How do you rebuild a big market team?

Other Stuff

The headline is a tad rhetorical, because I’m going to share my opinion on how it should be done. I’ve spent a lot of time pondering the topic, so I figured this would be a good way to get myself back into writing. Thoughts are below the fold

The Phillies were in a tough position at the end of 2011. Amaro had made big trades to acquire pieces to try and win another World Series. He’d assembled one of the best pitching staffs in baseball and then made a big trade for Hunter Pence in July to try and boost the offense of a team that looked certain to win 95+ games even without him. That trade was no doubt made with an eye toward the postseason. The cost was Jarred Cosart, Jon Singleton, Josh Zeid and eventually Domingo Santana for Pence. At the time, I talked myself into the trade being a good thing for the Phillies. They had a historic pitching rotation and the idea of winning a 2nd World Series in 4 years and cementing the team in Philadelphia sports history was very appealing.

Of course, a small part of me, the part I tried to ignore, knew that it was a huge gamble. The team was getting older, and even at times during that season, the team had trouble scoring runs. The farm system wasn’t really strong at all in 2011, and we traded away a bunch of potential major leaguers for Pence, a non-superstar. I don’t have to remind you how 2011 ended. The end of 2011 could have served as the turning point. Jimmy Rollins, Brad Lidge, Ryan Madson, and Roy Oswalt were free agents. The Phillies could have looked to unload a bit, re-load the farm system and take a small step back, consolidate if you will, and then figure out where they stood.

Instead, they kind of went half-way into adding to the team. They re-signed Rollins to what would eventually be an affordable contract, they gave Papelbon a ridiculous contract* and then they basically just signed a bunch of cheap filler like Laynce Nix, Brian Schneider, Jim Thome**, Raul Valdes, and Ty Wigginton. If they truly felt the window was still open, you have to wonder why they didn’t go further in? It was obvious that Howard was going to miss quite a bit of time in 2012. Placido Polanco was an offensive black hole at 3B, and they decided to go with shitass Juan Pierre in LF. They had a massive payroll, but were going cheap (and lousy) at a number of key positions. Its one thing to assemble cheap platoons with productive players, or give young players a chance to fill out the last few bullpen/bench spots, but its another to rely on players like Ty Wigginton and Juan Pierre to start important games for a team with World Series aspirations.

* I defended this contract right when it was signed, because I assumed the Phillies would push forward and add one more big hitter in addition to Rollins to improve the offense. They didn’t, and obviously the team fell flat in 2012.

** I love Jim Thome, but this looked like it was doomed to fail before he even laced up his cleats in 2012.

Anyway, let me start to illustrate where I’m going with this. The Phillies were in a tough spot, and they had to make a big choice. Did they continue to go all guns-a-blazin’ or did they pull back? I believed (and I was wrong) that fans would give the team a lot of leeway based on their incredible run from 2007-2011 and would continue to come out in massive numbers for at least 4-5 years, even if things went south. As you know, professional sports teams are not philanthropic ventures, they are businesses. (yes, they give money to charity, you know what I mean though) When revenue slows down (because fans stop coming, stop buying merchandise, etc) then spending will slow down. To the credit of ownership, they kept spending huge amounts of money even as attendance dropped off a cliff the last few years.

Average attendance:

2011: 45,440
2012: 44,021
2013: 37,190
2014: 29,924

That was quick. Nevertheless, payroll remained near the top of the MLB mountain:

2011: $173M
2012: $174M
2013: $165M
2014: $180M

As the team was decaying at a rapid rate, the ownership was still willing to invest in the product. Was it misguided investment? I think so. It was clear that fans were going to pack up shop as the team sputtered. Would a complete teardown have accelerated that attendance drop? Maybe. But then the question becomes, is tearing it down completely really the best option? Lets look at the different types of ways you can approach team building:

The Red Sox approach: The Red Sox have yoyo’ed between winning the World Series and finishing in the toilet for the last 10 years.

2004: World Series win
2005: LDS lost
2006: 3rd place (86 wins)
2007: World Series win
2008: Lost ALCS
2009: Lost LDS
2010: 3rd place (89 wins)
2011: 3rd place (90 wins)
2012: 5th place (69 wins)
2013: World Series
2014: 5th place (71 wins)

The Red Sox have maintained a very high payroll for the last 10 years, even when they’ve been awful. They went from last place to World Series to last place in the last 3 years. And in reality, this is probably the model the Phillies thought they were going to follow. The difference between the Phillies and Red Sox is their respective farm systems, which ties into this being a minors website. The Red Sox had a bunch of young players who could step in and contribute for the minimum, but they also kept spending wildly. They invested heavily in Latin America and Cuba. In the seasons where they won 69 and 71 games, they were still positioning themselves to win a World Series in those years. And it all went pear-shaped. Then in 2013, then win a World Series.

Baseball is unpredictable. Every year, the slate is wiped clean, and all 30 teams can theoretically win the World Series. Of course, most years you can pick 10-12 teams you know aren’t going to win the World Series, and 6-8 that you’d assume would be pretty decent bets to make the playoffs. That leaves 10-15 teams in that weird middle ground. Where you could win 75 games or 93 games. Where you might sneak into the wildcard playoff with 89 wins.

So, now that I’ve written 1,000 words and meandered around the page, what is the point? The point is, what should the Phillies do now? What they could have or should have done in 2011 is neither here nor there. For the last few years, they’ve resisted all of the rebuilding and re-tooling talk, but now they seem to have embraced it. So how should they go about this teardown? And is it a teardown? Or a salvage job? Or a remodeling? Well, here are my thoughts:

Trades…but trade who? MLB teams normally have 2 reasons for trading away a player on their roster: acquire a future asset or lower the team’s payroll. As we’ve illustrated above, there doesn’t seem to be a mandate to slash payroll, even as attendance declines. Part of the boost here is the new TV deal, even though it appears the Phillies left money on the table there. So if there is no mandate to dump salary, then making trades has to be about future assets. And to clarify, you can also trade someone away to make room for someone in your current system who needs playing time. Once upon a time, the Phillies dumped Jim Thome to make room for one Ryan Howard.

So lets look at what the Phillies have already done. They moved Jimmy Rollins for two actual prospects. That is a good thing. Eflin and Windle might not be superstars, but both should log 6 years of pre-free agency MLB time, either as starting pitchers or relievers. Jimmy is a hero and one of the most important players in franchise history, but the Phillies have his replacement in the minors, and even though he needs two more years of development, it was the right time to cash in on an investment that only had 1 year left on his deal, even if he was an icon. They traded Antonio Bastardo to the Pirates for a player I’d never heard of, Joely Rodriguez. I can’t say whether or not Rodriguez will amount to anything, but if he can provide even 2-3 seasons of a tick above replacement level performance for the league minimum, then it was a decent return for a lefthanded reliever who really wasn’t all that good.

What next? Well, obviously there are lots of rumors about trading Cole Hamels. Let me be very clear here. Hamels is one of the best starting pitchers in baseball. Whether hes top 5, top 10 or whatever, hes one of the elite, and he has that all so desirable “playoff experience” that teams covet. Some of the usual jokers in the media have written things like “teams expect the Phillies to eat some of the salary” and that is absolutely insane. If it were Cliff Lee, then yes, I can understand the Phillies having to eat some of the money because of his injury issues. Hamels is a bonafide front of the rotation pitcher, and given the way salaries continue to inflate, his contract is reasonable, and given that teams are only on the hook for 4 years (5 if the team is on his NTC list), the Phillies should NOT be paying any of his contract. The only exception to this is if the acquiring team is willing to send back multiple elite prospects in exchange for money. This is a good use of resources, because the Phillies have an abundance of money. But if the Phillies trade Hamels to “dump” his contract, I will burn this website to the ground.

Beyond Hamels, who else should they trade? Everyone, if the return is right. Marlon Byrd, fine. Papelbon? If someone would take him, I’d give him away. What about Ryan Howard? Rumors say the Phillies got a few minor hits on Howard, assuming they’d pay 90% of his contract or more. Is this worthwhile? What is the plan for first base? If the plan is to move Maikel Franco to 1B and give him 600 plate appearances in 2015, then I can see the merit in moving Ryan Howard and paying his contract. If the solution is to pay $20M of his contract per season and then sign a scrub off the trash heap to play 1B, then they should not trade him. Franco is the only young player who might end up at 1B in the organization at this point, so if they are committed to playing him every day to see what they have, then I think it makes sense. To summarize, make trades if it brings you future talent in return. Offer to pay money if it gets you better prospects. Actively look to trade players if you have their replacements in-house and you need to find out what you have in that player.

So if that covers trades, how else can you fix things? And that is really the heart of all this. The Phillies minor league system is diabolical. This is a result of bad drafts, lots of trades, and general thriftiness in the international market. Before the slotting system was formalized, the Phillies played by the Commissioner’s office’s unwritten rules and spent slot money. Now that the slotting system has been put in writing, they continue to abide by those guidelines. So what can they do now? To start, they have replaced Marti Wolever, so we’ll see how the new guy does. They can always try and poach away better scouts from other organizations. I don’t pretend to know the abilities of all of the Phillies current scouts (and I only ever talked to one Phillies scout, he seemed very good at what he did, and I know for a fact hes been responsible for a number of successful picks in the last 6 years or so) but I know that people inside the game know who the best scouts are.

The Phillies can also trade for international slot money. Teams are able to trade their international allocations, which means the Phillies could gain a big advantage when it comes to signing talent in Latin America. Those players require more time, obviously, since they are signing as 16 year olds. But spending the money there should not impact the big league roster when the time comes to supplement the big league team with major league free agents. The Phillies can’t exploit the draft, but they can maximize their resources in Latin America and also in Japan/Korea when and if there is someone who merits the investment.

The last area that needs to be addressed is player development. Admittedly, it is the area where I can’t provide you specific solutions. But if you look around the majors, you see coaches that have taken broken assets and turned them into expensive merchandise. Don Cooper, the White Sox pitching coach, is a pitching mechanic. Mickey Callaway, the Indians pitching coach, helped turn Corey Kluber into a Cy Young winner and took Carlos Carrasco from 4A fodder into a solid middle of the rotation pitcher throwing 95-96.

For years, the Phillies drafted raw, unpolished stones and unfortunately they were not able to turn them into gems. Was it that they so completely misjudged the raw tools of Anthony Hewitt, Larry Greene, and others? Possibly, and maybe the canning of Wolever will resolve that. But I can only think of a few guys taken since 2008 that have lived up to their pre-draft expectations, let alone exceeded them. Whether it is some sort of organizational issue in terms of teaching/philosophy, or the issue is one or two particular people, it is worth exploring. Coaches make a tiny fraction of what big league players make. Don Cooper probably doesn’t even make a seven figure salary, yet he’s helped mold the career of Chris Sale, a guy who most people thought would get injured/end up in the bullpen because of his delivery when he was drafted. Sale will end up making more money in a few months than Cooper will make in his career. The Phillies can and should use their financial advantage over the majority of baseball to bring in the best and brightest talent, not just in the front office, but all the way down to the instructors in the GCL. Its one thing to draft a guy with enormous raw tools, its another to be able to teach that guy the game and turn those raw tools into usable game skills.

Since I’ve already written too much, I’ll bring this to a close with a final thought. Given the Phillies financial strength, they have the ability to not completely destroy the major league roster like the Houston Astros have. They don’t have to dump their decent players for roster filler to save salary. If a free agent who isn’t tied to draft pick compensation is available, and that player is young enough to still be good in 2-3 years, the Phillies should be interested. As we’ve seen with the Red Sox, you can go from dogpoo to World Series in 12 months, so there is no real reason for the Phillies to completely tear it apart just for the sake of doing it. Fix the organizational infrastructure (player development, scouting, etc), exploit the international market where you can, and sign opportunistic free agents as long as it doesn’t cost you draft picks.

Thanks for reading.

43 thoughts on “How do you rebuild a big market team?”

  4. Great points and insight. Exploiting the international market seems to be a no brainer. Yet so far this off season they have not signed any of the Cuban or Asain players. Still not sure if it is RAJ or so done else who is making the front office business decisions. One final point is the Phillies need to continue to draft successfully. They not only need to be successful with their number one pick in 2015, they need to have success with their second and third picks.

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    1. I see the more “seasoned” Cuban and Asian players as better additions to teams that are already established, and not players to be built around. I’d prefer to see the money go to the younger imports.

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  5. Juan Pierre was actually a solid player when in Philly . . believe he put up close to a 2 WAR with almost more walks then K’s and a decent OBP of around .355 while hitting over .300. I realize that he wasn’t someone to build around but he certainly wasn’t a reason why 2012 went so badly.

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    1. His future 2012 WAR couldn’t play into the decision to keep him on the 2012 opening day roster. He and Scott Podesdnik both beat out John Mayberry for an outfield slot on the roster coming out of spring training. Pierre was kept because the Phillies had to have him on the 25-man roster by a certain date or he became a free agent. Podsednik had a similar clause but the FA date was 30 days later.than Pierre’s. Pierre got the “audition” based on that clause and made the most of it. I also believe that Domonic Brown suffered an injury in ST (wrist?).

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  7. On the player development side, there also needs to be a consistent message from rookie ball to the bigs. Amount complained while being shuffled between LHV and Philly a few years back (or was it last year? It’s all been a long, slow crawl to me) about receiving different instructions from different coaches, at least partially leading to his struggles. The team’s player development philosophy needs to be Gospel (and correct) to produce quality big leaguers consistently.

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    1. While I agree with your post, have any other minor leaguers come out and said that they agree with Aumont? Aumont may be the exception rather than the rule.

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      1. That’s very possible. Of course, you’re also not going to hear a lot of complaints from prospects trying to make a team.

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  8. I couldn’t agree more with all of this. I can’t stand when people talk like one of the biggest market teams in baseball should tear the team down to the studs rather than simply doing the things they should have been doing all along.

    It is absolutely ridiculous that Detroit has made such better decisions and spent more money than us, as has Oakland and other markets that are all smaller than us. Not even making an offer to Tomas is to me unacceptable. Not taking a chance on Liriano a few years back. Not signing Cespedes or Solar. Not giving Vogelsong or Brandon Moss a chance in MLB despite the sorry excuse for players they would have replaced. I could go on and on with this. The Phillies have not made good decisions in any way going back more than a decade. The MAG signing is one of the few times they actually went after a big time LA free agent, and should have led to more of the same. Good teams sign a major international free agent every year.

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  9. Very solid insights. James, how do you feel the departure of Arbuckle played into a lot of the mess the Phils are in now?

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  10. As JRoll basically said in his interview last week. the vision and future of the team will start from the top down. And that could be with John Middleton at some point in the future.

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  11. James, it is certainly terrific having you back here. And, not just because I agree with you. Going back to the Lee trade, the organization was afraid to everything they could for the team. there was always that little something, like you can’t have Lee and Doc even with Lee at 9Million. Then they traded for Pence, overpaying, although I agreed with the trade at the time, but continuing to let an injured Polanco play 3rd and not addressing it. Then they thought Howard was coming back completely healthy long before he actually did, and had no clue Chase was injured also. So they half-assed 2012, signing Pap to that enormous deal, but letting Cuddyer go to Colorado. Then panicked when Pence could not replace Howard and Utley and did not play well, so they trade him for 10 cents on the dollar. Now, they refuse to go after the Cuban and Asian market in any meaningful way. So, with apologies for being long winded, I think that the future is bleak, unless Middleton takes over the team, they have 3 more drafts like the last 2, and then spend their $ for whatever is missing.

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  12. There’s no reason why the Phillies can’t:
    1. Acquire as many International Free Agents that would be MLB regulars as possible while staying below the luxury tax threshold. It shouldn’t matter if they cost a little more than they’re “worth” because there is no repercussion to signing them beyond the money spent.
    2. Spend money to get the absolute best talent in coaches, scouts, and player developers. Again, no downside except the cost.
    3. Spend at least up to the limit every year in LA and the amateur draft.

    They can do all of these things without paying luxury tax, and vastly improve their farm system and ML team with sustainable improvements. There is no excuse for not doing these things.

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  13. Great piece James. I agree quite a bit but the elephant in the room you passed on is the structure of our ownership group. It’s passed its time. It appears to me what works best is

    A.) either a singular ownership structure such as a John Henry or Mike Illitch a/k/a allow Middleton to buy out the rest of the group.

    or B.) A structure like the Rangers Cubs or Dodgers ownership group which is to say one that is a deep pocket group that wants to hire the right front office personnel to the get the job done.

    In short ownership that is set on hiring the right GM or president and getting out of the way.

    Until that happens it will be difficult to turn the Phillies around with the way Montgomery and Giles like to be involved and the way they like to carry old hat advisors e.g. Dallas Green and to some extent Gillick.

    I do think if Middleton took over the operation and left Gillick as president to build the basbeall operation and talent development staff you state things could turn around quite nicely for a franchise with our budget. The biggest problems appear to be at the top first and the bottom second.

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  14. I’ve wondered about the minor league development staff for years. Who has exceeded expectations due to his development? Very few guys. However, I spoke last winter with one of the minor league coaches who told me that he and other coaches were very frustrated with the rules handed down from above but that things were going to change this past season. Its hard for all of us to see the subtlety of some of the changes he was referring to. Let’s hope the sudden development of Giles is the start of something new.
    As for the big picture, I totally expect the team to hit the free agent market hard in two years as money (Howard, JRoll, Utley, Pap, Lee, and Hamels) is off the books combined with the arrival of young talent that hopefully will be the next home grown core. I think after Hamels gets traded we’ll have enough talent to provide a base for the next core. Franco, Valentin, JP, and Asche could be an adequate infield, with Galvis a good utility guy, and we appear to have the pieces for a good bullpen. The questions are whether we’ll have enough to field a good rotation, find a C, and whether we can get a good enough OF. Quinn hopefully improves enough to be a major league CF. Dom is an unknown as are the other minor league guys who are close (Dugan and Altherr as well as Herrera). Grullon?
    I see a big need to sign a free agent #1 starter as well as a RF who can bat 3rd. If available, these guys will cost an arm and a leg but the good thing is that our payroll be very low in two years and able to absorb it. Interestingly, Cueto will be available in a year and he would interest me quite a bit depending on his age. Another guy to keep an eye on, but it will take a few more years, is Cole of the Pirates. If he’s as good as I think he could be, the Pirates may not be able to pay him.

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      1. If he has a healthy 2015, I wouldn’t be afraid to give him a big 5-year contract for his age 30-34 seasons.

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  15. I think its to much of a gamble to plan on FA as a means to rebuild your franchise no matter what your bank roll is. I think the model for the forseeable future is going to be the Cubs model. Be really really bad for 3-5 years and stock pile young players.

    Hope you Graduate 3-4 of them as stars to your big league club and then strike with a few key signs. All the while you can’t sleep on your drafts. You must continue to reap compensation picks and trade good players at the right time.

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    1. The cubs top prospects were all acquired via money or in the top 10 (which are protected picks.) Soler was signed before the money would count against the bonus pool and inevitably get hit with a tax.

      The jury is still out on all of the Cubs prospects. The adjustment to the big league game is now more difficult than ever. I would not be surprised at all if Baez and Russell struggle. The Royals were supposed to be good because of their system. Really the ones who are panning out are the less highlighted of that bunch.

      This is the historic 2011 Royals System

      1. Eric Hosmer, 1b
      2. Wil Myers, c
      3. Mike Moustakas, 3b
      4. John Lamb, lhp
      5. Mike Montgomery, lhp
      6. Christian Colon, ss
      7. Danny Duffy, lhp
      8. Chris Dwyer, lhp
      9. Aaron Crow, rhp
      10. Brett Eibner, of

      You cant win a championship buying into bad contracts and you cant win depending on prospects anymore. Video and the massive amount of scouting reports has made the bust rate of prospects to high of a risk. Even if the prospect doesnt bust, the adjustment period to hit their peak is getting longer. So a prospect doesnt get good until your Jon Lester is almost 36 years old. The Cubs have a situation where they probably will end up just signing expensive players and replacing a lot of these top prospects when they fail and the years of floundering will be a waste even if just one of the players becomes a star.

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      1. I see your point but I don’t agree. I agree with the part that many of them won’t make the big league adjustment that doesn’t matter tho. You deal from position of perceived value to get what you need to complete the 25 man. They’re like bitcoins these prospects. When the rest of the league covets what you have in the minors then you’re poised to make moves for true currency/major league proven talent.

        Ideally you would like to make the moves and still have another 4-5 lined up to take their place.

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      2. There is one major problem here. The new CBA puts an emphasis on developing a good farm system and properly managing prospects. Stars are being locked up by teams before they reach free agency.

        Who were the top guys in free agency this year?

        The days of the Yankees buying stars in free agency is gone. You have to draft and develop talent up through the minors and know when and where to make key trades and free agent signings. You cannot just throw money around in free agency and Latin America and expect to win year after year.

        The Cardinals are the perfect example of how to run a team in this day and age.

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        1. If you want an example of how difficult the Yankees are finding the new landscape, they needed to engineer a three team deal to get their starting shortstop next season.

          Nobody to throw money at in free agency and a weak farm system caused them to get creative.

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  16. Another “Booben” post.

    The evil, diabolical “Booben” has John Middleton tied up in his basement. Cup your hand to your ear and you can hear John Middleton yelling:

    “Help! Somebody help me! The evil diabolical Booben has me tied up in his basement! Booben won’t let me spend the Phillies fans money on star players. Booben is making me build castles and buy Hollywood production companies for my son. Somebody stop the evil diabolical Booben!”

    _

    34 YEARS

    JIM THOME and CLIFF LEE

    That’s it.

    That’s a boycott of the open markets.
    _

    @johnmiddleton

    He’s on Twitter.

    This thief and son of a thief called boycotters “disloyal” and had the audacity to tell us over his Twitter account that the Phillies five year run was equal to the Braves 13 year division dominance and we are being ungrateful for what we have been given.

    This is your idea of “hope”?

    _

    JOHN MIDDLETON is a LOOTER.

    Highlight and Google: John Powers Middleton Felony Fraud

    _

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    2. FreeAEC…I see has returned. All the way from the Land of the Sun.
      And , Yoan Moncada will soon be a Phillie.

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  17. Jason Heyward and Rick Porcello. 26 and 27 going into FA next off season. If the Phillies backload till after the Lee and Howard contracts end, competing is more than capable. This is why I personally dont think its imperative to trade Cole Hamels. Hamels should only get moved if its a cornerstone piece, not lottery tickets. Hamels contract is a flat our bargain and will only get more valuable when we see record contracts given out to pitchers of the same age and caliber as Hamels in 2016’s off season.

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    1. 1 – Heyward has not yet become the player we all expected him to be. Its certainly possible that he could break out in St Louis this year since we see that happen often for some reason. Until now, he’s just been an okay player who’s terrific defensively.
      2 – Porcello hasn’t come close to being what he was supposed to be.
      3- I wouldn’t call Hamels a bargain, I would say he’s paid fairly. If a team has to give him the extra year, it becomes the same contract that Shields will get, although Hamels is better. Its important to trade him because we won’t be good enough to win during Hamels’ best years and he will just be a depreciating asset. At the same time, I agree with the theory that you don’t trade him unless you get a potential star player back.

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      1. So youre telling me this off season a 30 year old Cole Hamels would only be getting 5 years 110 million? Jon Lester was just given a 30 million dollar signing bonus on top of the 140 million dollars he is due.

        James Shields is 2 years older than Cole Hamels. Next season and maybe 2016 they will be similar, but a right hander aging is different than a left hander. Shields 36 and 37 year old season is going to be Cole Hamels 34 and 35 and both are getting paid either way when they sign the deal.

        I dont know what youre trying to argue, but the point of investing is getting the most peak years and not getting stuck paying a high A/V on an average player at the back end of the contract. Both Porcello and Heyward were brought up too soon which caused their clock to start too soon Rick Porcello had an outstanding 2014. Hes now been a 3 win pitcher in his age 23, 24 and 25 season. He has an outstanding ground ball rate that plays off a sinker, which is going to age well even if he loses velo. Heywards K rate has steadily declined and is still posting a 10 percent walk rate. The power is going to come back, but I cant argue it. He is the closest thing to a 5 tool player that is going to get to free agency in the foreseeable future. He showed no desire to start negotiations with Atlanta and he should get more than Jacoby Ellsbury because of his age.

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    2. Bob…..if FO is still in vogue next year…they will be FOed at the minimum.
      IMO, I think the Cardinals will extend Heyward however.

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  18. Excellent “lead”! The sound of this franchise is “creaky.” The decision was inevitable to continue doing the same thing since the team’s success and draw continued to assure those in charge that they must be doing it all right.

    The problem is that MLB is a developmental sport (it does take years to “get it”) so that the future is as important, or maybe more so than the present status of the team. Investment in the future should always be at the forefront of management as well as investors.

    Now the fractured nature of the organization is known to anybody who takes the time to look without wearing rose-colored glasses. It seems to me that it will take Herculean efforts to bring it back to respectability, let alone to being competitive.

    The personnel throughout–top to bottom–must be culled and replaced by people well-known and respected to build it almost from the ground up. The development of draftees and their potentiality need updating and creativity not now apparent.

    It would seem that Middleton might have all this in mind; hope that he or some other significant mover wakes the org up. Or, at least hear (and be able to believe via actions) that management has gotten the message and is putting it into action now…..and continuously.

    Thanks for leading this discussion off…J!

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  19. James,

    This was a well done article. I am glad you are back, and I will be forever grateful to you for creating a site dedicated to the Phillies farm system. This site can be an outstanding resource and I always appreciated the hard work done in your extended absence.

    My one hope is that going forward, since as you say this is site dedicated to the minor leagues, that we all call it the way it actually is when it comes to the Phillies and their farm. No team in MLB had a worse 10 year stretch on the farm than the Phillies. Not one. Based on WAR value the Phillies were the worst…by far.

    I don’t particularly like being negative, but it was obvious many years ago that the state of the farm was headed towards disaster. The Phillies were passing on the best talent and instead going after guys with far less talent but who would sign for slot. Even under the new systems the Phillies are spending less as a percentage of their overall bonus pool than about 25 other teams in MLB.

    Over the last half decade or more everybody was so caught up in the winning at the MLB level they completely missed the huge mistakes…and total lack of investment the Phillies were making at the minor league level. Too many fans were looking backwards instead of forwards and too frequently allowing results at the MLB level (pre-2012 and pre-2013) to cloud their judgment of what was really happening on the farm.

    Hopefully going forward sites like this hold the Phillies accountable if they continue to take the same feckless approach in the amateur talent markets that unfortunately has been a hallmark of the Giles / Montgomery regimes.

    I realize we all want to find something positive about the guys the Phillies acquire, or try to give them the benefit of the doubt about the guys they pass on…but it is well past the time to start measuring them against the franchises they need to compete with for a WS title. And for years they have come up woefully short in that respect.

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  20. I can appreciate that sentiment, but only to a point. The farm system is not a feel good charity effort. This isn’t sandlot baseball that we played as kids just for the love of the game.

    I don’t need a farm system to follow just because there are guys in it. Every team in MLB baseball has a farm system. If we ever want to the Phillies to be competitive on a regular basis at the MLB level we should care very much about the quality of the farm system…and the effort (or lack thereof) that the Phillies are making to try and ensure their farm system is one of the best in MLB.

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  21. great read. I think the playing field will be leveled for the Phils with the new CBA. And now is a really good time to go lean and put ourselves in a position to draft top 5 in both the Rule 4 and eventual IL draft. I’d rather see us bottom out for a couple years, capitalize on draft position, then accelerate the rebuild in years 3-4 with surpluses from the farm. Let teams make these ridiculous overpays in the FA market then the Phils will be in a position to take on salary dumps as well.

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  22. I read this post fully about the difference of most recent and earlier
    technologies, it’s amazing article. website or something like this site

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