2026 Draft Information

2025 Draft

This is the Phuture Phillies 2026 Draft Discussion for comments about the 2026 draft.

This is a forum for 2026 draft discussion to keep it separate from other conversations.  This is not a forum for complaining about past picks and past/current draft philosophy.  That horse has been beaten to death in weekly open discussions.  If you must, keep it there.

As in previous years, I’ll post follow-up discussions as needed until the signing period is over.  Draft signings will be tracked here – 2026 Draft Tracker

The Phillies had the 26th overall selection in the first round.  However, five teams, including the Phillies, were dropped 10 draft slots because they exceeded the second surcharge threshold of the competitive-balance tax the previous season.  This penalty dropped the Phillies out of the first round to the 36th pick.  Others penalized were the Mets, Yankees, Blue Jays, and Dodgers.

The Phillies’ total bonus pool is only $7,773,000.  Interesting to note that the CBT penalty not only costs the Phillies position in the draft, but they also lost the bonus allotment for the 26th pick ($3,578,800) which was replaced with the slot money assigned to the 36th pick ($2,758,800).  (Seems like a double penalty to me.  I suggest that they should retain the slot money for #26 at #36.  Call me a homer, call me a whiner, call me a visionary.)

What are the Prospect Promotion Incentive Picks?  If a player who was rated as a preseason Top 100 prospect by MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, and/or ESPN (at least two of the three) and was on his team’s Opening Day roster and goes on to win the Rookie of the Year Award or place in the top three in MVP or Cy Young voting prior to qualifying for arbitration, the club is awarded a Prospect Promotion Incentive pick after the first round.

  • The Braves received the 26th pick ($3,578,800) for NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin.
  • The Astros received the 28th pick ($3,363,600) for AL Cy Young Award third-place finisher Hunter Brown.

What are Competitive Balance Rounds A and B?  All teams that have either one of the 10 smallest markets or 10 smallest revenue pools receive an additional pick at the end of the first or second round. The groups of teams alternate between the two rounds each year.  Competitive Balance picks may be traded and are not subject to forfeiture. However,  Competitive Balance picks acquired by another club in a trade are subject to forfeiture.

Fifteen teams qualify for one or both of the competitive qualifiers:

  • Round A: Guardians (traded to the Giants in the Patrick Bailey trade), Royals, Diamondbacks, Cardinals, Orioles (traded to the Rays in the Shane Baz trade), Pirates, Rockies.
  • Round B: Brewers (traded to the Red Sox in Caleb Durbin, Andruw Monasterio, and Anthony Seigler trade), Mariners (traded to the Cardinals in the Brendan Donovan trade), Tigers, Reds, Marlins, Rays (traded to Cardinals in the Brendan Donovan trade), Athletics, Twins.

What are the Compensation picks? 

  • If a team that loses a qualifying free agent is a revenue-sharing recipient and the free agent signs for at least $50 million, the team will be awarded a compensatory pick between the first round and Competitive Balance Round A.
  • If a team that loses a qualifying free agent is not a revenue-sharing recipient and did not exceed the luxury-tax salary threshold the previous season, the team will be awarded a compensatory pick after Competitive Balance Round B.
    • Cubs (the 75th pick for losing Kyle Tucker).
  • If a team that loses a qualifying free agent does not receive revenue sharing and did exceed the luxury-tax salary threshold the previous season, the team will be awarded a compensatory pick after the fourth round.
    • Phillies (the 135th pick for losing Ranger Suarez).

Forfeitures

The Blue Jays, Dodgers, Mets and Red Sox forfeited their second-round selections as a result of signing free agents who had received qualifying offers.

The Dodgers and Tigers forfeited their third-round selections as a result of signing free agents who had received qualifying offers.

The Red Sox forfeited their fourth-round selection as a result of signing free agent who had received qualifying offers.

The Blue Jays would have received pick No. 136 as compensation for Bo Bichette, but forfeited it for signing Dylan Cease.

The Dodgers forfeited their fifth-round selection as a result of signing a free agent who had received a qualifying offer.

The Dodgers forfeited their sixth-round selection as a result of signing a free agent who had received qualifying offer.

Penalties

For exceeding the second surcharge threshold of the competitive-balance tax the previous season five teams were penalized:

  • The Mets from 17th to 27th, Yankees from 25th to 35th, Phillies from 26th to 36th (resurfacing during Competitive Balance Round A, following the Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) Picks), Blue Jays from 29th to 39th, and Dodgers from 30th to 40th).

Compensation

The Pirates received the 51st pick as compensation for unsigned 2025 No. 50 overall pick Angel Cervantes.

The Cubs received the 75th pick as compensation for the Dodgers signing Kyle Tucker.

The Astros received the 133rd pick as compensation for the Tigers signing Framber Valdez.

The Padres received the 134th pick as compensation for the Blue Jays signing Dylan Cease.

The Phillies received the 135th pick as compensation for the Red Sox signing Ranger Suárez.

2026 Draft Schedule (All Times ET)

  • Day 1: Saturday, July 11 (Rounds 1-4; first 135 picks, rounds one through four, prospect incentive picks, competitive balance round A, competitive balance round B, QFA compensation picks between second and third round, QFA compensation picks between the fourth and fifth rounds.)
    • 1:00-2:30 p.m. ET – Picks 1-10 (NBC/Peacock)
    • 2:30-4:30 p.m. ET – Picks 11-40 (MLB Network, MLB.com, MLB TV, MLB+)
    • 4:30-7:45 p.m. ET – Picks 41-135 (MLB.com, MLB TV, MLB+)
  • Day 2: Sunday, July 12 (Rounds 5-20; picks 136 through 313.)
    • 11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. ET (MLB.com, MLB TV, MLB+)

Coverage (provided on the MLB site)

 

I didn’t bother going through all the mock drafts this year.  Last year, three of the eight mocks I saw mentioned the Phillies and prep RHP Matthew Fisher.  One outright suggested he could be selected in the first round.  Two others waffled a little suggesting he was on their first round radar.  Only one of the eight I talked about considered a college pitcher.  Their was no consensus among the mocks as they suggested eight different players.

By the way, the Phillies did select Fisher … in the seventh round, after six college arms.

Last year, the Phillies used the 26th pick in the first round to selected Gage Wood, a right-handed pitcher out of Arkansas.

Their first 8 picks were pitchers, one a prep player, before selecting a shortstop at nine before completing their first ten picks with another pitcher.  In all, they selected 14 pitchers (3 LHP), 4 shortstops, 1 catcher, and 1 outfielder.  They selected 9 four-year juniors, 3 four-year seniors, 3 four-year grad students, 1 JUCO player, 4 high school seniors.

This year the Phillies’ total bonus pool is $7,773,000.

The Phillies have 11 picks.  Their complete bonus breakdown is (bold, round, pick, $):

  • First round – pick dropped ten spots into Competitive Balance Round A.
  • Prospect Promotion Incentive Pick – no selection
  • Competitive Balance Round A – 36. Phillies: $2,758,800 (first-round pick dropped 10 spots from No. 26 for exceeding second surcharge threshold of competitive-balance tax)
  • Second round – 64. Phillies: $1,416,600
  • Competitive Balance Round B – no selection
  • Free-agent Compensation Pick – no selection
  • Third round  – 100. Phillies: $784,400
  • Fourth round – 128. Phillies: $597,400
  • Free-agent Compensation Pick – 135. Phillies: $558,400 (for Ranger Suárez)
  • Fifth round – 161. Phillies: $433,200
  • Sixth round – 190. Phillies: $338,800
  • Seventh round – 219. Phillies: $267,800
  • Eighth round – 249. Phillies: $222,200
  • Ninth Round – 279. Phillies: $202,900
  • 10th round – 309. Phillies: $192,500
  • 11th thru 20th:   $150,000 (only dollars spent above $150K count against the pool limit)

Some Q and A

Who is draft eligible?

Players attending four-year colleges are eligible to be drafted upon completing their junior year or turning 21-years-old. Players who have graduated high school but have not attended college are draft-eligible.  So are those who have completed at least one year of junior college. Players must also be a resident of the United States a resident of a U.S. territory (e.g., Puerto Rico), or Canada to be eligible for the Draft.

What’s next?

Teams have 15 days (until Monday, July 27 at 5 p.m. ET) to agree to deals with players they draft out of four-year colleges and high schools. For players who are selected out of junior colleges, teams have a draft-and-follow option, in which they can sign between the end of their juco season and the beginning of next year’s Draft for up to $225,000.

(I need to continue researching this.  Does this apply to a second-year juco player who is going on to a 4-year college for his junior year?  Does it apply to a first-year juco player who is continuing at his present juco or switching to a 4-year program?  Which juco season? The one that just ended in May or the one that ends next May?  If a juco player was drafted in rounds 11 thru 20 he would be limited to $150K before the overage went against the pool.  How does the $225K figure against the pool?  Is the limit still $150K or has it been lowered?  If a signing occurs for $225K next May, does any part of it count against the previous pool?  Can a team exceed the $225K and apply the overage against the pool?  As you can see this causes me some degree of uncertainty.)

How do draft picks affect roster limits?

Draft picks do not count against roster limits until 15 days after they are signed, unless they are activated with one of the affiliates before that deadline.  This means that whether or not they are on a roster, they will count against the 165-man limit for stateside players.

Undrafted free agents (UDFAs) count against the roster limit as soon as they are signed.

If I find that any of the above is no longer accurate, I will update and pass the info along.

Please remember that this is a forum for 2026 draft discussion to keep it separate from other conversations.

167 thoughts on “2026 Draft Information”

  1. I am a little confused. On draft money. With this limited money do they, go 4 yr college and then go after. Couple HS kids with savings,? Must you pay first round pick that slot money or if he is 4th yr. Or can you go Cheaper?

    .

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    1. There should be no real difference in how the Phillies have operated the past few seasons. Their 2026 bonus pool of $7.773M is only marginally lower than last year’s $7.849M and more than 2023’s $7.381M.

      Last year the Phillies drafted a junior from a 4-year college in RHP Gage Wood with the #26 pick. In 2024, they drafted a prep star out of high school in OF Dante Nori with the 27th pick. In 2023, they drafted another prep star out of high school in SS Aidan Miller with the 27th pick.

      Whatever their draft strategy, I don’t think it will be affected very much by the bonus available. However, their draft position will be affected by the perceived quality of the players available at any given turn.

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  3. Jim. Very good information. Lots of time went into this. Thanks.

    I have seen 3 names with Phillies at 36. ND pitcher, Miss. St pitcher and today an Ole Miss pitcher. So, these would all be college kids. Just FWIW. So maybe a high school kid is picked.

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    1. Two RHP from Miss U….Townsend and Rabe may be there….I like the LHP from USC – Mason Edwards….not hi-velo but breaking stuff is very good and good change-up. Lefties can get away with the lower velo if their secondary stuff plays well.

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      2. Romus. I saw in one where it had the Braves taking Edwards at 26. I just read as I am not up to things like many of you are. I do get BA, so I get to at least read about some of the guys.

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        1. If they do select him….. then the Braves may have a good rotation piece….probably a mid rotation guy. But they bring these guys up very fast ….and they burn them out…Strider, Soroka, Wright, Anderson et a l

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          1. No doubt they have had issues with that method. I saw a redraft from 10 years ago. Had Phillies taking Will Smith. But interesting point was Luzardo and Marsh were both top 10 picks. Some of the top guys never made it. Draft is a crazy deal. No certaintly.

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  5. When it comes to HS players these days…NIL may have to be factor before drafting the player…..just look at a non-traditional baseball univ. like Penn State….The institutional revenue-sharing allocation (NIL) for the Lions baseball team is $300K annually. With a typical NCAA Division I baseball roster size of north of 30 players, the average direct allocation breaks down to roughly $8K to $9K per player also depending on the quality of that player, from the schools-distributed revenue.

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    1. My oldest son is going through college recruiting right now and has a lot of friends who are committed. Many did get NIL. But the numbers are really paltry compared to other sports like college football and basketball. I guess for the truly elite programs like LSU and Vandy, they may have more. But still no where close to what MLB will offer.

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      1. Yeah…paltry is the right word. Baseball just does not produce the revenue like football and men’s basketball at the college level. And good luck to your son as he goes through this process in the next stage of his life.

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  6. Given that the draft slots have effective predetermined $$$ slot values – families from high school and college are weighing the slot value v. NIL – especially college guys with 1-2 more years of eligibility,

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  7. Unfortunately whoever Phil’s pick (if not saving $$ for later) will end up in their top 10 prospects and the Dodgers pick will not be in their top 10 since they have like 10 prospects in the top 100. Think there is some improvement in Phil’s development but gotta long way to go.

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  8. MLB pipeline had story on kid from Arkansas named Carson had TJ but before operation hit 102 and secondary stuff was above avg. sounds like type of kid Phil’s took shot on last couple years. His brother is top 100 prospect so it’s in the bloodlines

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  10. I claim no knowledge of any these prospects but in their best tools in draft they think he has best fastball (80 grade) even though he didn’t pitch this year. They would not be suprised if he was sandwich pick between first and second rounds. Phil’s late first round approach appears to take guys coming off injury but with great tools from previous year(s)

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  11. FWIW. McDaniel has a 2-round post. Has Phillies taking Archer Horn a HS SS from CA. at 36 then Caden Bogenpohl, CF from Missouri State at 64. So can probably eliminate those 2 guys.

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  13. Who will get it right for today’s draft prediction?

    Jonathan Mayo, MLB.com: Tyler Spangler, SS, De La Salle High School

    Jim Callis, MLB.com: Mason Edwards, LHP, Southern Cal

    Kiley McDaniel, ESPN: Archer Horn, SS, St. Ignatius Prep

    Mark Chiarelli, BA: Logan Schmidt, LHP, Ganesha High School

    Carlos Collazo, BA: Caden Sorrell, OF, Texas A&M

    Cole Weintraub: Taylor Rabe, RHP, Mississippi

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  14. Just for comparison of a truly elite prospect and NIL money, in 2024 Braden Montgomery got $850K from Texas A&M for one year so he transferred from Stanford for his junior year (and then was picked 12th in the 2024 draft). Certainly we can’t compare the top prospects with random D1 players. Every year a couple thousand high school kids go D1, and they are getting low NIL dollars, but they would get $0 from pro ball because they are not pro prospects.

    For 2026, the highest reported NIL was for Caden Sorrell, also at Texas A&M and also $850K. Per AI, “While Sorrell’s $850k figure is the highest publicly tracked market valuation, college baseball coaches acknowledge that unverified, behind-the-scenes collective “pay-for-play” money can go even higher. In a confidential survey published by Baseball America, multiple Division I coaches and recruiting coordinators admitted hearing of deals approaching or reaching $1,000,000 for singular, elite talent.”

    For the SEC schools, baseball is a revenue sport — both Mississippi State and LSU averaged over 11,000 fans per game in 2026, comparable to what the Miami Marlins average (they are at 12,500 per game).

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    1. Also, those are per year. So an elite high school prospect who is looking at, say, a $2M bonus in the draft and then low minor-league pay, if he can get, say, even $300K or $400K per year, and then get drafted in 3 years and get the bonus then, it may be more lucrative.

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        1. Romus. No doubt NIL is a factor more today. Football and basketball are still the main ones, but it is beginning to branch out to some of the other sports more as we go on. Baseball and softball are beginning to get in the act at certain schools. It is so crazy out there one really has no idea what is going on behind the scenes in some of these cases.

          Interesting Cholowsky picked baseball over football. Sound like he could have gone big time there. No doubt big $$$$$s are for the college QBs today.

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          1. Congress is trying to rein in the NIL process….along with the transfer portal process. Nick Saban and Tubby are leading the way to bring sanity back to college sports….football especially. They went to the NCAA and said we are from the govt and we are here to help!

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            1. Yes. I know there are efforts. But the horses seem to be out of the barn. I saw an article that major schools are already trying to find ways to get around things that are trying to be done. I read an NIL piece that talked on that. I am not sure one will see anything of significance. No doubt college athletics are headed down slippery slope. Just have to wait and see.

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  16. It’s Spangler. Here’s KLaw

    The Phillies take a player who missed the entire spring in shortstop Tyler Spangler, who suffered a back injury and never took the field for De La Salle, which also had several games cancelled due to a hazing incident. Spangler has a longer swing but didn’t whiff much when he did play in 2025, with a lot of room on his frame to fill out and come into some power. He’s a shortstop now and solid enough to stay there in the short term, but if he gets bigger he might end up at third base. He’s a Stanford commit, so this won’t be cheap.

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  17. Are you draft guys happy with the pick? Seemed Cole and Harold wanted the GA catcher and USC pitcher. Thoughts.

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    1. I like it……if he were fully healthy he probably would have been selected much higher. Now the back could be an issue down the road, like Aiden Miller’s situation, so have to see how the medicals are.

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  20. Phillies must know good back specialist. God knows there are a lot of lawyers you see on commercials sitting in those fancy seats right behind home plate. They are only ones that get those fancy Federal donuts

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  21. I still believe you take the guy with the highest upside even if the floor is a little lower. You want your 1st rd pick to have a chance to be an all star one day, if everything breaks right.

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  23. Dodgers just sat back picked 4 spots after Phillies picked and got a player rated 30 spots higher then Phils pick based on mlb pipeline. Pipeline could be wrong but I’m figuring Dodgers not that disappointed especially based on their track record

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  25. Next three picks

    64- –caden bogenpohl 6’6″ 245 lb OF. Missouri st. Bats left . Throws right. 21 yr old

    100—- Ruger Riojas . U. Texas senior RHP

    6’0 . 195 lbs.

    Turns 23 today . But like Gage wood scouts say he could be up to AA during first season.

    128…. Deven Sheerin. LSU RHP. 6’5″ 245lb. Junior. Mostly a relief pitcher with FB sitting 97-98. Hitting 100 mph.

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  27. Bogenpohl is a masher…when he makes contact it goes places……his K rate went from 28% to 18% from his freshmen year to his junior year …..but his ISO also went down along with his HR rate……wonder if he was nursing a hand or arm issue in his last year. Then again going into the new conference with better pitching may have affected him.

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  28. My quick take:
    1. Love the pick. High upside athlete. Probably only there because he was injured and missed time. Similar to Aidan Miller situation.
    2. Not sure. Upside is you can’t teach size and this kid is a monster. Huge exit velos. But only 6 homers his junior year is a head scratcher. Don’t have a strong view.
    3. Senior. Will save money
    4. Reliever. Big 6’5”
    4c. I think a reliever as well. Seems like a project. Also 6’5”

    I am hoping that the senior in 3rd round is to set up another prep player. Would love to see them draft a catcher. Maybe Mickey Gilligan?

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    1. Part of the reason for Caden Bogenpohl’s drop in HRs his ground-ball rate climbed from 32% in his freshman season to roughly 53% by his junior year, keeping the ball out of the air. Also there was more plate discipline and more walks. Pitchers stopped challenging him in the zone. He drew a massive 52 walks during his junior season, often taking free bases rather than swinging for the fences. Like you mentioned, even though the home run numbers went down, his elite exit velocities remained. Also apparently breaking stuff was a sore spot for him when he opened up a little too early. And just assume lefties were tougher on him than RHPs.

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      1. Yeah. That’s a concerning report right? Like why did he have such a high ground ball rate for a guy with his size and power? He doesn’t like breaking pitches…Guess what he is going to see in pro ball.

        This is one of those picks that you have to trust the development process. Hopefully they see something that they can change to get the ball in the air more.

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  29. A few weeks ago, Baseball America published an MLB proposal that preceded the CBA negotiations. Some of the proposals would affect future drafts. One proposal, in particular, would negate draft eligibility for high school seniors. Another would require that a player’s high school graduating class be two years removed from graduation. Another set a minimum age of 20 years on September 1st of the draft year. And yet another would prevent a juco player from entering the draft after one year of school.

    I glanced at the opening rounds and determined the following. Of the 135 players selected through the compensation round following round four, 77 were juniors in a 4-year program, 42 were high school seniors, 10 were sophomores in a 4-year program, 5 were seniors in a 4-year program, and 1 was a 5th-year senior. No juco players were selected.

    I find it a little hypocritical for teams that are planning on restricting the ability of high school seniors in next year’s CBA to draft high school players in advance of that decision. In fact, the impending new rule had little noticeable impact on drafting prep players this year 42 out of 135 is about 31.11%. Last year, through the same rounds, 44 prep players were selected among 136 players selected, about 32.35%.

    Most of the other proposed rules would have had no impact so far. All of the sophomore players selected from 4-year programs are or will be 20 before September 1st. No juco players were selected. I assume that if the sophomores are two years removed from their graduating class that no college player is within two years of his graduation year.

    The draft tracker is current. I will report signing dates and bonuses as I learn them. However, the Phillies are very close-lipped regarding these dates and prefer to announce them all at the same time.

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    1. Nice info Jim as I watched the early picks I wondered with so many of the high school kids committed to SEC schools though Spangler is Stanford what kind of deals in the NIL, they already have in place. They had to get something to get them to commit. I wonder how that works in relation to if they decide to sign. Andrew Luck has now taken over the NIL area at Stanford. I am sure that puts them back in the game in a more positive position than before. They lost the million-dollar softball pitcher to Texas Tech a couple years ago. I did hear someone on tv forget who said with Spangler committed to Stanford it would be a costly deal for the Phillies. Just a total new era in college sports. Hope the picks work out for the Phillies.

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  30. when I remember I take a look at Matt Winklemans assessment of prospects. For the Phillies he seems to give most top to bottom look. Hope he is wrong but he uses the term “train wreck” when describing Phillies day yesterday.

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    1. To state that a draft is “great” or a “train wreck” before any of these players actually takes the field as professionals is in my opinion purely a an illogical reaction. To also put the new draft picks in a hierarchical ranking amongst the other players is just as illogical to me. There is no one, including the “experts” who truly knows how these fellas will develop. That’s my two cents.

      Steve Potter

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    2. To state that a draft is “great” or a “train wreck” before any of these players actually takes the field as professionals is in my opinion purely a an illogical reaction. To also put the new draft picks in a hierarchical ranking amongst the other players is just as illogical to me. There is no one, including the “experts” who truly knows how these fellas will develop. That’s my two cents.

      Steve Potter

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      1. 100% agree. Anyone who has been a fan of minor leagues and drafts for a while should be humbled enough to realize that we have absolutely no idea at this point.

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        1. I also agree. I will say that for at least 15 years now this organization has been so inept at drafting and developing, I assume all players drafted are irrelevant until they prove themselves with their performance in games with correspondingly positive analytics to go with it. Until then, it’s just unlikely this franchise will produce anything of much value outside of trades and free agency.

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          1. Can’t we see how these young men perform on the field before we condemn them?

            Alber Pujols is a good example and he will be in the Hall of Fame soon.

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          2. Can’t we see how these young men perform on the field before we condemn them?

            Alber Pujols is a good example and he will be in the Hall of Fame soon.

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        2. Yes, it’s true you really can’t know at this point whether a particular player will or will not pan out – nobody knows. What I think you can do is look to see whether the pick was defensible and sound at the time it was made based on available information. So, to provide an analogy, you would go nuts if your NFL team used a high first round pick to select a placekicker, even if he was a great kicker because that would be a misuse of the pick/asset for a position that could be filled capably by an undrafted free agent. So, in the 2026 draft, I don’t know if their first round pick will be good or not, but I understand and respect the overall talent evaluation and the fact that they accepted a known risk to pick a player with some distinct upside, which is something that is hard to obtain with a late first round pick. The risk/reward analysis made sense to me.

          By comparison, I was out of my mind when they selected Cornelius Randolph? Why? Because if you looked at the pick objectively, it was flat out stupid. They picked a smallish guy with limited athletic ability and limited power – so a very low ceiling – with the hope that he would carry through with what they hoped was an elite hit tool, which is totally impossible to project from a high schooler. The odds of that picking working out, the moment they made it, were extremely low and offered very little upside. And there were many years where the Phillies took low ceiling control pitchers in the first few rounds. I sorta got it at the time, but, come on, is the goal to develop 4th and 5th starters with premium picks? Hell no, it’s not!

          Fortunately, none of the top picks they’ve made recently resemble that Johnnie Almaraz cluster-you-know-what Cornelius Randolph pick. Rather, I think all of their recent first round picks (although Nori, a bit less so) have been perfectly defensible when made. So that’s good!

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          1. I agree with you 100%. That is my approach to these picks. I look for body and tools. The Almaraz approach of hit over power and command over velocity was an anti-pattern that was dumb to begin with. And as you noted, was a disaster.

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          3. Johnny is a friend of mine and your assemment of his time with the Phillies is misinformed and inaccurate as you don’t know the parameters of the job he was enlisted with. I will leave it at that … generalized comments about things bother me, perhaps a bit too much lately – prerhaps it’s finally time for me to quit this gig.

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            1. Hey, I don’t know the full story, I don’t know Johnnie, I don’t know who he reported to, I don’t know the resources he was given, I don’t know how many cooks were in the kitchen during the draft, I don’t know if he had good scouts, I don’t know if was stuck with bad development people, but I do know that that time in Phillies history was a freaking, unmitigated disaster from a drafting and development standpoint so don’t tell me that a crappy series of years, was a good one – whether it was his fault or not I have no idea (and he may be a great guy and all), but it wasn’t and to say anything else would be false.

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            3. I agree with you PhilPhan. Pinning bad decisions on single individuals is (at times) way overblown.

              That said the owner should be aware of who is influencing picks and who is not meeting certain standards.

              The owner has a boss and its the fans I believe John respects that.

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            4. Philfan, sorry about the backlash you have been subject to.

              Hope you will continue to update us on our minor league system.

              I appreciate your valuable insights.

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          4. Just a few facts – Johnny was scouting director for the 2015 thru 2019 Phillies drafts – his drafts produced Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, Jo Jo Romero, Ben Brown Erick Miller and Logan O’Hoppe. Logan was traded for current all-star Brandon Marsh. Mickey Moniak was also selected during his tenure. All of those players are holding regular major league roles with their current team. Just sayin if that’s what ya consider an “unmitigated disaster” so be it.

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            1. Before coming to the Phillies, as one of the leading scouts for the Braves and other teams, he earned his reputation by signing players like Johnny Cueto, Ozzie Albies, Ronald Acuna and Adam Dunn among others. So he did build up a pretty good resume upon being hired by Middleton and Matt Klentak.

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            2. I would be really curious to know precisely who controlled the picks in 2018 and 2019 – I got a sense that, by then, Alarmaz’s influence was seriously waning, but unless you were on the inside, there’s no way to know.

              The problem, however, is that he had essentially nothing to show from 3 top 10 picks, which is really bad. Now, not all of it was entirely his fault, because there was no Bryce Harper, Manny Ramirez or Bobby Witt there to take in those drafts, so I get that and it’s a fair observation. But what I think rankled many of us here – and still does – was the stated draft philosophy and Almaraz was very clear about his draft philosophy. At a time when it was clear that velocity was at a premium, Almaraz preached drafting control pitchers. And, at a time, when it was clear that you needed to draft hitters who could hit for power, Almaraz drafted contact hitters. I didn’t get it then, and still don’t get it now and, as it turns out, it didn’t yield great results. As for players being in the majors, he never drafted an impact player, first division regular (Stott is close to that, but not quite there), or impact starting pitcher or shut down reliever. If you built a major league team out of the guys he drafted, they would not be a good team or even form the nucleus of a good team.

              None of this is commentary on the person, however – he may be a wonderful guy and as I noted before, there’s a lot that goes into drafting that you could blame the lack of great results on and I know nothing about that in the Phillies organization. For all I know he picked the right guys and was overruled by Matt Klentak or someone else. Who knows?

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            3. to answer your inquiry I know the details of the decision processes but will never share them publicly. What was perceived as presented to the public is of the listener’s interpretation, that’s always the case. I am privy to quite a bit of “inside” information but honor the fact that I am trusted with that and allowed to interact on my own accord. I will not post anything else on this subject here and will try my best to no longer read the comments that are made on this page or for that matter on any other page. Baseball fandome is highly built on opinion and speculation, many Philly fans do not hesitate to offer that but it’s also often not fully informed. Just something that those in the industry have on many occasions told me to not let bother me as much. It doesn’t matter in the ongoing decisions to be made – that’s the reality.

              have a good day.

              Steve Potter

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      1. Only one better organization in MLB to find negative drafting and development to report about than the Phillies…

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  31. 1 highschooler, 4 college players.

    A back injury with the 36th pick. Hope that one works out. Who is the gambler pulling the trigger on that one?

    Elite power and elite strikeouts with the second pick.

    3 college aged pitchers. I see what you did there. Restocking the farm with older pitchers.

    Go get some more pitchers.

    And OF, and a C. Gonna need a C that can hit eventually.

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  32. Not defending what I posted from other analyst but to put in context he thinks Phil’s will have to go overslot to sign first round pick and therefore picked underslot next rounds basically throwing all eggs into one bad back basket.

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  33. One thing that has stood out these first 5 rounds is that the Phillies are taking huge guys. Our first rounder is 6’3” and every other pick is 6’5” or 6’6” besides the senior who is likely a below slot pick.

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  35. except for Spangler all college draft. Mostly pitchers. Thought we would pull the trigger on another HS tough sign today

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  38. local C Brandon Lipoff from Gloucester Catholic taking in 19th round; my son is attending GC starting in September. Some people I hear think he signs

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  41. Cole has been on the Sunday broadcast a few times. I feel he is very insightful on his comments. He makes solid points on what pitch and how the pitcher should attempt to get whichever batter out. I see it in is future if he wants to do it. I like Ben also in the booth.

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      1. Romus. The other night the Reds guys were going over the kids who had won the Johnny Bench award for the states around them. High school and college kids. They believed that Ben’s son may be in the top few picks. FWIW. T Mac always brings up how he is doing when he has Ben. Think they have been in some tourney recent days. Hard to keep track of all that is going on.

        Whenever the Phillies play the Cubs, Reds, and White Sox I get their announcers. I enjoy hearing what the other teams are saying.

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    2. Anything was better than Schmidt, but Cole has been a pleasant surprise. I’d love them to get Rollins occasionally.

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  42. They took 3 catchers. Happy to see that as we really have very little org depth at catcher.

    Braeden Lipoff the high schooler in the 19th round is really interesting to me. I wonder if he will sign. He is local to me so I have heard his name for a while. Kid can rake. Good athlete. Would be a good prospect to add to system if we can sign him.

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  43. Regarding Bogenpohl 

    The Phillies brought him to Clearwater for a private workout, identified mechanical issues and later saw progress at the MLB Draft Combine.

    “He put on an absolute show there,” Barber said.

    That selection captures the broader philosophy of the class. The Phillies were willing to accept unfinished players when the underlying tools were difficult to find elsewhere. 

    https://www.philadelphiabaseballreview.com/2026/07/phillies-2026-mlb-draft-brian-barber-analysis.html

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    1. I like that stated philosophy, but Matt Winkleman argues that this is riskier given the development of hitters has been a real organizational weakness. Fingers crossed!

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      1. Matt has a very poor track record of predicting success or failure of Phillies prospects. I stopped following him a long time ago. He uses a lot of words, but his conclusions miss a lot.

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        1. Drafting baseball prospects is tough. 90+% will fail to make it to the majors and only a percent or two will ever amount to be solid major leaguers. During my career I have spent time as head of a search and evaluation function in business development in pharmaceuticals- also a very risky area. A wise colleague of mine once said that if you say no to everything, you will be right more than 90% of the time…. but you will never develop a product. IIRC, V1, you are a start-up guy, so you know that the same pertains to start-ups. Maybe being smart an insightful alters the odds by a percent or two in these fields, but nobody gets it right the majority of the times. Same in drafting prospects.

          Some of the bloggers we follow are more pessimistic and some more optimistic. None have the insights or information of the team scouts and analysts. I just try to enjoy the analysis and use the different insights to synthesize my own opinions, knowing that only the retrospectoscope gets it right 100%.

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          1. Matt’s criticism was not that we were drafting prospects that miss. His most poignant criticism was that Phillies organization itself has proven that it is not good at unlocking the hidden tools of hitting prospects. I appreciate his honesty in a public forum. Everything, including professional sports, seems to be propaganda nowadays, but I would not call his blog propaganda.

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      2. So, people have been critical of Matt on here, but how many guys in our system have come up in the past 5 years, 10 ye rs, 15 years that just tore the cover off the ball and hit over .300 for the year? How many different players during that time?

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          1. Like I said, he’s definitely not always right but, much to my chagrin, he was not only right, but right for the right reasons more often than I wanted to admit because the news is not always very good. Everything thing he said/cautioned about with both Abel and Painter turned out to be right (at least at the time – young pitchers can develop and change over times) even though it was the last things we wanted to hear.

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  44. Romus, I saw Gasparino play in high school (he went to Harvard-Westlake, high school of Pete Crow-Armstrong, Max Fried, Jack Flaherty, Lucas Giolito, and 2024 first-round pick Bryce Rainer). He’s a freak. 6’6″, touched 95 on the mound in high school, and ran a 6.46 60-yard dash at the Perfect Game National Showcase when he was in high school.

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  45. Gasparino is an intriguing pick – in addition to the above, his Dad is an exec w/ Dodgers. He originally went to Texas, had some challenges, then flipped to UCLA.

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  47. I guess everybody believes that the Dodgers are the gold standard when it comes to drafting? Who was the last Dodgers draft pick to generate 10+ WAR? Will Smith in 2016. What about the Braves? 2019 with Michael Harris and Shea Langeliers (who’s doing it with the A’s).

    For the Phillies, it’s Bryson Stott also in 2019.

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    1. I mean Michael Busch and Ryan Pepiot have made contributions. Emmett Sheenhan when healthy seems a capable starter.

      And the reliever Wroblekski is solid. Daulton Rushing has potential.

      And why limit ourselves to the draft. Pages was an international signing.

      Let’s not forget the package the Dodgers sent for Trea Turner netted the Nats their starting catcher and a possible rotation peice in Gray.

      I think another side to this is that sometimes prospects are worth a ton in the minors and perform well and don’t make it or achieve success in the majors, and the Dodgers have a bunch of these guys who they then trade for MLB pieces.

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      1. I’m not limiting this review to the draft or even international signings – to me, this includes younger players involved in trades. The Phillies didn’t sign Cristopher Sanchez but they sure as heck developed him – as far as I’m concerned, he was their minor leaguer.

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  48. The Phillies have traded many prospects trying to win another WS.

    These prospects were quality players that other teams wanted. You need to take that factor into consideration.

    The past drafts are done so we can’t control them.

    Let’s focus on the current draft and future drafts and move on from the past.

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    1. Those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.

      The point isn’t that we are dwelling in the past – although the recent past is annoying as hell with this team when it comes to picking and developing players – the point is that the team needs to put together a competent crew in terms of drafting and player development people and the only way we know if they are doing their jobs is by evaluating their performance over a reasonable period of time. The record here is mixed, although it’s very clear that the current crew is much better than Almaraz and company, which was disastrous.

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      1. The Phillies have been making progress into the Asian and Latin American player markets.

        So they are learning but breaking into those markets take time.

        Time will tell how successful they are but the effort is there.

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        1. Oh, it’s gotten better for sure – overall, things have improved from around 2018 forward and most of the picks, especially the first round picks, were good picks/gambles so I’m okay with them rolling the dice at little at 36 – what else are you going to do at that spot? Draft a future #4 starter? What a waste of an opportunity that would be. Also, Renteria is the best LA Phillies signing I can recall – a real potential star and that was never happening in prior years.

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  50. So back in 2017 someone I know well was invited to a Dodgers tryout at La Salle college and 2018 to Fenway for same thing. The Dodgers tryout started like 7am. Myself and another person I know well sitting on bench above field guy bushy brown hair walks by says hey what’s up guys how you doing. Person next to me goes that’s Friedman I say who haha. Anyhow they take pictures of every kid, test flexibility in shoulders, hips…Starting with maybe 50-75 kids. Word must have got out kids kept showing up. I think whole Penn pitching squad came. They gave everyone time on mound even if you could tell no shot. Back then kinda tell if not sitting 92-93 not gonna work. Fastest pitched maybe hit 97 from Va Tech. Rich DeLucia was working with every kid even if not that good helping with off speed or curveball. Everyone treated with respect.
    next year at Fenway much more disorganized compared to Dodgers but I wouldn’t know about any other team. Only about 30 kids. Guy watching pitchers if kid struggled or didn’t look good the guy just walk away and kid saw it and kind of was deflating for kid. Two different methods. Red Sox drafted Casas that year. Funny thing is Dombroski GM of Sox that year and think they beat dodgers in WS

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  53. Am I reading the schedule wrong or are the Phillies playing the Cardinals only 3 games this season rather than the 6 or 7 they usually play? And why aren’t the Phillies playing the Mets on Friday?

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    1. Who knows why they are not playing on the fourth Friday of this season …….maybe because Shane Gillis is performing a historic, one-night-only stadium stand-up show across the street at Lincoln Financial Field on July 17 He will be joined by special guests, and with the massive crowd size, he is aiming to break the U.S. record for the largest single-ticketed show by an American comedian. Odd….playing on Thursday then off on Friday.

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  54. Without justification, this will be the greatest draft in Phillies history. This year’s draft will produce 10 MLB players, 3 All-Stars, and 1 World Series. I am putting that out there and will follow this group til the end, mine or theirs.

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  55. I guess I am reading the schedule wrong. Thanks, Romus and my apologies to Dr. Jimmy for putting this on the wrong thread. Getting old sucks.

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  56. I’d offer Stott and a prospect for Arraez and then try to extend him. Shake things up and add a legit obp guy.

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  57. It appears that some of you just come here to comment and don’t bother to read the articles. Or, you just don’t care when what I write gets in the way of your agenda of complaining. If you want to play lawyer and argue that the past can’t be separated from the present, you can GFY. I lay down the parameters for some of these discussions. For several years, the acceptable subject matter for the draft discussion has been very clear.

    I opened with this:

    “This is the Phuture Phillies 2026 Draft Discussion for comments about the 2026 draft.

    This is a forum for 2026 draft discussion to keep it separate from other conversations.  This is not a forum for complaining about past picks and past/current draft philosophy.  That horse has been beaten to death in weekly open discussions.  If you must, keep it there.

    As in previous years, I’ll post follow-up discussions as needed until the signing period is over.  Draft signings will be tracked here – 2026 Draft Tracker“

    And, I closed with this:

    “Please remember that this is a forum for 2026 draft discussion to keep it separate from other conversations.”

    If you think this comment was intended for you, then it probably was. I’m not looking for posted, fake apologies or for excuses that legitimize comments. Just knock it off and keep your comments to the current draft.

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          1. I don’t see why they would have to go over slot. So far, only one of the 8 guys who have signed from among the top 40 picks has signed for over slot. Picks 1, 9, 14, 18, 25, 26, 33, and 35. Spangler is pick 36.

            The first 40 slots include all 30 first round picks, 2 PPI picks, 7 CB-A picks, and 1 second round pick. Slot for #40 is $2.5M.

            Five of the signees are college juniors and 3 are HS seniors. The one over slot is a college guy who got $300K over slot (bold below).

            #33 signed under slot and was “ranked” higher than Spangler by 16 positions (37 vs. 53). Plus Spangler didn’t play much his senior season.

            PLAYER – CLASS – SIGNED FOR – SLOT VALUE

            Roch Cholowsky – 4YR JR – $10.35m – Pick Value: $11.35m

            AJ Gracia – 4YR JR – $4.00m – Pick Value: $6.68m

            Jacob Lombard – HS SR – $5.00m – Pick Value: $5.44m

            Justin Lebron – 4YR JR – $5.00m – Pick Value: $4.70m

            Trey Ebel – HS SR – $2.80m – Pick Value: $3.70m

            Carter Beck – 4YR JR – $2.68m – Pick Value: $3.58m

            Taj Marchand – HS SR – $2.55m – Pick Value: $2.97m

            Hunter Dietz – 4YR JR – $2.50m – Pick Value: $2.83m

            Tyler Spangler – HS SR – ????? – Pick Value: $2.76m

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            1. That would make sense for me. Especially with the recent injury. Beck from ISU did well. I think he was around 70s in the BA prospect list.

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  60. The Phillies biggest scouting wins in recent memory is when they identify a swing flaw in a great mover that is limiting his production. Marsh is a great example of that. KLong really turned his career around by shortening his swing (both lower half and hand path). The Phillies might have done the same thing with their second round pick, Caden Bogenpohl.

    Here is his swing in college:

    https://www.mlb.com/video/draft-2026-phillies-select-of-caden-bogenpohl-no-64

    Here is his swing at the MLB draft combine:
    https://share.google/LhFq9pOVdFB1eCtTW

    Barber said in an interview that they brought him in for a workout before the combine and suggested swing changes. And then they saw them in action at the combine. While the video at the combine is just BP, the change in his hand setup creating a shorter hand path is noticeable. He had a very long swing in college. It is a pretty compact swing at the combine. The guy is an absolute monster, 6’6” 245. He hit the three hardest balls of the combine, at 119.4, 116.4, and 115.7 mph while also hitting the fifth farthest ball (450.1 feet). In total, he hit 13 balls at 110 mph or harder. Obviously he has a long way to go. But this is the point of scouting. You can change a swing. But you can’t change a body size or how it moves. That’s what I saw from this draft. They took big bodies that move well. The rest is up to the development staff.

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          1. For whatever reason, the 5th round has been gold for the Phillies – over quite a long period of time.

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            1. Sorry, I did not see I was replying on the 2016 draft thread (I thought it was the general thread) – I did not mean to make a general comment here.

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    2. Cant figure phillies change of heat, to call up Mc Farlane. I just can’t figure.

      DSL its a hitters league ?. Really hard to judge hitters imo. With the young kids pitching. Ton of high era

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  63. I hope Spangler is not the holdout as he hired Scott Boras as his agent.

    However, Boras and Phillies have worked well lately.

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    1. I wouldn’t blame him for holding out for $3M or $3.5M. People comparing him to freaking Cal Ripken Jr. and Corey Seager, yeah, I’d bet on myself. Especially if I truly believe the back thing is over and done with.

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    1. Surprised that they didn’t save more money with the Ruger signing. They saved $162k, but he was a senior sign. Hope they have enough to sign the two other HS’ers.

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      2. Senior sign apparently means less nowadays. Six 4YR SR were taken among the first 120 picks (about halfway through the fourth round). The two taken ahead of Roijas got within $3K of full slot. The three taken after Roijas saved their teams over $300K, a little over $100K, and less than $3K. FWIW, Roijas had the highest ranking of these 6 college seniors (the number in parenthesis).

        #91 (217), KC: Maxx Yehl, West Virginia, LHP, $870.40K out of $872.90K
        #99 (112), NYY: Brendan Brock, Oklahoma, C, $789.80K out of 792.30
        #100 (92), PHI: Ruger Roijas, Texas, RHP, $622.50K out of $784.40K
        #104 (232), COL: Ben Davis, Mississippi State, RHP, $447.50K out of $755.30K
        #118 (NR), SF: Carlos Martinez, Hofstra, RHP, $597.50K out of $658.10K
        #120 (95), NYM: Shane Sdao, Texas A7M, LHP, $642.60K out of 645.10K

        I think they’ll sign all their picks except #19, the catcher from NJ. Probably figures he can do better than the $150K “allotted” to his slot. Hope he’s right. If the owners get their way even a little, the draft could be very different in the 3 years he will have to spend in college before being eligible again.

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        1. Good information. That’s interesting. Maybe that is because of the new rules that allow grad transfers to play and get NIL money. Good for the kid.

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  67. At the Complex this morning, I watched the recent draft picks as they went through morning workouts. This was their second workout. I was told that they had an afternoon workout on Wednesday, their first day in Clearwater.

    The Phillies drafted 21 players and signed 8 undrafted free agents. I counted 27 players. That would seem to support my earlier comment that numbers 1 and 19 haven’t signed yet. They deadline for signing is this coming Monday. I believe #1 Spangler will arrive over the weekend and begin taking part in the workouts early next week. He’s a Boras client but I don’t think that has much to do with delay. I expect the Phillies to introduce him to the media during the Yankees series. #19 is a high school player and a local at that from Gloucester NJ. Passing on #19 money may be his decision.

    The pitchers did their running in short bursts along the left field foul line on Carlton Field before moving to the right field foul line for short/long toss. That was all I saw of them today.

    A few position players took ground balls on Carlton Field but judging by their attire and Physique, they appeared to be rehabbers.

    Groups of new players took batting practice on Roberts Field. While one group batted another group shagged and another group received instruction on leads, first steps, and returns behind screens at first base. Interesting considering the base running woes we witnessed at the big league level this week.

    The players are still just a bunch of new faces to me but two stood out. The second was 5th round pick Will Gasparino in the second batting group. I noticed him because he looks so much taller than his listed 6’6″. The bat looked small in his hands. However, I didn’t stay to watch his group hit. The heat and humidity drove me from the Complex.

    The first hitter who caught my eye was 2nd round pick Caden Bogenpohl, initially because of his size. He’s huge, listed also at 6’6″ but built like a football lineman. I broke off a conversation in mid-sentence and was drawn to the fence along the third base line when I saw him. He’s a left-handed batter so I could see his swing. I had read how his home run production and strike outs had decreased from his freshman to his junior years. I noticed that for a big guy he doesn’t have an upper cut swing to lift the ball. His swing remains level through the strike zone. I probably wouldn’t have even noticed if I hadn’t heard one of the broadcasters point it out over the weekend when describing a player’s success during the Dodgers’ series. Probably Freeman, but I really don’t remember.

    That’s the little I saw today. I hope to see more in coming days. There should be more activity during the coming weeks. Today was the Complex team’s final game.

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  68. I only have three signings and signing bonuses so far. I won’t add them to the list until I get multiple sources. Matt Winkelman likely has better sources. He has most of the bonuses listed. I think he projects an excess of about $500K to sign Spangler if necessary.

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    1. Boras says minor back issues…..that is a relief to know. Article mentioned Miller had back issues when drafted….only thing I recall concerning Miller after being drafted was the hamate surgery that affected him his senior year,

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  71. My son is going to Gloucester Catholic in south Jersey as a FR in September. His travel season ended 2 weeks ago otherwise I would ask his coach about Lipoff’s decision. His travel team/coaches are mostly all GC players/coaches/ former players

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  73. In the Draft Tracker for the 6th pick Jaxon Jelkin the O/U Slot for over/under, it shows $558.4K in black. Should that be $11.1K in black as a savings? I’m confused.

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  74. Where would Spangler slot in to the Phils top 15? For that matter, do any other draftees make the top top? Current top 10 via pipeline:

    1. Wood
    2. Miller
    3. Renteria
    4. Marquez
    5 .Escobar
    6. Nori
    7 .Ferrebus
    8 .Obermueller
    9. Chace
    10. Fisher
    11. Parra
    12. Burkholder
    13. Pan
    14. Bowker
    15. Rincon

    I think I slide Spangler in around 10. I’d have Parra at 9, Spangler at 10. Then I’d put Bogenpohl around 12 with Gasparino on his tail. That might be all for that top 15. Though I’d lump a bunch in the 20ish range.

    On a side note, I do like a lot of the top 15 prospects. Seems like they all have a “if it breaks this way” to them. If they are able to play healthy. If they make a jump. I think there is a lot of upside for all of the top 15

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