Today’s selection for the player profile is one of the brighter prospects in the Phillies system, SS/2B Adrian Cardenas. The Phillies selected Cardenas in the supplemental first round of the 2006 draft, 37th overall, and he signed quickly for $925,000. Cardenas might be one of the best stories in the 2006 draft. Originally well off the radar, his stock began to rise, and rise rapidly, when he found himself playing in front of scouts at every game, scouts who were there to see his teammate, first round pick Chris Marrero. While Marrero was thought to have the better tools set, it was Cardenas who was tearing the cover off of the ball, putting together one of the best seasons in the entire country for a high school player. In his senior season at Monsignor Pace High School (a superb prep school in Opa Loca Florida), Adrian hit .647, with 18 2B, 2 3B and 18 HR, knocking in 65 and stealing 14 bases, truly outstanding numbers. He basically went from being a mid rounds pick to a first round talent in just a few months, and was good enough to nab Baseball America’s High School Player of the Year award.

Without any real top quality middle infield prospects in the system, the pick of Cardenas may have looked like a “desperation move” at first glance, but when you see the type of hitting ability Cardenas brings, you have to re-examine that criticism and wonder if the Phillies didn’t get the best player available. Standing only 6’0, 185 lbs, there isn’t a ton of projection available on him, which is one reason he might not have been a pure first round pick. Chances are he’ll only add an inch or two and maybe 15 pounds, meaning he’ll probably max out at 6’2, 200lbs, which isn’t tiny, but also isn’t your prototypical size for an offensive machine. While he played SS in high school, most scouts/talent evaluators see him being much better at 2B, which is where he’ll play at Lakewood. His range and arm are probably not quite good enough to be a major league shortstop, though he doesn’t have to be moved to 3B yet, an area where the Phillies are also struggling, prospect-wise,  as it will be easier for him to get adjusted to pro ball, especially full season ball, playing 2B as opposed to the hot corner.

Cardenas’ greatest strength is his pure hitting ability, as seen in his monstrous senior year in high school, and his strong GCL debut. After signing, he played 41 games in the GCL, posting an impressive .318/.384/.442 batting line across 154 AB. He finished with 11 extra base hits, he stole 13 bags in 16 attempts, and he drew 17 walks to only 28 strikeouts. Overall, his debut couldn’t have gone much better. Right now, he doesn’t have a ton of raw power, and he doesn’t look like a 35 HR hitter per year at the big league level, but his swing is very compact, and he does get good loft on the ball, which indicates that as he gets stronger, he might have a good chance of being a 20 HR per year type hitter, and that’s nothing to sneeze at for a middle infielder. Glove wise, he was a solid fielder at short, but as I mentioned, his range/arm will keep him off there. He’ll play 2B at Lakewood next to Jason Donald, and the team will probably wait before figuring out where to ultimately move him to, since 2B will be filled in Philly for a while by a guy named Utley.

Which leads me to the next part of this profile. When drafted, many people were saying “he reminds me of a young Chase Utley”…..that’s not a bad comparison, huh? Like Utley, he has a very compact stroke, and like Utley, he’s lefthanded. But that’s about as far as we can go for now. Utley was a college player and didn’t make his pro debut until age 21, when he played 40 games at Batavia upon being drafted out of UCLA. Utley, who stands at only 6’1, 185lbs, is an illustration though, that you don’t need to be 6’5, 230lbs to hit 30 HR a year. Cardenas looks like he could be very similar to Utley in terms of size, and the swing is similar. One other note, in terms of comparisons. Over at Baseball Prospectus, they’ve devised similarity scores, which help to analyze what a player has done, and who he is most similar to based on all of those variables. His number 1 comparable is Marcus Giles, and in his top 10, you also find David Wright (#3), Erik Aybar (#9) and Wilson Betemit (#10), not bad names for sure. In fact, Wright and Cardenas had very similar debuts, and it will be even more interesting if Cardenas eventually ends up at 3B.

At this point, it’s tough to temper expectations on Adrian, and it’s easy to get way ahead of ourselves. His debut went just about as well as could be expected, and he’ll be making the jump to full season ball, spending 2007 at Lakewood, playing 2B beside fellow 2006 draft pick Jason Donald. 2007 represents his age 19 season, so he’ll be a tick young for the league and playing against advanced competition. There is really no need to worry about moving him to a position of need right now, the most important thing is letting his offense develop, because that is what will ultimately determine his overall value in the big leagues. If his bat is good enough, it won’t matter if he’s playing 2B, 3B, LF, or RF, he’s going to be a big asset. One interesting thing to watch will be how aggressive he is on the bases. His speed rates as merely average, maybe even a tick below average, yet he did steal 13 bases in the GCL, and was only caught 3 times. If he can swipe 20 bags at Lakewood, it further increases his value.  His 2007 should be one of the more entertaining things to watch in the Phillies minor league system.

If you aren’t member over at Baseball Prospectus, you really are missing out, but I’m not trying to sell anything here, and in fact, this content is 100% free. Nate Silver, the most prominent figure at BP, wrote an “unfiltered” blog entry today, touching on the popular phrase “TINSTAAPP”, also known as “There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect”, and how relevant it is. This was the most interesting part of the article

One thing that distinguishes young hitters from young pitchers is that young hitters can pretty much count on making steady improvements from the time they start playing professional ball until the time they’re 26 or 27. You might have a guy like Cameron Maybin who would be pretty overwhelmed if he tried to play in the major leagues today — but we can be fairly certain that he’ll be able to handle the big leagues in two or three years time. Cameron Maybin is a prospect.
—

The same is not the case with pitching prospects. Although there are a few categories of pitching prospects — particularly guys with good stuff, high strikeout rates and highish walk rates (think Homer Bailey) — that tend to improve more often than not, in general there is no systematic pattern of improvement after the age of 21 or so. Sometimes guys get better, of course, and sometimes they do so in a hurry — but you can’t take a young pitcher in a vacuum and expect him to improve the same way that you can for a hitting prospect. Mark Rogers (to pick on some low-hanging fruit) will probably never get his command sorted out, Yusemiro Petit will never add enough ticks to his fastball to become a useful major league starter, Gavin Floyd will never learn how to keep the ball down, and so forth. All of these things are possible — but they’re not very likely.

This strikes me as being a very interesting area of study. Do pitchers really not drastically improve after the age of 21, for the most part? If you disagree with this notion, I’d love to see some data to illustrate the point. I may work on this as a project at some point down the line.

We’ve got a slow Monday here “news wise”, so I thought I’d get back to writing some player profiles. Also, a link I wanted to pass along that I thought I had before, is the link to James Happ’s blog. Happ has been writing a blog for MLB.com and talking about his experiences in his first big league camp. Check it out and say hello. Also, scroll down below this post and read contributor andyb’s take on our Dominican Summer League prospects. Now, onto Mr Bourn…

Michael Bourn was drafted in the 19th round of the 2000 draft by the Houston Astros, but chose to go to college, attending the University of Houston for three seasons before being drafted in the 4th round by the Phillies. At 5’11, 180lbs, Bourn never hit for power in college, but he did have a very impressive batting eye, and stole 90 bases in 3 years. The Phillies nabbed him in the third round and sent him straight to Batavia. In 35 games, he posted a .280/.404/.296 line and stole 23 bases in 28 attempts. The lack of power probably wasn’t a surprise, but for his first taste of pro ball, the fact that he drew 23 walks to only 28 strikeouts had to be viewed as promising in the Phillies eyes.

Bourn spent all of 2004 at Lakewood, his age 21 season, and he held his own. In 109 games, he posted a .317/.433/.470 batting line, with 20 2B, 14 3B and 5 HR. The triples obviously helped raise his slugging %, and he further utilized his speed to the tune of 57 stolen bases, getting caught only 6 times, for a 90% success rate, and incredible number. With his really strong full season debut, the Phillies decided to double jump him in 2005, skipping him over High Class A Clearwater and straight to AA Reading. 2005, his age 22 season, proved to be a bit of a disappointment. In 135 games, his batting line dipped to .268/.348/.364, 18 2B, 8 3B, and 6 HR. His slugging obviously dropped way down as a result, but he still managed to swipe an impressive 38 SB, but this time was thrown out 12 times, only having a 76% success rate. Still, Bourn was only 22, and had plenty of time to get back on track.

In 2006, the Phillies decided to have him start back at Reading again. He didn’t show much improvement, as in 80 games, his batting line was only .274/.350/.365, with 5 2B, 6 3B, and 4 HR. The Phillies still decided to promote him to Scranton, maybe with the hopes of kick-starting him. And it kind of worked, as he put up a line of .283/.368/.428 in 38 games. Over all of 2006, he stole 45 bases, being caught only 5 times, and appeared to be back on track in that department. Still, his power and ability to use his speed out of the box appeared to struggle again. A guy who lives and dies on his speed should have more than 10 doubles over the course of 130+ games. Nevertheless, when the rosters expanded in September, the Phillies decided to give Bourn a promotion and get him a taste of Philadelphia. He was used mainly as a pinch runner/defensive replacement, getting only 8 AB, where he got 2 hits and drew 1 BB. He also stole 1 base, but was caught stealing twice, one an in infamous play in Houston, where he was sent in to pinch run and was then picked off of first base in front of his home town fans.

So, where does Bourn go from here, and what can we expect from him? Right now, he’s a long shot to make the team out of camp, mainly because of the presence of guys older than him and have more experience. Long term value wise, Bourn probably has more potential than Greg Dobbs, but Dobbs is off to a hot start, and he’s been around much longer. The Phillies still control Bourn for quite a while, and he’s already on the 40 man roster, so they don’t have to do anything special with him. As a 5th OF, Bourn could bring quite a bit of speed and the ability to improve late inning defense, but Dobbs offers a power bat off the bench, and I’m sure that’s something Gillick and Manuel will talk about. But with injuries, and certainly in September when the rosters expand, Bourn will get his looks, if it doesn’t happen now.

The problem is going to be defining Bourn’s role, and figuring out how he fits into this team. Bourn has a very defined skill set that doesn’t appear like it’s going to change anytime soon. He has almost ZERO raw power, which means he’s always going to live and die by his legs and ability to make things happen. In the lower minors, Bourn had an excellent walk rate and seemed like the perfect leadoff hitter. But as he’s climbed the ladder, the strikeout totals have been rising and his walk rate hasn’t been rising enough to justify just throwing him into the leadoff spot on our team. If he can post a .380 OB% at the major league level, he becomes a very valuable asset. However, if he’s more like a .340 OB% guy, he’s just going to make a ton of outs, and his speed on the bases will not be properly utilized. The other problem is, the Phillies currently have Shane Victorino and Aaron Rowand already on the roster, two pure centerfielders. Bourn does not profile at a corner spot unless it’s just for late inning defense, and neither Rowand nor Victorino are really corner outfielders, both are much better utilized in center. That leaves the Phillies in a tough spot with Bourn.

Ultimately, if his batting eye returns, he’s going to be a solid big leaguer, but that remains a big if to me. Right now, I can’t see a true spot for him on this team. If he gets hot in Ottawa and has a nice start, the Phillies could explore trading Rowand and then using Bourn in CF and Victorino in RF, but that doesn’t seem all that likely, and if Rowand is traded, it probably just increases the likelihood of Greg Dobbs making the team. That really looks to leave Bourn as a guy who won’t make it back to Philly until the summer some time in the event of an injury, or possibly even as late as September with the roster expansion. His performance at AAA this season will ultimately go a long way in determining what role/impact he’ll have in 2008, but he should

In the first official Grapefruit League game for the Phillies, they fell to the Tigers 9-7. Not much in the way of prospect news in the game:

Michael Bourn: 1/2, 1 R
Fabio Castro: 3 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 K
Anderson Garcia: 1 IP, 3 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 1 K
Brian Sanches: 1 IP, 2 ER, 1 K

Also, there was a little writeup on Kyle Drabek’s performance. He said all the right things in camp, and hopefully with a strong showing at Lakewood, people will start talking about him for the all the right reasons, not the troubles he had in the past. Reports were that his velocity was down around 88-89 mph, but that’s to be expected this early in the season. Most of the big name college pitchers, guys like David Price and Andrew Brackmann, were reportedly also throwing 3-5 mph below their peak in early starts. You have to remember that it is March, and I’m sure nerves played a factor for Drabek. Because he appears to have been a model citizen in big league camp, he’ll probably end up with his full season assignment at Lakewood, pitching in what should be a great rotation.

First, one guy I missed, then the revisions, and then the overall wrap-up. Thanks for the all the feedback as we progressed through.

De La Cruz, Maximo, RHP (age 22) Grade = C-

De La Cruz, in his age 21 season, didn’t really make much progress at Lakewood, posting a 4.90 ERA in 90 innings pitched. Shuttling between the rotation and bullpen, he allowed 98 hits and 35 walks compared to only 58 strikeouts. His performance was inconsistent, and for someone repeating Low A, I expected more out of him. He still is young, but he’s going to need a breakout performace in 2007 to be considered a decent prospect again.

2007 Outlook: De La Cruz will probably be a full time reliever in the near future, maybe even in 2007, with the shear amount of promising arms the Phillies have in their system. It’s possible he could spend 2007 in Lakewood again, but it’s likely that he’ll be moved to Clearwater.

Revisions

Carlos Monasterios, from a B to a B-. Slotting him in as a B was maybe a bit optimistic, but I think his control is a plus, even if his other numbers are lagging. He was old for the GCL, but that is offset in him pitching in the US for the first time in 2006.

Will Savage from a B to a B-. Because his role is likely to be as a reliever, and because he was a college pitcher, I decided to bump him down a half grade.

Ronald Hill, from a C to a C-. I bumped him down a half grade due to age.

Tim Kennelley, from a C- to a C. I bumped him up because of his age and because he was learning to catch really for the first time in his career, which probably affected his offensive numbers.

Tim Moss, from a D- to a D. A D will be the lowest grade given, I feel bad for giving him a D-.

Welinson Baez, from a D+ to a C-. Because he is still young, and he does have outstanding tools, I’m willing to cut him some slack, but he definitely needs a big 2007.

Greg Golson, from a D+ to a C-. See above. He did improve slightly when challenged with a promotion to High A, so I’ll give him some slack here. Again, he needs a big 2007 to recover his prospect status.

Derick Griffith, from a D+ to a C-. He regressed in 2006, and is dangling on the edge, but I’ll cut him some slack.

Final Wrapup:

I’ll list the prospects in groups based on grades, but I’ll also rank them within the group. So, all of the A’s will be first, but I’ll rank all of the A’s in order. Remember, though, that all A level prospects are close, all B+ prospects are very close, etc etc. When it came to breaking ties, I considered age/level/performance.

Also, I wanted to make one more comment on these grades. I tried to develop a system for grading guys, and my system was based much more on performance than tools. Tools are very important to me, but when it comes down to it, some guys are “dream athletes” who just never put it together, while other guys always seem to get the job done, even if they are less heralded. So, in doing these grades, my goal was to simply evaluate what a player has done, considering his age and level, and then tinker with his grade based on his tools and adjust it in that manner. It’s not a perfect system, but I’m going to work on it and try to make it that much better by this time next season.

A

1. Carlos Carrasco, RHP (age 19)
2. Adrian Cardenas, SS (age 19)
3. D’Arby Myers, OF (age 18)

A-

4. Scott Mathieson, RHP (age 22)
5. Josh Outman, LHP (age 22)
6. Edgar Garcia, RHP (age 19)

B+

7. James Happ, LHP (age 24)
8. Joe Bisenius, RHP (age 24)
9. Dan Brauer, LHP (age 23)
10. Ben Pfinsgraff, RHP (age 23)

B

11. Kyle Kendrick, RHP (age 22)
12. Brad Harman, SS (age 21)
13. Zach Segovia, RHP (age 24)
14. Matt Maloney, LHP (age 22)
15. Brett Harker, RHP (age 22)
16. Scott Mitchinson, RHP (age 22)
17. Drew Carpenter, RHP (age 21)
18. Alex Concepcion, RHP (age 23)
19. Jesus Sanchez, C (age 19)
20. Jarrod Freeman, RHP (age 19)

B-

21. Lou Marson, C (age 20)
22. Kyle Drabek, RHP (age 19)
23. Heitor Correa, RHP (age 17)
24. Michael Bourn, OF (age 24)
25. Pat Overholt, RHP (age 22)
26. Mike Costanzo, 3B (age 23)
27. Will Savage, RHP (age 22)
28. Mike Zagurski, LHP (age 24)
29. Jeremy Slayden, OF (age 24)
30. Carlos Monasterios, RHP (age 21)
31. Darren Byrd, RHP (age 20)
32. Matt Olson, RHP (age 20)
33. Garret Hill, RHP (age 22)
34. Reymond Cruz, RHP (age 23)

C+

35. Jason Jaramillo, C (age 24)
36. Justin Germano, RHP (age 24)
37. Andrew Cruse, RHP (age 22)
38. Sam Walls, RHP (age 23)
39. Jason Donald, SS (age 22)
40. Zach Cline, RHP (age 23)
41. Antonio Bastardo, LHP (age 21)
42. Gus Milner, 1B (age 22)
43. Charlie Yarbrough, 1B (age 22)
44. Jacob Dempsey, OF (age 23)

C

45. Tim Kennelly, C (age 20)
46. TJ Warren, OF (age 19)
47. Rob Roth, RHP (age 19)
48. Nick Evangelista, RHP (age 24)
49. Darin McDonald, OF (age 19)
50. Michael Dubee, RHP (age 21)
51. Quintin Berry, OF (age 22)
52. Justin Blaine, LHP (age 22)
53. Nate Johnson, RHP (age 24)

C-

54. Greg Golson, OF (age 21)
55. CJ Henry, SS (age 21)
56. Welinson Baez, 3B (age 21)
57. Dominic Brown, OF (age 19)
58. Michael Durant, 1B (age 20)
59. Ronald Hill, RHP (age 24)
60. Derrick Mitchell, SS (age 20)
61. Maximo De La Cruz, RHP (age 21)
62. Derick Griffith, RHP (age 24)

D+

63. Fidel Hernandez, SS (age 20)

D

64. Tim Moss, 2B (age 25)
65. Jermaine Williams, OF (age 20)

And there you have it folks, my Top 65 list. I’ll do mid-season grades for the kids in full season ball, and then at the end of the year do a recap of the list plus grades for those in short season.

Today is the final day of new prospect grades. I’m going to go back and go over all of the past grades, see if anything needs adjusting, and then tomorrow, I’ll do a recap of all the grades, breaking them down in tiers. If you feel like I missed anyone, please drop me a line in the comments or via email so I can grade those players before doing my recap.

Williams, Jermaine, OF (age 20) Grade = D

Williams, the Phillies 7th round pick in 2005, looks like a complete bust. Considered a raw project, he debuted with a .603 OPS in 2005, but completely bombed in 2006, hitting .079 with a .114 OB% and an .092 slugging %. I can’t even put into words how bad those numbers are, but if I did use words, they’d have to be censored. As he only turns 20 in March, I guess it’s not the end of the road yet, but really, what can we even expect from him in 2007?

2007 Outlook: Grim. Bad. Not good. Those are the words I’d use to describe his 2007 outlook. Who knows, he might turn it around, but don’t count on it. He’ll be somewhere in short season ball, probably a 3rd year in the GCL.

Carlos Monasterios, RHP (age 21) Grade = B

Monasterios, acquired in the Bobby Abreu deal, is another in the line of young arms to watch in 2007. Though already 20 years old, Monasterios was pitching in the US for the first time in 2006, and put up solid numbers overall between the GCL Yankees and the GCL Phillies teams. He pitched 45 innings, posting a 3.20 ERA, allowing 41 hits and 6 walks to go with his 35 strikeouts. Obviously, his command is the first thing to jump out at you, and his K/BB rate is outstanding for a raw pitcher. Normally I’d deduct points for him being 20 in the GCL, but because it was his first pro season, you cut him a bit of slack. I don’t have much in the way of a scouting report on him, but he does have a good fastball, by all accounts, and will just need to work on his approach to pitching and refining his secondary stuff.

2007 Outlook: Carlos just turns 21 in March, so 2007 will be his age 21 season. He’s a likely candidate to head to Williamsport, and he should remain a starting pitcher for a while until the Phillies feel he can’t handle the role.

Bastardo, Antonio, LHP (age 21) Grade = C+

Bastardo, making his US debut in 2006, pitched well, all things considered, and showed a bit of promise. The Phillies were cautious with him, allowing him to pitch only 23 innings, mostly in relief, but he allowed only 20 hits, while walking 14 and striking out 27. The walks are obviously a concern, but the K rate is solid, and he allowed fewer hits than IP in his debut, so that’s a positive. I know little about his past, and I know little about what he throws, hence my cautious grading of him, but he could prove to be a useful bullpen arm in a few years, or he could prove to be little to nothing at all.

2007 Outlook: A repeat of the GCL is likely, as he learns to harness his stuff and acclimate himself to life in the United States. His control and command will be key, but if he can retain his strikeout numbers, positive things could be on the horizon.

Let’s get to it..

(photo courtesy of PhilliesDraft.com)

Roth, Rob, RHP (age 18) Grade = C

The Phillies probably considered themselves lucky to sign Roth, their 19th round pick in 2006, because he seemed like the perfect candidate to head to college and improve his draft stock. His velocity jumped into the low 90’s in the spring, but possibly because he was in Idaho, he wasn’t heavily scouted. His debut was somewhat of a mixed bag. He only allowed 33 hits in 33.1 IP, but he allowed an eye popping 31 walks to only 24 strikeouts. Clearly, he’s very rough around the edges, but the Phillies like his arm. Because he’s only 6’1, 200lbs, it’s tough to say whether he’s going to grow a bunch more, but I suppose it is possible, especially since he just turned 18 in August.

2007 Outlook: Roth is, as you can see by his numbers, a project. He’ll likely repeat the GCL, and with a strong showing, could head to Williamsport in 2008. He gets a C now, but he could greatly improve or fall off a cliff, just like most really young, really raw prospects.

Drabek, Kyle, RHP (age 19) Grade = B-

Ah, the name everyone has been waiting for. I might be Drabek’s biggest fan, but his debut doesn’t warrant more than a B- grade, in fact, on straight numbers, he warrants much lower, but I had to make adjustments there. You all know about the 7.71 ERA, the 33 hits and 11 walks in 23 innings. However, you also know that he threw a TON of pitches in his senior season, that he signed a little later in the summer, and that he had a ton of baggage tossed on his back before he even played an inning of pro baseball. For all of the negatives we heard about him, in the last four months, it’s been mostly positives. He reportedly responded to instruction during the FIL, and there have been numerous cliche-filled articles written about his promising spring training and his experiences with Jamie Moyer and others. I, personally, wasn’t worried about the off the field stuff, but others were. If he truly has put that stuff behind him, or at least way onto the back burner, then his grade should greatly improve in 2007.

2007 Outlook: It was originally thought he’d start 2007 in extended spring training and then go to Williamsport, but it now looks like he’ll likely start at Lakewood in the rotation, barring some unforeseen disaster in the next month or so. If he is focused and ready to show everyone what he can do, he’s capable of a big season.

Correa, Heitor, RHP (age 17) Grade = B-

If you don’t recognize the name Heitor Correa, make a mental note. Looking at his 2006 GCL numbers, they don’t look inspiring; 23 IP, 7.83 ERA, 35 H, 7 BB, 14 K. But, when you add the qualifier “turned 17 on August 25th”, it makes a bit more sense. Correa put up most of those numbers at age 16, a pretty remarkable thing really. Correa was signed as an amateur free agent out of Brazil and was brought to the GCL to work with pitching coach Carlos Arroyo. At 16, he’s already 6’3, 200lbs, and has room to grow a bit more. And here’s the best part, he can already hit 91-92 mph, though not consistently. The Phillies love his intelligence (trilingual) and arm, and think he could be something special. He’ll repeat the GCL at age 17, and I have a feeling all of his peripheral numbers will look better at this time next season.

2007 Outlook: Caution is the optimum word here. Correa is the equivalent of a high school junior, so there is no reason to rush him or pile a ton of innings on him. He’ll likely get about 40 innings in this season on a tight pitch count every time out. His secondary stuff is non-existent at this point, but the raw tools are there.

Another snowy Monday morning, but baseball will be here before you know it. We’re winding down the grades here, just a few more to go. Once I finish, I’m going to do some possible grade revisions, as well as go back and cover anyone I may have missed. So again, if you’ve been reading, or if you haven’t, check out all the prospect grades and let me know who I may have passed over.

Freeman, Jarrod, RHP (age 19) Grade = B

Freeman, the Phillies 11th round pick in June, had a very impressive display, and is one of those guys I’m really excited to watch in 2007. Equipped with a near perfect projectable pitching frame (say that 5 times fast), he’s already 6’3, 195 lbs and just turned 19 in November. As with most young pitchers, he’s much more projection and speculation than substance, but for his debut, he pitched very well. In 45.1 IP in the GCL, he posted a 3.38 ERA, allowing 47 hits and only 5 walks to his 37 strikeouts. His fastball was registering in the low 90’s, and he also features a good curveball and an advanced changeup, considering his age.

2007 Outlook: Because he didn’t pitch in a baseball hotbed (Utah), and because he is only 19 and still growing, the Phillies will probably be cautious with him, keeping him in extended spring training and then sending him for a repeat of the GCL or possibly to short season Williamsport.

Olson, Matt, RHP (age 20) Grade = B-

Olson, in his repeat of the GCL, showed an improvement in his already solid command, and also allowed fewer hits per 9, despite posting a higher ERA than in his 2005 debut. A 13th round draft pick in 2005, he showed solid progress this season, despite seeing his K/9 rate dip a bit from it’s already low 5.93 in 2005 to 4.57 in 2006. However, this isn’t uncommon for raw high school kids learning how to pitch as opposed to just throwing. Olson has a large 6’4, 200lb frame, and could add a bit more velocity as he continues to grow. His control is good, his hit rate dropped, but he needs to start setting up hitters and finishing them off, but that will probably come with him improving his secondary stuff and developing his curve into a true out pitch.

2007 Outlook: Olson is still learning how to pitch as opposed to throw. His fastball already sits in the low 90’s and could actually improve as he continues to add muscle to his frame. He may eventually become a reliever full time, and his power arsenal would certainly fit, but the Phillies will probably resist that temptation until his secondary pitches prove they can’t develop. After two seasons in the GCL, he’ll probably start the season in Williamsport.

More of the Jamie Moyer-Kyle Drabek relationship and some other time honored cliches in this piece, and then another nice article about Joe Bisenius and his chance at making the big league bullpen.

Also, I missed this one a few days ago, but the Phillies signed 16 year old Australian outfielder Angus Roeger. I have no idea what kind of player he’ll be, that article is somewhat vague, but the Phillies apparently like his bat. He’s 16, so we’ll check back in a few years.

We’re nearing the end of the line.

Mitchell, Derrick, SS (age 20) Grade = C-

Mitchell, the Phillies 23rd round pick in 2005, failed to impress in his repeat of the GCL in 2006. Drafted at age 18, he needed to be cut some slack because of his youth and rawness, but in 2006 he showed little sign of improvement, posting a .610 OPS, compared to his .581 OPS in 2005. He drew a few more walk and knocked a few more extra base hits, but for a kid repeating the lowest league in pro baseball, he really should have done a bit better. Because he just turned 20 in January, we shouldn’t give up on him just yet, but we also shouldn’t expect much of anything going forward. He’ll probably head to Williamsport, but if he doesn’t make drastic improvements, he’ll fall off the prospect radar. He has great athleticism, but he’s going to need to translate that to tangible baseball skills on the field.

2007 Outlook: My guess is, he’ll get his looks at SS at Williamsport, but if his past record is an indication, we shouldn’t expect much. The Phillies felt that he really hadn’t started growing into his body yet, which could be seen as a reason he’s been lagging a bit. If he puts things together, it could happen quickly, or it might not happen at all.

Warren, TJ, OF (age 18) Grade = C

Warren represents another notch in the Phillies belt in terms of luring toolsy, potential high impact guys away from college out of high school. Warren, who played most of his 2006 GCL campaign at age 17, is already a freak of an athlete, measuring in at 6’4, 200lbs, and the Phillies feel he has more room to fill out as he grows and matures. He struggled mightily in his debut, posting a lowly .532 OPS, but is considered a major product, and will probably spend 2007 and 2008 in short season ball to try and adjust to the pro game. He’s a superior athlete with the potential for bigtime power as well as 20 stolen base potential.

2007 Outlook: Warren is likely to repeat the GCL this season. He will probably need at least two seasons in the GCL/Williamsport before he’s ready for Lakewood. But because he is only 18 now and will not turn 19 till the end of August, he has plenty of time to get things figured out. Warren is certainly in the extremely high risk/very high ceiling category in terms of prospects.

Sanchez, Jesus, C (age 19) Grade = B

Sanchez, acquired in the Bobby Abreu trade, might turn out to be the best player we received in the deal when all is said and done. Signed as an amateur free agent by the Yankees in 2004, 2006 was his first year in the US, and he held his own, all things considered. He logged a combined .634 OPS with the Yankees and Phillies, which doesn’t seem overly impressive, but you have to consider the adjustment period needed for a guy playing his first season in a new country, couple that in with him being traded, and it’s logical to assume anyone could have struggled in those conditions. Despite his low OPS, he was rated the 14th best prospect in the GCL by Baseball America, and was lauded as being the best defensive catcher in the league. He has a cannon arm, and is still working on the nuances of the position.

2007 Outlook: Based on nothing scientific, I have a good feeling about Sanchez. He will surely spend 2007 in short season ball, either at the GCL level or at Williamsport. With a solid year, depending who the Phillies take in the draft, he could be starting at Lakewood in 2008. Defensively, he’s probably the most promising prospect in the entire organization.