All posts by jimpeyton19

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.

Ruben Amaro’s Page on Baseball Reference Punk’d

Other Stuff

If you haven’t seen this yet, you should check out the Baseball Reference  page for RAJ.

Apparently, somebody at Beerleaguer sponsored his page and the following ad appears in a yellow panel across the screen.

“RAJ’s friends at Beerleaguer sponsor(s) this page.

BRef wanted $15 to sponsor this page, but in Ruben’s honor I ponied up $75 on a three year deal with a vesting option. 2015 can’t come soon enough!”

If you use an ad blocker, disable it before going to the page.  Here’s the link.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/amaroru02.shtml

D’backs Sign Tomas

Transactions

As you may have heard, Yasmany Tomas has reached an agreement with the Arizona Diamondbacks on a 6 year, $68.5M contract.  The Trade Rumors link is below.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/11/diamondbacks-to-sign-yasmany-tomas.html

I’m sure you need a place to vent about the Phillies’ inabity to sign Tomas, so here it is.  But, really, after we’ve heard so much about Tomas breaking the $100M barrier for a Cuban signee, and with all the teams who were supposedly “in” on him (SanDiego, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Arizona, San Francisco, and some “mystery” teams) doesn’t it seem odd that he only got a little over $11M/year?

Let the bashing begin.

Open Discussion: Week of November 24, 2014

Weekly Discussion, , , ,

We haven’t had an open discussion posted since November 3rd.  I’ll try to fill this void until …

First, here’s the link to Phillies Offseason League stats –

http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/org.jsp?id=phi

Check out pitchers Hector Neris, Elvis Arajo, and Manny Chavez. All have sub 1.00 ERAs, and WHIPs around .100.  Their SSS includes at least 9 appearances and 8.2 IP. Araujo and Chavez also have nice K/9 and K/BB numbers.

Willians Astudillo opened with a 3-run HR in 1-4 debut in VWL. Freddy Galvis is hitting below .300 for first time since 2011. He’s also striking out at a much higher rate that in previous VWL seasons.

With the rumors that Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez having agreed to sign with the Boston Red Sox swirling around, what if any impact will that have on the Phillies’ off season trade market? Is SF now in on a SP? Is Boston still a likely trade partner for Hamels?  Discuss.

 

Phillies Add 3 Pitchers to 40 Man Roster

Transactions

With less than 3 hours remaining before the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster, the Phillies have added 3 pitchers.

Beat writers Todd Zolecki and Jim Salisbury announced over Twitter that the Phillies have added LHP Jesse Biddle and Adam Morgan and RHP Nefi Ogando to the 40-Man Roster.  They are now protected from Rule 5 Draft in December.

This leaves 2 empty slots on the Phillies 40-man roster.  Their site only shows 37 players.  For some reason they haven’t added Jerome Williams, who signed a $2.5M extension on October 21st.

AFL – Roman Quinn

8. Arizona Fall League

Roman Quinn was drafted in the second round in 2011 out of Port St. Joe HS in Port St. Joe, FL. The multi-sport athlete signed over-slot on August 15, 2011 and began his pro career the following summer in Williamsport. A right-handed hitting centerfielder in high school who had begun learning to switch hit in his senior year, Quinn continued the conversion at the plate while learning to play shortstop as a professional.

Quinn played well enough in 2012 to warrant a promotion to full season A ball in Lakewood at the start of the 2013 season. He missed the second half of the season when he broke his wrist. While recuperating in the off season, Quinn suffered an Achilles injury that caused him to miss 6 weeks of the 2014 season with Clearwater. When he returned, he still retained the speed that had him rated the fastest player in Baseball America’s top 200 in the 2011 draft.

The rapid progress of the Phillies’ #16 pick in the 2013 draft, J.P. Crawford, forced the Phillies to make a decision that would enable them to get both players on the field at the same time. As a result, Quinn returned to his natural position, center field, when Crawford was promoted to Clearwater in mid-June. Continue reading AFL – Roman Quinn →