Category Archives: 01. Site Features

Phillies Complete Deal for Arizona’s Hellickson

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MLBTR reported that Jim Salisbury tweeted that the Phillies and D’Backs are working on a trade that would bring RHP Jeremy Hellickson to Philaelphia.  He is in the last year of arbitration and becomes a first time free agent in 2017.  His agent has negotiated deals to avoid arbitration the past two seasons.  This is probably just a one year acquisition since his agent is Scott Boras.

Todd Zolecki tweeted that the trade is being finalized for a Phillies’ low level minor leaguer, since reported to be Sam McWilliams.  (Damn! I like McWilliams.)

Maikel Franco Activated for Dominican Winter Ball

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Maikel Franco has been activated by his Dominican Winter League team, the Gigantes del Cibao.  He has reported to the team and been added to the roster according to an article by Jake Kaplan (see story).

Franco suffered a fractured left wrist in August that sidelined him until he was activated for the last weekend of the season. He collected 9 PA in three games that weekend after a few appearances in the Instructs.

2015 Sleepers and Breakouts Revisited; Part Two

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This is the second in a series of articles reviewing our sleeper and breakout predictions before the 2015 season started.  Earlier, I covered last season’s sleeper predictions.  Today, I’ll go over the break out picks. Continue reading 2015 Sleepers and Breakouts Revisited; Part Two →

2015 Sleepers and Breakouts Revisited; Part One

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Time to begin finishing and posting some of the many draft articles I have started.  I decided to begin with a look at our preseason predictions for breakout and sleeper prospects during the 2015 season. Continue reading 2015 Sleepers and Breakouts Revisited; Part One →

Minor League Free Agent List

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A mixture of names talked about often and more obscure names have become minor league free agents this week.  The list goes as follows:  3B Cord Phelps, SS Tyler Pasternicky, SS Edgar Duran, SS KC Serna, 2B Brodie Greene, 1B WIllians Astudillo, C Rene Garcia, OF Kelly Dugan, P Jason Berken, P Ethan Martin, P Colin Kleven, P Stephen Shackleford, P Reinier Roibal, and P Steven Inch.

 

Open Discussion: Week of November 9th

Weekly Discussion

The Phillies’ first week of the hot stove season started just as we anticipated.  Aaron Harang, Jerome Wiliams, Chad Billingsley, and Jeff Francoeur became free agents. The Phillies activated Cliff Lee from the 60-Day DL then declined their $27.5M team option, deciding to pay the $12.5M buyout and making Lee a free agent.  The Phillies activated the remaining players on the 60-Day DL – Elvis Araujo, Mario Hollands, Matt Harrison, and Cesar Hernandez.  And finally, the Phillies took advantage of their waiver position when they claimed RHP Dan Otero off waivers from the Oakland A’s.  This first addition of the Klentak era brings the 40-Man Roster to 32 players. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of November 9th →

Phillies 2016 Spring Training Schedule

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The Phillies spring training schedule has been posted.  They start with a rematch against the University of Tampa who defeated the Phillies on their way to a 47-13 record and the NCAA Division II Championship.

The Phillies schedule includes –  Continue reading Phillies 2016 Spring Training Schedule →

Open Discussion: Week of November 2nd

Weekly Discussion

The 2015 Championship Season ended last night when the Kansas City Royals came from behind in game five to beat the New York Mets four games to one.  The victory triggers a series of important dates that relied on the end of the World Series.  Now, the off season can officially begin. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of November 2nd →

Open Discussion: Week of October 26th

Weekly Discussion

Here’s an open discussion thread so the minor league posts don’t get cluttered with Phillies’ talk and other topics.

  • Well, the waiting is over. Todd Zolecki reports that the Phillies are set to introduce their new GM at a press conference Monday morning.  Angels assistant GM, Matt Klentak, was among the early favorites to fill the position and among the three finalists.  He was selected over A’s assistant GM Dan Kantrovitz and Rays VP of baseball operations Chaim Bloom.  Klentak was hired by MacPhail as the Orioles Director of Baseball Operations in 2008.  From there he signed with the Angels on November 23, 2011.  His baseball duties included scouting, player development, and contract negotiations.  It’s unlikely that he was involved much in the December 8, 2011 FA signings of Albert Pujols (10 years/$240M; 2012-21) and C.J. Wilson (5 years/$77.5M; 2012-16). But, he was certainly involved in the FA signing of Josh Hamilton (5 years/$125M; 2013-17), the Mike Trout extension (6 years/$144.5M; 2015-20), and the Hamilton trade to Texas where the Angels are still responsible for all but about $6M of Hamilton’s salary.
  • The Phillies added two new coaches to their staff this week.  Rick Kranitz will be the bullpen coach and John McLaren will be the catching coach.  The Phillies are still waiting for Larry Bowa and Juan Samuel to sort out their options.  And they are expected to add one other coach to complete their staff.
  • The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo reported that the Red Sox were about to sign Ruben Amaro as their first base coach.  MLB Trade Rumors updated the report that a decision hasn’t been reached and that Amaro is among a few finalists.  The Phillies don’t play the Sox during the 2016 season, so you’ll have to come to Clearwater to see him face the Phillies in a Grapefruit League game if he does sign.
  • The World Series starts Tuesday.  I didn’t see many innings during the playoffs.  I found the relentless droning of the national announcers along with the few MLB TV talking heads they add to the coverage tedious.  I did see the 2-1 strike called on Ben Revere in the ninth inning of game six in KC.  I don’t blame Ben for being mad.
  • CBSSports.com reported that Carlos Tocci broke his left hand when he was struck by a pitched ball.  He was off th a good start hitting .333/.447/.400/.847 in 39 PA.  He had walked 4 times and struck out only 3 times.  He’ll be out about 6 weeks.
  • Tocci is the Phillies top hitter in the VWL.  Cord Sandberg is their top guy in the ABL hitting .444/.545/.556/1.101 and Aaron Brown is their top guy in the AFL hitting .364/.364/.455/.818.  Malquin Canelo’s .250 leads the Phillies’ hitters in the DWL.

Top Prospect Discussion: October 22nd

Weekly Discussion

Well, the Mets have defeated the Cubs, and “Back to the Future” was 100% wrong about the 2015 World Series participants.  Instead of discussing individual top prospects, I would like to pose a question.  “Does the overall defensive play of catcher Kyle Schwarber in left field, give anyone pause when we talk about playing Jorge Alfaro in the outfield, or any defensive switch to accommodate getting bats into the line up?”

The above is just a suggestion for this week’s discussion.  This post is reserved for the discussion of the top prospects in the Phillies’ organization. You can tout the merits of your favorite prospects, instruct us on why your ranking is superior, talk about a prospect who intrigues/worries you, ask about prospects you haven’t seen and don’t know much about, or anything at all as long as it is about the top prospects.

The Phillies are conducting another strength and conditioning program Continue reading Top Prospect Discussion: October 22nd →