Players:
Ryan Howard -34 – MLB
Darin Ruf – 27 – MLB
Jim Murphy – 28 – AAA
Cody Overbeck – 27 – AAA
Brock Stassi – 24 – AA
Chris Serritella – 24 – A+
Art Charles – 23 – A+
William Carmona – 23 – A+
Wilmer Oberto – 21 – A- Continue reading Positional Preview – First Base
With the major league club falling apart (almost literally), it turns to the minor league system to provide the optimism in 2014. The problem is that the farm system is not good right now. Ranking wise, it has been as high as 14, but for the most part it settles in the 20-25 range. The good news is that it is trending up and with the right set of circumstances it could come close to the top farm systems in the game.
Lets start by looking at the makeup of the Top 5 farm systems in Baseball America’s Handbook (Top 100 rankings included, these rankings may differ due to the BA ranking process). Continue reading Road to a Top Farm System
This morning Jay Floyd posted the new minor league workout groups up on Phoulballz.
Here is the list (cleaner list picture taken by Baseball Betsy):
Starting with catcher, I am going to take a position by position look at the positional group, and highlight some players in it. This is not a comprehensive organizational list of each position, but it is meant to give a good feel for position as a whole. Each position will have its own feel for the categories and questions.
Players: Name-Age-Projected 2014 Level (Top 30 Rank)
Carlos Ruiz – 35 – MLB
Wil Nieves – 36 – MLB
Cameron Rupp – 25 – AAA (23)
Koyie Hill – 37 – AAA
Tommy Joseph – 22 – AA (22)
Sebastian Valle – 23 – AA Continue reading Positional Preview – Catcher
There are many Phillies prospect lists out on the internet. Some come from sites just putting forth their top 10 names, others are groups of experts covering the minor leagues as a whole, but their are small pockets where communities and writers have taken the deep dive into the minor league system. One of those people is Dan Cormican of The Good Phight. Dan has a deep knowledge of the system and what it takes to make a good prospect. This year he has once again released his Top 30 Phillies prospects (1-10, 11-20, 21-30) and he took the time to answer a few of my questions about his rankings, as well as a few questions about the 2014 MLB Draft.
What goes into your process of creating your list?
It evolves every year, I typically spend the first month or two in the fall looking at stats and notes I’ve made throughout the year to get a sense for what guys did that year. Initially I’m looking at the top line results (ERA, W/L records, AVG/SLG/OPS, etc.). This makes the first version of the list. Then I move on to scouting reports for players that year. Did someone have great stats but scouts see a future DH or slow bat speed or a weakness in swing or approach that suggests problems at higher levels. A lot of reordering often happens to the list at this point. I then do one last perusal through the “luck” stats. Did someone have a phenomenal year, but with a .450 BABiP (or for Pitchers a .240 BABiP) or vice versa, did a guy struggle, but have an abnormal HR/OFB rate. Very little movement happens on the list here. I still want to rank guys on actual present performance, not what may possibly have happened, but I do use it as a tie breaker. Continue reading Interview with Dan Cormican of The Good Phight
This January, Mike Buttil of Razzball reached out to me about answering some questions for a fantasy baseball preview on the Phillies. The article is now out and you should go read it here.
I thought I would take this opportunity to dive into the world of fantasy baseball. I am a huge fan of deep dynasty leagues and I keep most of my writing on that to my personal site. But for now we are going to take a brief look at the Phillies farm system in terms of short and long term fantasy baseball. Continue reading A Quick Step Into Fantasy (Baseball)
Once again Baseball Betsy has posted up minor league workout groups on her blog (which you should check out for her pictures anyway, including how giant Ranfi Casimiro is).
Here is the new list:
Today mlb.com released their Top 20 prospects in the Philadelphia minor league system. I will start by saying that mlb.com has always had the outliers on rankings and that I don’t always agree with their rankings. That being said they do talk to a lot of people who see these players so there are things that can be taken away.
Here is the list with writeups, but for the lazy here is the list. Continue reading MLB.com Phillies Top 20 Prospects
Today Baseball America posted their review of the Phillies International spending during the 2013 calendar year (encompassing both the 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 signing periods). During that time, the Phillies signed 35 players, 4 of them for bonuses greater than $100,000. The full article is here, but here are some highlights.
In April the Phillies signed 18 year old catcher Jose Gonzalez for $300,000. Gonzalez had Tommy John surgery shortly after signing and did not play last summer. The Phillies big signing was Luis Encarnacion for $1,000,000 in August. Encarnacion was one of the best bats in the J2 crop and was widely expected to cost about $1,300,000 (Encarnacion does share a trainer with Gonzalez). Encarnacion is in camp and should start in the GCL. Continue reading Baseball America’s 2013 International Review
Baseball Betsy posted the first posted workout groups of the year up on her site.
Phuture Phillies 
