All posts by jimpeyton19

Open Discussion: Week of December 22, 2014; Christmas Week

Weekly Discussion

Well, in the words of Andy Williams, ” It’s the most wonderful time of the year”.  So far this month, the Phillies have turned Jimmy Rollins and Antonio Bastardo into three young pitchers – Zack Eflin, Tom Windle, and Joely Rodriguez.  They have also added another pitcher and a young infielder through the Rule 5 Draft – Andy Oliver and Obudel Herrera.  What would you like the Phillies to find under their tree come Christmas morning?  A package of prospects for Cole Hamels?  A smaller package for Marlon Bird?  Jung-Ho Kang?  Discuss.

Reader Top 30 #1

2015 Reader Top 30

Welcome to the 2015 Reader Top 30.

I will post a poll most days Monday thru Friday.  I’m starting with MLB’s Top 20 and will add names as needed.  I expect the first new group of names will be added after Prospect #5 is decided.  If you want to make sure a name is added to the list e-mail prospectpoll@yahoo.com using the Subject Line – Add Prospect Continue reading Reader Top 30 #1 →

Winter Ball Round Up: Dec. 7 – Dec. 20.

9. Winter Leagues, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I was on the road last weekend and couldn’t provide an update. So, here’s a two-week update today.

Position Players

  • In the VWL
  • Willians Astudillo played in 8 games and went 10 for 31, no XBH, 1 RBI, and his first 2 VWL Ks. His overall slash is .314/.351/.400/.751. He has been splitting time in Left and center fields, has one outfield assist from LF, and has committed no errors.
  • Andres Blanco played in 12 games and went 13 for 41, 5 XBH, 6 RBI, 6 BB, 5 K. His overall slash is .306/.444/.472/.917. His BB rate is 11.4% and his K rate is 18.3%.
  • Freddy Galvis played in 13 games and went 16 for 53, 5 XBH, 8 BB, 7 K. Overall, he is .259/.326/.345/.671 with 12 doubles. His BB rate is 8.4% and his K rate is 21.9%. Surprisingly, he has been caught stealing in 4 of 5 attempts.
  • Cesar Hernandez played in 11 games and went 9 for 38, 3 XBH, 9 BB, 7 K, 3 SB. Overall he is .315/.393/.371/.764 with 7 doubles. His BB rate is 11.4% and his K rate is 17.7%.
  • Obudel Herrera played in 12 games and went 18 for 47, 2 HR, 6 BB, 6 K, 3 SB. Overall he’s .378/.434/.567/.1.001 with 5 HR, 13 doubles, 3 triples, 7 SB in 7 attempts. His BB rate is 8.6% and his K rate is 14.2%.
  • Gabriel Lino played in 9 games and went 6 for 24, 8 K. Overall he’s  .247/.345/.329/.674 with 6 doubles. His BB rate is 13.1% and his K rate is 31.5%.
  • Wilmer Oberto saw time in 4 games and went 0 for 5. Overall he has 39 at bats in 19 games. His slash is .179/.273/.179/.452. He has 15 Ks in those 39 ABs.

Continue reading Winter Ball Round Up: Dec. 7 – Dec. 20. →

Upcoming Reader Top 30 Poll

2015 Reader Top 30

Get ready for the 2015 Reader Top 30 Prospect Survey.  An overwhelming number of readers expressed interest in having a top 30.  Of 274 respondents, 246 were in favor  (89.8%).

I will start next week and try to post a poll every day.  I would encourage each participant to submit her or his own Top 30 to prospectpoll@yahoo.com using the Subject – My Prospect List. I am curious how the day-by-day voting would affect the outcome when compared to a one-time submission along the lines of an MVP ballot.  (This is not a requirement.)

I suggest we continue to follow Baseball America’s standards for prospects by considering any player eligible for rookie status as eligible for this poll.

As a quick refresher, the following players exceeded Rookie Status during the 2014 status – David Buchanan, Ken Giles, Miguel Gonzalez (he has 122 playing days at the major league level according to Baseball Reference), Cesar Hernandez, Mario Hollands, Ethan Martin, and Cameron Rupp. Continue reading Upcoming Reader Top 30 Poll →

Report: Phillies Move Rollins, Bastardo in Separate Deals

Transactions

So, while travelling north to PA on Interstate 95, my text and Twitter exploded.  First, with news of a ¨completed¨ trade of Jimmy Rollins to the Los Angeles Dodgers and then with another trade where Antonio Bastardo was reportedly sent to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In the Bastardo deal, the Phillies will receive Joely Rodriguez, a 6’1, 200 lb, left-handed pitcher who started in 2/3 of his 30 appearances for the Double-A Altoona Curve, and posted a 4.84 ERA.  He participated in the Arizona Fall League as a member of the Scottsdale Scorpions, which included seven Phillies’ players as well as Lehigh Valley pitching coach Ray Burris.  Rodriguez rebounded from a difficjult regular season to post a 3-0 record in 7 starts against the higher level competition of the AFL.  He posted a 2.38 ERA, struck out 22, and walked 6 in 22.2 innings.

Although the Rollins trade ¨broke”first, the players involved haven’t been announced.  There has been speculation that the Phillies will receive a pair of minor league pitching prospects, that some money will change hands (this requires approval by the commissioner), and that a third team is involved (the Marlins?) and that player(s) from that trade are involved.

So until we learn more, here’s a place to talk about these moves.

Open Discussion: Week of December 8, 2014; Winter Meetings Edition

Weekly Discussion

MLB began their coverage of baseball’s winter meetings at 8:00PM Sunday evening.  Early in the show, Greg Amsinger, Harold Reynolds, and Dan Plesac offered their opinions on the level of activity we could expect from the Phillies at the 2014 Winter Meetings.  Their preview suggested that the Phillies –

  1. might be as inactive this year as they were last year because of the big contracts.
  2. had missed their window of opportunity for unloading their big contracts.
  3. had a new window and their big contracts didn’t look so bad.
  4. had an opportunity to move their big contracts, even Howard’s “if he’s able to turn it around” (Huh? What does that even mean?)

After these four earth shattering pronouncements, with which all three announcers agreed, I decided to mute the volume by 8:14PM and prep the Open Discussion for  Monday. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of December 8, 2014; Winter Meetings Edition →

Winter Ball Round Up: Nov. 30 – Dec. 6

9. Winter Leagues, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Updates on Phillies’ minor league players from around winter ball  during the last week –

  • Aaron Altherr hasn’t played since November 18th.
  • Willians Astudillo hasn’t played since November 23rd, his only appearance where he hit a 3-run HR in a 1-4 outing.
  • Emmanuel Marrero hasn’t played since November 26th.
  • Cameron Perkins hasn’t played since October 29th.
  • Darin Ruf hasn’t played since October 31st.  I read that he suffered a muscle strain, returned to the US for a second opinion, and was sent home for the winter.
  • Wilber Oberto hasn’t played since November 4th.
  • Jesse Biddle hasn’t pitched since November 8th when he was shut down for the winter after an injury.
  • Ethan Martin hasn’t pitched since November 29th.
  • Lino Martinez hasn’t pitched since November 6th.
  • Yacksel Rios hasn’t pitched since November 18th.
  • Alexis Rivero hasn’t pitched since October 20th.

Position players – Continue reading Winter Ball Round Up: Nov. 30 – Dec. 6 →

What Next?

Announcements

Well, if you are reading this I can still post. And, if I can still post, I will continue to post.

I was as shocked as you when I read on Twitter that Phuture Phillies was “shutting down“. I read Gregg’s goodbye post and eventually saw the e-mail he sent me shortly before he posted his goodbye.

Vic Filoromo contacted me last night about keeping the site up and running. I am not adverse to the idea, but Gregg was the last person to have admin privileges. In a later contact with him, I got the impression that they are not his to pass along.

So, while I can still post, I can’t maintain some of the site’s features. I can’t update Transactions. I can’t add new Categories, like adding a new menu option for the 2015 Reader Top 30. I can’t update any file that I didn’t create. I can’t add new writers.

But I can continue to post until some outside force takes down the site. So, I’ll start the Reader Top 30 next week. I’ll continue to post a Weekly Discussion feed. I’ll continue to post transactions.

I have been approached by other sites and asked to consider joining them. This surprised me since I don’t so much write articles as report what I see. Then I realized that my best asset isn’t how or what I write, but more that I’m actually on site during spring training, extended spring training, FSL, GCL, and FIL.

I’ve grown attached to Phuture Phillies and all the readers and commenters here. I like the format and enjoy the interaction in the comment section. I chose Phuture Phillies because of the quality of comments posted here. So, while carefully considering these offers to join other sites, I will continue working here.  Hopefully, Vic will continue to contribute as well.

(BTW, if you rely on Twitter to notify you of new posts here, that account belongs to Gregg.  He’ll probably be taking that with him, so you may want to follow us to receive notices of new posts at @jimpeyton19 and @victorfiloromo.  My account has the extra added bonus of in-game tweets during the season.)

2015 Reader Top 30

Prospect Rankings

polling booth

So, I’ve gone through our archives and found that Matt ran the Reader Top 30 last year.  I’ve gone through the files and think I’ve figured out how to run a poll.  If you want me to moderate a poll this year, let me know in the survey below.  I propose two modifications.

First, I want to start a little earlier.  Last year the poll ran into the first few days of spring training.  I will be covering spring training and would like to finish the poll articles before it starts.  I also need to work around my schedule in December and January.  A convenient start time for me would be sometime in the next three weeks.

Second, I would like to propose that you submit a personal Top 30 early in the polling process.  I‘m curious how a weighted vote would compare to the day by day survey (30 points for #1, 29 for #2, … 1 for #30).  I’ll set up an e-mail account to receive those submissions.  I would hope to get enough submissions to make a comparison between the two processes relevant.

So, please cast a vote below.  This will also be a nice test to see if I can set up a poll correctly.  (As you can see above, I have figured out how to insert a picture.)  This poll will be active for one week.

Open Discussion: Week of December 1, 2014

Weekly Discussion

In the Dominican Winter League.  Nefi Ogando made his debut for Aguilas Cibaenas.  He pitched a 2-hit, scoreless inning.  Luis Garcia made his debut in the same game for Estrellas de Oriente.  He allowed a hit, walk, and unearned run in his one inning.  Hector Neris had 2 more scoreless outings this past week.

In the Venezuelan Winter League, Ethan Martin was roughed up in his second appearance on the 24th, but came back with a scoreless effort in his next outing.  He pitched a total of 4 innings and allowed 3 earned runs on 5 hits, 4 walks, and struck out four.

The ABL seems to be taking its toll on most of our guys.  Dylan Cozens (.204) was 2 for 10 with 3 Ks this week and was relegated to pinch runner in Sunday’s game.  Brian Pointer (.207) was 0-12 with 4 Ks.  Mitch Walding (.218) was a productive 3-14 with a home run, walk, K, and 7 RBIs.  Chace Numata (.271) was 3-15 with 3 runs scored, 1 RBI, 2 Ks, 2 SB.

Off season stats for all Phillies players can be viewed at: http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/org.jsp?id=phi

With the signing of Yasmany Tomas by Arizona, the list of available free agent outfielders has become less appealing.  If the Phillies are to upgrade, they’ll have to do it from among these players –

Left Fielders – Melky Cabrera (30), Mike Carp (29), Endy Chavez (37), Tyler Colvin (29),
Nelson Cruz (34), Chris Denorfia (34), Cole Gillespie (30), Jonny Gomes (34), Tony Gwynn Jr. (32), Scott Hairston (35), Reed Johnson (38), Jason Kubel (33), Ryan Ludwick (36), Nyjer Morgan (34), Mike Morse (33), Delmon Young (29)

Center Fielders – Emilio Bonifacio (30), Ezequiel Carrera (28), Endy Chavez (37), Nyjer Morgan (34), Colby Rasmus (28)

Right Fielders – Nori Aoki (33), Endy Chavez (37), Tyler Colvin (29), Nelson Cruz (34),
Chris Denorfia (34), Scott Hairston (35), Torii Hunter (39), Nick Markakis (31),
Alex Rios (34), Nate Schierholtz (31), Ichiro Suzuki (41)

On the pitching front, none of the top FA pitchers has signed.  But Oakland has been shopping Jeff Samardzija.  The Mets have been reported as actively trying to trade Bartolo Colon, Dillon Gee or Jon Niese.  Maybe the Mets are trying to exploit the market between the Phillies’ asking price for Cole Hamels and what teams are willing to trade.