Today mlb.com released their Top 20 prospects in the Philadelphia minor league system. I will start by saying that mlb.com has always had the outliers on rankings and that I don’t always agree with their rankings. That being said they do talk to a lot of people who see these players so there are things that can be taken away.
Here is the list with writeups, but for the lazy here is the list. Continue reading MLB.com Phillies Top 20 Prospects
The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce has arranged for a terrific opportunity for Phillies fans on Friday March 28th at Citizens Bank Park. The day will begin at 2pm at which time, you will be allowed entrance into the DIamond Club at the park. Food and Drink will begin at 2:30 pm (included in admission price). A full hour of questions and answers/autographs will go from 2:45 until 3:45. At 3:50, you will go on to the field at Citizens Bank Park for an on field presentation (weather permitting), with the pre-game program ending at 4:30. You will also receive a game ticket for that evenings pre-season game against the Pittsburgh Pirates and likely see a few of the top prospects we talk about so often here at Phuture Phillies.
The all inclusive price for this event is $95, however the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce has agreed to provide Phuture Phillies reader with a $5 discount if you use the discount code Phillyblog1 at checkout. Click here for more details: http://www.gpcc.com/phillies.
Severino Gonzalez threw two innings in Group 3’s game against Group 4 today. I had spent the previous innings watching Groups 1 and 2 square off, but came over to Ashburn Field to observe Gonzalez. He faced Nick Ferdinand, Cameron Perkins, and Edgar Duran in his first inning. He threw 5 strikes to Ferdinand before finally striking him out swinging. He threw 3 strikes to Perkins before tempting him with two purpose pitches low and just off the plate. Continue reading 2014 MiLB Spring Training, Seve Gonzalez, and Other Observations
Some surprising news coming out of the Carpenter Complex tonight with Mike Stutes among the first group of cuts by the Phils, as he was optioned to minor league camp. Stutes, who has battled injuries over the past two seasons struggled mightily in his early Spring Training appearances, giving up 7 earned runs in 3IP. Also on the list of cuts are RP Luis Garcia, OF Kelly Dugan, OF Aaron Altherr, OF Leandro Castro and C Sebastian Valle. No major surprises except for how quickly Stutes was sent back to minor league camp.
In other news at the minor league facility today, OF Anthony Hewitt came up lame (hamstring) while running out a grounder and was in a considerable amount of pain leaving the field.
Today Baseball America posted their review of the Phillies International spending during the 2013 calendar year (encompassing both the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 signing periods). During that time, the Phillies signed 35 players, 4 of them for bonuses greater than $100,000. The full article is here, but here are some highlights.
In April the Phillies signed 18 year old catcher Jose Gonzalez for $300,000. Gonzalez had Tommy John surgery shortly after signing and did not play last summer. The Phillies big signing was Luis Encarnacion for $1,000,000 in August. Encarnacion was one of the best bats in the J2 crop and was widely expected to cost about $1,300,000 (Encarnacion does share a trainer with Gonzalez). Encarnacion is in camp and should start in the GCL. Continue reading Baseball America’s 2013 International Review
Baseball Betsy posted the first posted workout groups of the year up on her site.
Last year we had a nice little discussion about who would be the first person let go from camp. Let’s do that again – FYI, I discount Joe Savery as he was technically gone prior to camp opening. He might have been my guess if he was still around, and he was clearly Amaro’s pick.
You can pick guys sent back to minor league camp, or guys who you think will be DFAed/Released/whatever method you’d like to use. I personally think the first guy back to MiLB camp will be Zach Collier and the first DFA/cut will be Jeremy Horst. Collier needs the reps he’ll get in MiLB camp and he is not making the big club ahead of guys like Gwynn and Thomas. Horst is the least useful pitcher on the 40-man and easiest to see sneaking through waivers, IMO.
Discuss.
Sitting down to write the Phillies Top 30 Prospect list is one of the most interesting parts of the offseason. The ranking process poses questions about how we evaluate different profiles and try to replicate the kind of characteristics that major league clubs value. That being said, I find the final order to be the least important part of the process. I find the write-ups and other details to be the much more informative. I felt much more comfortable approaching the list this year, and I feel that I have learned a lot from talking to people and examining what I value.
My Ranking Philosophy:
Overall this ranking is the order that I would value these players if I were running the Phillies. This evaluation is what I think their major league profile projects to be, coupled with their risk of obtaining that. In general I lean towards high impact talent, because the impact of a single all-star is more valuable than a collection of lower impact talent. You can’t go pure ceiling though. I tried to balance the player’s upside with their floor, as well as how their profile fits into a major league role. With current budgets and the influx of money, roster spots are becoming the limited commodity and players that fit well onto rosters have more value than limited use players. Continue reading Phillies 2014 Top 30 Prospects
The kids are back in town! According to Larry Shenk, about 50 minor leaguers have been working out at the Carpenter Complex for the past few weeks, and the rest of the 170 invited to minor league spring training reported this past Friday. I caught most of the workouts held on Saturday and Sunday.
I need to explain that it is near impossible to keep track of particular players. The organization hasn’t broken the players out into their respective groups, nor have they provided rosters yet. The kids are wearing light gray T-shirts with their uniform pants. The white lettering on their backs is difficult to make out from a distance. The outfielders are usually in the outfield when they aren’t taking batting practice. So I’m really not 100% sure who is or isn’t here. It has been easier identifying the pitchers, infielders, and catchers. Continue reading They’re here!
Before the game, the Phillies held a morning workout at the Carpenter Complex. It consisted of stretching exercises, sprints around the bases, long toss, and BP off the coaches. I spotted Dugan and decided to watch him and his group which included Franco, Joseph, and Marson, who followed Brown, Byrd, and Gwynn. I didn’t pay much attention to the first group while waiting for Dugan and Franco. Dugan started slow but really picked it up after his first two ABs. He made good contact before launching a couple towering home runs to right. However, towering drives is not his trade mark result. Franco launched a couple over the left field fence. But otherwise made inconsistent contact on his other swings. Joseph looked good and showed a little power. Marson had a nice swing and hit a lot of line drives, but no power. Practice ended, on to Bright House. Continue reading 2014 Spring Training, Intrasquad Game
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