PhuturePhillies Reader Top 30 Poll for #24

2015 Reader Top 30

Cord Sandberg is selected the #23 prospect.  He received 62 of 253 votes cast (25%).  Jesmuel Valentin finished second with 50 votes.

The selections so far are listed below.

  1. J.P. Crawford
  2. Aaron Nola
  3. Maikel Franco
  4. Roman Quinn
  5. Zach Eflin
  6. Ben Lively
  7. Jesse Biddle
  8. Kelly Dugan
  9. Tom Windle
  10. Yoel Mecias
  11. Deivi Grullon
  12. Matt Imhof
  13. Dylan Cozens
  14. Carlos Tocci
  15. Odubel Herrera
  16. Aaron Altherr
  17. Aaron Brown
  18. Franklyn Kilome
  19. Victor Arano
  20. Andrew Knapp
  21. Zach Green
  22. Severino Gonzalez
  23. Cord Sandberg

The poll for #24 is up next.

54 thoughts on “PhuturePhillies Reader Top 30 Poll for #24”

  1. I vote for Nefi Ogando and his 100-mph heater here. We’re going look awful stupid if he’s not on the list and ends up nailing down the 8th inning for the Miracle Phillies during their improbable 2015 run to the World Series.

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    1. I’m not going to worry about that downside to my vote for Aaron Brown, which is following the list I e-mailed. If I had to do it today, I think I would vote Valentin instead. I think I allowed myself to be unduly influenced by the stats Valentin put up after being traded to our organization. He is our best prospect at 2B. Still, Brown is a tool shed, so its not an awful choice.

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      1. Oops! Brown already voted. I also had Altherr ahead of Valentin. Given his proximity and good D that’s not a totally awful choice, just not as good as Brown. I guess I’ll switch to Valentin.

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      2. I actually had Valentin at #20 on my list. Gonna’ quit now while I’m not too terribly far behind.

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  3. I’m curious to hear from the Joely Rodriguez voters. Not saying they’re wrong, and JR will probably start the season at AAA, which gives him good proximity; but, to me, Pinto, Ogando, Garcia and even Leibrandt are much better prospects. JR’s been getting a few votes each of last couple rounds, and would love to hear why. I want to believe!

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    1. Yeah, I can’t wait to see him in ST. Another pitcher about whom I’m curious what people think is Cody Forsythe. He pitched last year, his second year as a pro, in his age 23 season. He actually posted a better K rate at Clearwater (11.9) than he did at Lakewood (7.7). And his hits/9 dropped. He misses bats and throws strikes. I haven’t been voting, but he’s a kid I like. When he was called up to Clearwater, he didn’t walk a batter in his first 8 appearances (12 IP). I don’t remember his velocity, but he sticks in my mind.

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      1. Isn’t he used only in relief? He is good, but not in the velocity range of some others in the system. I have decided to ignore him for the top thirty, but will consider him after this if we go that way.

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    2. I was just thinking about him too. I know Matt W is very high on him. I think it is a factor of us not knowing much about him. Also I remember reports questioning whether he is a reliever.

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          1. Fastball, slider, change up. Slider is his out pitch, but he’ll throw it anytime. He can throw all three for strikes. As I said above, I don’t know velo. Also don’t know how scouts grade his pitches.

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          2. FB 91-93 T95, 93-95 in bullpen. Every pitch moves, generates a lot of ground ball contact. Was working with Ray Burris (LHV Pitching Coach) in AFL (when Joely was still on Pirates) on attacking batters early in the count. Sounds like slider was slightly improved as well

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  6. pleaseee brewers please take pap from the Phillies 😉 Its time for the 100 miles giles to be the closer

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      1. And a farewell gift from the Phillies FO, a good tailor-fitting jock strap, so he doesn’t have to make those embarrassing adjustments on the field. 🙂

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        1. I think we may be surprised with what Ruben gets for Pap. He has not backed down so far and moved a veteran just to move them. IMO he got a fair or better return for Byrd, Rollins, and Bastardo with little leverage. He may act like a clown at times, but at the end of the day he can still close down a game and there is value in that. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple names who could be thrown into top 30 discussions or possibly a top 15 prospect for Pap.

          I think our top 30 looks pretty good so far. There are still plenty of prospects that we can make strong cases for.. Valetin, Hoskins, Encarnacion, Murray, and Leibrandt to name a few.

          One of my sleepers is Araujo. A 6’6 LHP who can touch 97 and strike out a lot of guys is a candidate to make a big league pen. If he can control his stuff he has a chance to be another strong weapon out of our pen.

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          1. I agree that we might be surprised at what the Phillies get for Papelbon, but by surprised, I mean a guy who is just outside the top 100 (a legitimate prospect). Even with the Phillies eating about a third to half his salary, I don’t see any conceivable way they could get a guy in the top 50, let alone top 15 or 30. If I turn out to be wrong, then a tip of my cap to Ruben and company, but I just don’t see that happening right now.

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            1. I meant a top 15 prospect for our list, not out of the top 100. I could see getting a Brewers pick ranked around 10 in their org. because their farm isn’t very strong.

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    2. Remember if Giles becomes closer he will be much more expensive in arbitration. I’m not saying they shouldn’t trade Pap, but the reason for doing so would be to get some minor league depth, not so Giles can pitch the 9th.

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  7. I’m actually encouraged that there are still prospects left which I can see breaking out without too much squinting. Oganda, Encarnacion, Pujols and others I actually expect a few of them to make jumps this year. In years pass, once you get to the 20ish range, the pickings become pretty slim. So that’s something, I guess

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  8. We should offer the Jays Papelbon and Amaro for Jeff Hoffman. Solves everyone’s problems. Hoffman would be in our top 3 (now it fits in this thread).

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  9. Valentin, Pinto and Pullin in the next 3 slots for me. I’m starting to look at Pujols and Encarnacion. I see Pujols is getting more votes than Encarnacion. I looked at the their stats. First, Pujols is 2 years older than Luis E. I did a double take. Next I looked at each ones first year in the GCL. Jose P. hit .188/.278/.369 as a 17 year old. Luis E. hit .229/.294/.343 as a 16 year old. Neither is eye popping but Luis’ numbers look better to me. Jose plays RF and Luis looks like a 1B or LF so Jose plays the premium position. Neither looks like a speed guy so we can throw that out. So which is the better prospect.

    As a point of reference I took a look at phormer PhuturePhillie Domingo Santana. As a 16 year old, he hit .288/.388/.508. Yikes, why did I even start this post? I guess neither of these guys even compares to Santana. I remember us wondering, at the time, if Santana was for real or not. Now we have two guys with lesser stats who we’re desperately hoping for a Santana II. If I had to pick one over the other, I guess it would Encarnacion over Pujols. Let’s hope they can be bookend outfielders in the Majors 4 or 5 years from now.

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    1. Matt W always makes Pujols sound very exciting. He has huge power, probably more than Encarnacion, and the tools to be good in RF, while Encarnacion is defensively limited. Pujols’ bat speed is excellent too, so with some polish (better approach and pitch recognition) it’s possible that he could be special. They’re both so far away that I’m going with the guy with the higher ceiling. So, to me, it’s Pujols over Encarnacion right now.

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  10. I went Valentin over Ogando, only on the theory that a utility guy gets to the Majors before another Reliever. I think the number of relievers ahead of ogando keeps him further away than Valentin, but very close for me.

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    1. Out of curiosity, why do you rate Ogando higher than some of the younger potential starters? I personally would take a potential starter in low A before a potential reliever in AAA. I mean, Ogando is 25 and walked 28 in 56 IP in AA last year.

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  11. You may be correct, but I think that he has stuff that projects to be a major League reliever, which has shown lately to be of some value. As compared to a fringy back-end starter without that fastball that would translate into a solid reliever. I have Liebrandt next on my list after Valentin. Who do you like that projects as a SP that has not made the list yet?

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    1. Thank you for explaining your position. If you are thinking Ogando could be like Kelvin Herrera then I see your point.

      Personally I like Garcia and Pinto. They both are in the 90s as starters (though Garcia is barely there). Velocity usually plays up in the bullpen, so I don’t think they would be lacking in the FB department if switched to relief. The chance to have a mid-rotation starter is worth more to me than the chance to have a shut-down reliever. Also those two are much younger with better control than Ogando. Then again Ogando is knocking on the door of the majors and proximity matters.

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      1. I agree with you but IF Ogando can master his control while throwing 95-98, he’d be a valuable piece in the bullpen. I haven’t seen the results yet to get me as excited as everyone else. I see an Aumont rather than a Giles….

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    1. It’s just nice to have young interesting pitchers from latin america again. Seems like we have had a lull in that area after we traded carrasco.

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  14. have you looked at the list a catchers on the 40 man? We need to stop overlooking ToJo, who would be top 10 if we thought he could stay at catcher.

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    1. I think that “if” is a big “IF” in a lot of people’s minds. That is why a lot of people want a top prospect catcher as part of any Hamels trade package. Catcher looks a little thin behind Ruiz down through Clearwater – Rupp (LHV), Joseph (REA), Garcia (NRI), Hester (NRI), Hill (NRI), Moore (REA), Lino (CLE), Bass (CLE). You’ve already touched on Joseph. Moore is a good defensive catcher. Lino is better offesively than he is defensively. Bass lost a lot of time with a hand injury. All our hopes for the future of the position are NOT pinned on only prospects Grullon and Knapp. The Phillies bring a lot of LA players up as catchers. Willians Astudillo was a catcher whose knee operation leaves him as a good hitter without a clear position. But, they have invested $300K in 16-year old Lenin Rodriguez (Venuezela). Jesus Posso and Gregori Rivero have looked good in the GCL. 2014 draft picks Sean McHugh, Joel Fisher, and Scott Tomassetti are also in the lower levels of the organization.

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    1. First, I like Pointer. But, he wasn’t on any of the Top 30 lists that were mailed to me at the beginning of the poll. I didn’t receive any subsequent requests to add him during the polling process. When I had Write-In votes, he received 2 votes – one for #4 which I didn’t take seriously, and one for #12 which is difficult to recognize as a serious vote since he has drawn no other interest until today. Stateside, he hasn’t exhibited enough power to offset his career plus 25% K rate. In Australia, it has climbed to 33%. If we take the poll out to 40, Pointer would probably be added. At that point, I’ll feel less badly about adding the players I like to the list.

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  17. … my next three are joely, jesmuel and then pointer, and i would have placed all three higher than they will end up here.

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