The Phillies released LHP Dontrelle Willis this morning after three extrmemly unimpressive Spring outings. Willis, 31, was projected to be the seocnd lefty out of the bullpen for the Phils.  This opens the door wide open for Rich Dubee favorite Jacob Diekman, who has had an impressive Spring thus far. Diekman, struggled initially at Reading during this first part of 2011, but came on very strong towards the end of last season.

I wanted to write up a quick post here as the minor league season approaches. I hope each and every one of you here will read this and take it to heart.

When I started this site, I had no idea what it would turn in to. In the 5+ years this site has been around, its grown exponentially. Along with this growth, there have been challenged. I’ve changed jobs and have less time to write. I’ve brought in a bunch of really great resources who have helped me provide great content year round. We’ve gone from a handful of comments a day to…well, a lot more. People have contributed lots of great stuff here, both in the comments, via email, and in the way of guest posts. As I mentioned, I’m a very busy person, and I’m only one person. I do not have hours a day to police the comments section of posts. I don’t have time to yell at every person being offensive and disruptive. For the most part, and considering the internet message board medium as a whole, we have far fewer problems here than elsewhere. For those of you who have been here for a while, you know that my request of you is to simply ignore the people trying to inflame the discussions and get a rise out of you. The post tacked to the top of the site features a link to the FAQ and rules. You can find it by clicking here. I welcome any and all opinions, but I require civility at all times. At all times. If you continually buck the rules and insult others, you won’t be long for this place.

Now that I got that out of the way, here are the ways you can help this site improve in 2012:

* Go to games, make notes on our prospects, and send these reports to my via email. I will post them as “First Hand Scouting Reports” and everyone will be very grateful for what you give us.
* Take video.

Per Matt Gelb.

This was a fairly predictable move, as Ramirez never developed a reliable third pitch, and his second pitch is inconsistent as well. The hope is that he can add a bit to his fastball now that he doesn’t have to pace himself, and sit in the 93-95 range. He’ll need to improve his slider to have any kind of high leverage reliever upside. I’d guess he will go back to Reading to start 2012.

Matt Gelb is reporting that Freddy Galvis will make his first start at 2B today.  With the concern about Chase Utley’s health growing, while the Phillies may suggest this to be coincidence, I am not a big believer in coincidence.  Galvis, 22, has played parts of 5 seasons in the minor leagues, spanning 526 games during that time period.  Known for his outstanding glove at SS, Galvis has not played an inning at 2B during a regular season minor league game.

While the Phils interest certainly may be to gain the ability to use Galvis at multiple positions with Jimmy Rollins returning for the next several seasons, this will raise an eyebrow or two. Galvis is off to a good start this Spring, hitting .357 in his 14 AB’s.  Stay tuned.

Per Matt Gelb.

This is close to the death blow for his prospect status. He lost nearly an entire year last year to an ACL injury, and microfracture surgery will likely wipe out his entire 2012. I left Garcia out of my top 30 prospects list, largely because I needed to see a healthy, productive year from him before I was convinced that he was more than a cup of coffee guy. This obviously sets him back even more. Microfracture surgery is tough to come back from (especially since it is the same knee as the blown ACL) though he is only 25 and its not impossible. That said, he turns 26 in October and will have likely logged a total of about 300 AB at the AA level in the past 2+ years. A tough break, and I hope for the best for him, but you can probably remove him from your lists at this point.

After a very long Winter that included a labor intensive job change, perhaps my favorite day of the year comes tomorrow with the first pitch of Sprong Training, this year being thrown by Austin Hyatt.  I expect to be back reporting regularly on the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and was hoping for some constructive commentary of what you, the reader, would like to see more of.  While I have certainly become a fan of team over the last several years (much easier with Ryne Sandberg leading the way), they key for this site continues to be the analysis of the production and growth of the minor league prospects and that is how most reports will be written, with general team overviews, and then specifics about the perspective Phuture Phillies.  Any thoughts and comments are appreciated as we attempt to give you the thorough coverage you expect. 

It is with much sadness that the Phillies announced the end of the WIlson Valdez era today as he was traded to the CInncinati Reds for LHP Jeremy Horst.  Horst, a 26 year old reliever pitched predominately for Louisville, the AAA Affiliate of the Reds last season, going 1-4 with a 2.81 ERA in 36 games, while holding the opponents to a .219 batting average. Horst was originally drafted by the Reds in the 21st round of the 2007 draft and pitched in 12 games for Cinncinati last season going 0-0 with a 2.93 ERA.

Just as I say I might not have anything to post about again for a while, the Nats have claimed Carlos Rivero off waivers. I wrote extensively about Rivero back in May, and while I’m sad to see him go, I don’t think this is anything to get too worked up over. He showed good tools in 2011 in a rebound season, but he is still largely a flawed prospect. He is very rough defensively at 3B, and if he can’t stick there, the only other logical spot for him is an outfield corner, where his bat may not play quite as well. He’d have been a nice guy to take a look at for one more season, but he isn’t a big loss. That said, its odd that John Bowker wasn’t DFA’ed if they were looking to clear a 40 man roster spot….

The Phillies announced yesterday that they signed RP Brian Sanches, along with SP Scott Elarton.  Sanches, 33, was part of the Phillies organization from 2004-2007, progressing from AA to the majors, seeing some time for the Phils.  Originally a 2nd round draft choice by the Royals in the 1999 draft, Sanches went on to throw for the Nationals and Marlins having a good modicum of major league success in FLorida over the passed three years. In 2011, Sanches was 4-1 with a 3.94 ERA in 39 games, throwing 61.2 innings for the Marlins.

The reclamation project of the 2012 Spring Training will be Scott Elarton, 35, who last pitched in the White Sox organization in 2010.  Elarton, a 1st round pick by the Astros in the 1995 draft was both highly touted and successful in his early career winning 17 games for the Astros in 2007, Elarton, a 6’7 RHP, last threw in the majors for the Indians in 2008.

The Phils also announced that they have invited 8 players on minor league deals to Major League Spring Training. Thse names include Kevin Frandsen, Pete Orr, Tuffy Gosewisch, Raul Valdes, Brian Sanches, Scott Elarton, Scott Podsenik and Pat Misch.

The Lehigh Valley roster has begun the process of taking shape with two transactions of consequence today.  First, the Phillies have released Pitcher Scott Mathieson and it is expected that Mathieson will be playing in Asia next year, earning in the neighborhood of $2 million. Mathieson, the Phils 17th round pick in the 2002 draft was out of options after bouncing back and forth between the Phils and Lehigh Valley last year, struggling in his time with the big club. For Lehigh Valley, Mathieson, still just 27, went 2-2 with a 3.28 ERA in 30 games, including 12 starts. Mathieson, as he has in the past struck out many batters but ran deep counts and walked hitters at a very high rate resulting in a 1.47 WHIP.

The Phils have signed 30 year old LHP Pat Misch, who played in the Mets organization last season, going 8-9 with a 4.00 ERA in 22 starts for AAA Buffalo. Misch pitches to contact striking out less than 100 in over 140 innings, having has good control with a WHIP that stood under 1.30. Misch also pitched in 10 games for the Mets and was hit very hard at the major league level. Misch was originally a 7th round selection of San Francisco in the 2003 major league draft out of Western Michigan University. In 2010, Misch was an IL All Star and won the Most Valuable Pitcher Award for Buffalo.

Late Note: The Phils have re-signed OF Scott Podsednik, who missed most of last season with a variety of foot injuries and have invited him to Spring Training.