee, who could get us more than a bench piece? Papelbon looked like he might, even if Castellanos was not realistic, but after the past few weeks I think not.

               As is often the case, my “negativity” in retrospect looks almost too optimistic.

               Granted, this may be a moot point point, with other factors also mitigating against trading veterans (aside from the hopefully inevitable M. Young trade and D. Young release).

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               1. I still think papelbon could get us avail garcia who should be ready next year

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               2. I think everyone sees Papelbon’s huge drop in velocity and they are worried. I know I’m worried about him just remaining with our team.

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               3. another great move by ruben we needed offense at third Aramis Ramirez was on the market yet he pays big bucks on a guy who throws 60 innings

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               4. Paps and Acshe may get you Castellanos, thats assuming Franco ETA 2015..

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               5. Why would Detroit want Asche? Castellanos is believed to be available because there’s no room for him at third, and he has less value as an outfielder. What would be the point of bringing in another third baseman whose bat would be even less valuable than Castellanos in the OF?

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               6. Same reason why you leave Quinn at ss when JP Crawford will definitely be the man. Leverage or trade chips. Plus Asche has a reasonable chance of playing 2nd base with any other team, which most orgs would be doing with someone like Franco 12 months behind.

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               7. Asche is not in single-A. He’s knocking on the door of the major leagues. Trading for a AAA prospect limited to third base when you’ve got an All-World third baseman is not the same thing as developing multiple shortstop prospects at the lower levels. Also, you refute you’re own argument when you criticize the Phillies organization one sentence later for not moving Asche off third to make room for Franco.

                  I think there is a distant possibility that the Phillies could try Asche at second, but I doubt you’d find many who would call it a “reasonable chance.”

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               8. Asche was not moved off 2B because he was blocked by Utley, he was moved because the Phillies decided that he couldn’t become an adequate defensive 2B. Strangely, he was tried at 2B, because Martinez shoved him off 3B.

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               9. Look unless you are named Dave Dombrowski, how the heck do you know what the Tigers would do when the ultimate cog in the would-be deal is a closer named Papelbon.
                  GMs at trade deadlines pull off some unusual trades when the ring is so close for them, unless you have never seen that before.

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               10. Sigh. No, just no. I was going to write one of my sarcastic “D. Young for Castellanos straight up” comments, but decided against it. Still, if we’re going to play this game, at least play it intelligently. Asche in this deal makes no sense for a whole host of reasons. One, teams don’t trade for trade chips (exception would be a trhee team trade where the rest of the deal is already in place, but that seems extremely unlikely here). Two, Asche is still not highly regarded nationally. He doesn’t (yet) have much trade value even to a team who needs a third baseman. Fairly or not (and I like him more than the national consensus, albeit not as much as a few vocal people around here) that;s the case. Three, the Phillies need a third baseman for 2014 and Franco will not be ready.

                   That’s the Asche part of this. On top of that, Papelbon is a significant downgrade for the Tigers at this point, and I don’t think people realize how much Castellanos’ stock has risen this year. Add in the (IMO mistaken) belief by Amaro that he needs an established closer to remain competitive. But that stuff is at least a little subjective. There’s probably SOME small chance that the fantasy deal still happens – maybe 1 in 10,000, maybe Amaro has pics of Dombrowski – but such a fantasy deal would not include Asche. No way, not in 100 trillion years. Just makes zero sense for either team.

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   2. Was this a Jim Bowden proposed trade? Jim Bowden of the who traded Lee, Philips, and Sizemore for a half season of Bartolo Colon. I read his stuff because it’s amusing, but man is it bad

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      1. I think it was Omar Minaya who made that trade.

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6. I wonder if Keith Law would keep Franco off his top 100 list? The way he talks, it might be so, not that we should care.

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7. the philly inquirer has an updated top 25 list of phillies’ prospects, with the first dozen in today. surprised the scout quoted think biddle projects as nothing more than a back end starter. but the article is mostly encouraging.

   http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20130718_Franco_tops_rankings_of_Phillies_prospects.html.

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8. astros have four prospects in the BA top 50, only one of whom is from the phillies (singleton). cosart is probably in their top 100.

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   1. Yeah, Jeff Luhnow has done a very good job since taking over for Ed Wade. Lance McCullers and Delino DeShields Jr. are probably top 100 as well.

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      1. Ed Wade selected George Springer and traded for Singleton, their top prospects.

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         1. Also Mike Foltynewic who is on many Top 50 lists.

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         2. Definitely true, but Luhnow revamped Houston’s entire player development system, which is what he did for St. Louis. I bet that’s in part responsible for the resurgence of prospects such as Foltynewic and DeShields. Nevertheless, it’s frustrating watching how data-driven, meticulous, and sharp Luhnow’s front office is when compared to Amaro’s.

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            1. Well does look like Correa will best out Villar at shortstop in the future for the ‘Stros. So thats a win for RAJ.

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               1. Not necessarily since Ed Wade made that deal. Correa might end up at 3B, considering how big he projects to be (similar to Manny Machado).

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               2. Wade or Gillick…Oswalt.

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   2. Cosart is pitching well for the Astros. He’s probably ineligible for the list.

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      1. Cosart has pitched eight innings in the big leagues. He’s still a prospect and eligible for BA’s rankings. If he didn’t make the top 50, it’s because of control issues in the minors.

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         1. Saw Cosart pitch last night at the AAA all-star game. Had trouble finding the plate. Asche made a couple nice defensive plays.

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9. Franco is #75, Biddle is #85, and JP Crawford is #105 at 80grade.com. They also have an updated Phillies Top 15…some of them with scouting grades.

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   1. This list has MLB players included that still qualify so they aren’t as low as it seems.

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   2. Interestingly, they give Franco a 35 grade for speed, which seems more accurate than what you normally see listed for him. Tocci at a 70.

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   3. Sebastian Valle made the top 15 on the 80 grade site. Valle has been around so long, I forget he is just turning 23.
      Aaron Altherr in the top 10. He was the only player I saw with 60+ grades on 3 different tools.

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      1. Missed Tocci, somehow. 70, 60, 60 in Speed Def and arm.
         Aaron Altherr is 60, 60, 60 in the same categories.

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         1. They also have some grades for international players, they got Encarnacion at 60 for power. Accurate with the reports I’ve read on him.

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10. Paying close attention to the prospects the Cubs end up with for Garza….

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    1. The names being bandied about so far are not exactly earth shattering. Olt’s stock has fallen a lot and justifiably so. Edwards has some nice numbers – I don’t know anything else about him – but is in A ball.

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       1. To be clear, this is about what I would expect from a rental like Garza But some people around here seem to have higher expectations about what a rental (or veteran with a market priced contract) will get you. 🙂

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          1. I agree so this transaction should give those types a good education in how the market has changed for renting a player.

             Safe to say Garza is the best starting pitcher in the rental market. If he cannot fetch a top prospect then much cannot be expected for any of our rental options.

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             1. With the prospects texas is offering. rather keep him. until last day to move a player,. And if the deal is still bad. dont move him. he could be a difference maker for texas, and if they wont give up anything of value, then keep him and screw texas.

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