In one week, a new feature will be added here in the form of a player blog. Michael Schwimer, a 14th round pick in 2008, has agreed to provide a once a week entry for the site. He has created an email address specifically to take your questions, and he’ll try and answer as many as he can, while also providing a glimpse into the life of a minor leaguer. I’m really excited about this opportunity for the site and look forward to hearing Michael’s insights on the game and life in the minors. Send all of your questions to mschwimer at yahoo dot com
All posts by giventofly41
3 Phillies on the Baseball America Top 25
BA always does an updated midseason Top 25, and this year 3 Phillies made the list; Dominic Brown (17th), Michael Taylor (23rd), and Kyle Drabek (24th). This also got me thinking about how the Phillies Top 10 would look now, and how our best prospects would be lined up if you were dividing them into tiers. For me, our Top 20 or so would look like this…
Tier 1: Drabek, Taylor, Brown
Tier 2: Knapp, Carrasco, Marson
Tier 3: Donald, D’Arnaud, Worley, Savery, May, Gose, Collier, Dugan, Santana
Tier 4: Pettibone, Sampson, Shreve, Stutes, De Fratus, Correa, Cisco, Mattair, Flande
Does that seem accurate? Am I missing anyone?
Sell the farm, stand pat, or something in between?
Everyone knows my general stance on discussing the big league team here, but I’m going to make an exception in this one post. I believe, as the caldendar rolls over, the Phillies have a bunch of really tough choices to make regarding the rest of this season. I believe there are three real options to choose from, hence the title of this posting, and I’ll go through the decisions that have to be made below the fold, and then I’ll post a poll for you to have your say.
Update; 7/7 – The Blue Jays have reportedly said they will listen to offers on Halladay. So this topic is again very relevant. I’m bumping it back to the top so that the conversations don’t spill over into other discussions. Thanks
Continue reading Sell the farm, stand pat, or something in between?
Just a few quick comments
As I said a few days ago, there are a number of things Im working on with the site right now to try and make it better. I’ve added a Glossary/FAQ which helps explain some of the more advanced statistics used here, as well as how options and service time work. I also wanted to thank everyone who visits here regularly and partakes in the daily discussion. This year, the three draft days were three of the most active days in the history of the site, with 11,000+ hits every day, and 18,800 hits on June 10th, our busiest day ever. June was also the busiest month in the history of the site, with over 200,000 hits.
I’ve tried to get back in the swing of writing more here, of participating in the conversations. And I’ve noticed that people continue to just post whatever random comments they think of in places where its not appropriate. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, its very disrespectful to the people who take time to contribute content for this site for you to just take it off topic with the first thing that pops into your head. So from this point on, I’m just going to delete those comments when I see them. 99% of the people here are respectful, this is just a memo to those who aren’t. If your comments start disappearing, you know why.
And to wrap it up, have a happy holiday weekend, and thanks for continuing to come back.
Prospect Q/A with Kevin Goldstein
As many of you frequent readers know, Kevin Goldstein, prospect guru at Baseball Prospectus, has always been extremely generous to this site, contributing lots of insight whenever I’ve asked, and I was fortunate enough to crank out another lengthy set of questions, to which he replied with excellent (per usual) responses. You’ll find his answers below the fold.
Two tidbits
Kevin Goldstein published a column today at BP featuring positive comments from scouts on various prospects. He quotes a scout on Drabek;
One scout who recently saw him there walked away impressed, observing, “He’s significantly smoother now, and I really like him; he’s going 95-96 mph in the first inning, and that curveball is a big-time hammer with a great arm stroke.” Drabek’s smallish frame and injury history contribute to the trouble many have figuring out exactly which direction his path will take him, but the scout saw him succeeding in a variety of roles. “He really could be anything,” the scout surmised, “I could see him starting, I could see him relieving… he could have a lot of different careers, but they’re all good ones.”
Also, as noted in the comments of the draft picks discussion, Aroldis Chapman, the best prospect in Cuba, has defected. Its a million to one shot that the Phillies would sign him, but he’d be worth every penny.
Also, I guess you can use this space to post all of your random comments that don’t belong in other places.
New glossary/guide
I’m slowly adding some of the things I’ve been meaning to add for months now, and if you look at the top of the site along the page links, you’ll now find a glossary and guide to service time at the right. If there’s anything you want to see added/explained, post it in the comments on that page.
On the international front, don’t expect much
Baseball America’s team by team previews
Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies likely won’t be active for the players at the top of the market in Latin America, though that hasn’t stopped them from finding quality prospects on a budget in past years. They signed Dominican outfielder Domingo Santana for $330,000 in March, and it looks like they’ll try to land players for comparable bonuses this year.
This is what I expected, to be honest.
Random thoughts
Just looking at some box scores, just some random thoughts, in bulleted format.
* Marson had a .679 OPS in May, and wasn’t much better in the beginning of June, but he’s hitting .371 over his last 10 games, with 10 RBI and 4 BB. He only has 2 extra base hits (both doubles), so the power still hasn’t come, but he’s at least starting to put it together.
* Anthony Gose is 44/52 in SB. His plate discipline is obviously lacking at this point, and he hasn’t hit for much power, but that speed sure is something. As a reference point, Michael Bourn stole 58 out of 64 in his age 21 season at Lakewood. Gose has a real chance to end up with 65-70 SB, though his success rate might not be quite as good.
More below….
Drabek and Flande selected to the Futures Game
BA has the full rosters.
No surprise on Drabek, but Flande is a bit of a surprise. He wasn’t really on the radar entering this year, but has been great in the FSL, despite being old for the level. His stuff is fringy, but he apparently has solid control and command, so he could be a back end type.
Phuture Phillies 