The headline is a tad rhetorical, because I’m going to share my opinion on how it should be done. I’ve spent a lot of time pondering the topic, so I figured this would be a good way to get myself back into writing. Thoughts are below the fold

Continue reading How do you rebuild a big market team? →

Its finally official now. The Phillies send Jimmy Rollins to the Dodgers and get back RHP Zach Eflin and LHP Tom Windle.

Here is video of Eflin.

Here is video of Windle.

My analysis: Eflin looks like a #4 starter in the majors. He is durable, none of his pitches are truly plus or better, but his overall package is solid. He looks like he’ll pitch at 90-93, so his command will need to be sharp, but he has done well since turning pro and he looks pretty durable. Windle looks like a reliever to me, but I’d give him every chance possible to stick as a starter. He has good raw stuff, but hes not a finished product and has a bit more to do. Given the Phillies struggles with player development, I’m at the point where I will take the low end of the probability scale on most guys, but Eflin at least seems pretty low risk.

Rollins had 1 year left on his deal, and I’m sure he’s happy he gets another shot at a ring, which he wasn’t going to get here.

Thanks for all of the memories, Young James.

hello, its me. i wanted to quickly say a few words about what i plan to do moving forward and what has happened since i left. a few weeks ago, i wrote a quick post saying that the site would not die, and that i was debating making a return. so, now that ive had some time to think about things, i wanted to update you. as some of you know, brevity was never my specialty, so the rest of this entry is below the fold

Continue reading next steps for phuturephillies.com →

I wanted to make a quick post here, just so everyone is clear. Gregg reached out to me a few days ago and mentioned he may be ready to move on. When I started this site more than 7 years ago, I never intended to move on to anything else. 2 years ago, I had lost the desire to write on a regular basis, at least with regard to minor league prospects. I’m still not sure that I’m cut out to do it anymore, but the site won’t go away and the site won’t die. I’ll continue to renew the domain name and will keep everything here as an archive, at the very least.

I have a very demanding job and that limits my ability to write. I don’t know if my next post will be tomorrow, next week, or next month. I’ve had the urge to write on occasion the last few years, but I never acted on it. Now that the site is in flux, I may get that urge again. For now, I hope that everyone who comes to and uses the site decides to stick around. I can’t promise the level of content here over the next few weeks/months/years, but all of the hard work that went into the site for the last 7+ years won’t be discarded or deleted.

Until the next one…

Comes from some other beginning’s end”. SemiSonic. So, in 2007, James gave me an opportunity to write for Phuture Phillies during a difficult personal time period and with that opportunity came over seven years of feeling “like a kid in a candy store”.  I had the opportunity to write about a passion and be in an environment (at the ballpark)that is one of my personal nirvana’s.  I met great people, learned a ton about the industry (media, baseball and management), and perhaps most importantly made lifelong friends.  To James, my heartfelt thanks.  When James left the site over two years ago, I did my best to keep up the site and did so with the goal of keeping the site aligned with James vision.  The day to day work in keeping up a site like this with a very demanding “real life” career is simply overwhelming.  So, with that said, I will be moving over to what I consider to be the best baseball resource in the Delaware Valley at Philly Baseball Insider (http://www.phillybaseballblog.com).  I expect to contribute there fairly regularly and appreciate the opportunity to continue my passion working for (with) a friend who is a regular writer for local newspapers and a huge baseball enthusiast.  I expect my participation to be limited until Spring Training, but expect to hit the ground running with pitchers and catchers….

Thanks to all those who have contributed to Phuture Phillies over the years.

Until next time…

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

The flow of minor league free agents continue to move in as the Phillies announced they have signed 29 year old journeyman infielder Chris Nelson to a minor league deal. Nelson, 29, was a first round draft pick by the Rockies (9th overall) in the 2004 draft.  Nelson spent most of 2014 playing at the AAA level split between the Reds and Padres organizations, finishing with a .279/.355/.389 line in 319 AAA at bats, to go along with 6HR and 59RBI.

Over the last three seasons, Nelson has accrued 629 major league at bats (Yanks, Angels, Padres, Rockies), during which he has hit a respectable .269.  Nelson has spent most of his time at 3B, but can play 2B and SS in a pinch as well.  I would expect to see Nelson playing all around the infield in Lehigh Valley come April.

I have been a Clearwater Threshers’ season ticket holder since moving to Clearwater in November 2011. As a season ticket holder one of my perks is the option of purchasing individual game tickets to Phillies’ spring training games a few days before they go on sale to the general public in January.

When I asked if they had season ticket packages for spring training, I was told they did not because they had to make sure that the fans who came down from Philadelphia were able to buy tickets.

I guess it’s no surprise that the regular season play of the Phillies the past couple years has had an effect on spring training ticket sales. Spring training attendance has dropped each of the last two seasons.

So, this week I received an e-mail from Phillies.com. I incorrectly assumed that it was to trumpet a merchandise sale for the holidays at their online store, and didn’t read it until today. Lo and behold, I as a Threshers’ season ticket holder am being offered the opportunity to purchase spring training tickets 3 days BEFORE the 3-game packages go on sale next week. And with very few restrictions. I can buy 4 tickets to each of their four most popular games – Tampa, Boston, Tampa again, and the Yankees. Plus I can buy up to 12 tickets to each of the remaining 12 games. Lucky me!

What better barometer is there of the state of Phillies’ ticket sales when they don’t expect to generate enough spring training sales to Phillies’ fans traveling to Florida in March than this change in policy.

The disaster that is 2014 continues for Jesse Biddle with multiple media outlets reporting that Biddle has left his Winter Ball team in Puerto Rico and returned to Philadelphia after experiencing soreness in his left elbow. Biddle was 0-1 with a 15.19 ERA in his 2 appearances.  He will undergo an MRI and be examined by Phillies physician Dr. Michael Ciccotti.

Per Baseball America:

AAA:BJ Rosenberg, Greg Smith, Brad Lincoln, Koyie Hill, Lars Davis, Sebastian Valle, Jim Murphy, Tyler Henson, Nate Spears, Leandro Castro

AA:Chris Bootcheck, Matt Hoffman, RayWily Gomez, Zach Collier, Albert Cartwright

High A: Brandon Short

The name that scares me on here is Sebastian Valle.  He has underachieved with the Phillies organization but continues to have a solid skill set and still is only 24 years old.  With so little true talent at catcher around major league baseball, Valle will be given a legitimate shot with another organization.