After delays due to a concussion (they really aren’t a joke), John Sickels has released his list of the Top 150 prospects in baseball. Sickels ranks Maikel Franco #35 (B+), J.P. Crawford #60 (B+), and Jesse Biddle #78 (B+). You can read Sickels’ entire list here http://www.minorleagueball.com/2014/5/1/5640414/top-150-prospects-for-2014-baseball-john-sickels.
Category Archives: Top Prospect Lists
Interview with Dan Cormican of The Good Phight
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
MLB.com Phillies Top 20 Prospects
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
Baseball Prospectus Top 10 Phillies Prospects
I am a big fan of the Baseball Prospectus Top 10 prospects. Right now the prospect team assembled there is really talented and have been able to get a lot of eyes on a lot of players. This leads to reports that are some of the most detailed outside of major league front offices. The Phillies list itself is posted here.
- Maikel Franco
- Jesse Biddle
- J.P. Crawford
- Kelly Dugan
- Carlos Tocci
- Deivi Grullon
- Severino Gonzalez
- Cesar Hernandez
- Yoel Mecias
- Cord Sandberg
Continue reading Baseball Prospectus Top 10 Phillies Prospects
Fangraphs Top 100 Prospects: Franco #27 Biddle #40 Crawford #50
Today Fangraphs (@marchulet) released their Top 100 prospects. The Phillies had 3 in the Top 50 with Franco at 27, Biddle at 40, and Crawford at 50. The list is here http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2014-top-100-prospects/, and is quite literally just a list.
If you want more detail, Marc’s Phillies Top 15 can be found here http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2014-top-10-prospects-philadelphia-phillies/
Baseball America Top 30 and Prospect Handbook
Yesterday in the mail I received my Baseball America Prospect Handbook, adorned with a picture of Twins third baseman Miguel Sano, the book contains 900 scouting reports for prospects across baseball. The list was compiled by Josh Norris (who you can follow Twitter here), and went to publishing before all of the surgery news on Morgan and Watson was out, but after Roman Quinn news and he has had his ranking adjusted accordingly. If you would like to read all of the scouting reports you can order from Baseball America right here, subscribe to read them when they are up attached to the profiles on the BA site, or order the book from Amazon where it is cheaper but doesn’t ship until the end of February. Now on to lists. Continue reading Baseball America Top 30 and Prospect Handbook
Keith Law Ranks Phillies Prospects (Org Rank, Top 100, Top 10)
This week Keith Law released all of his various prospect rankings, overall they were very optimistic and should give Phillies fans a lot of hope.
Org Rank: 14
Keith ranked the Phillies as his 14th org in all of baseball. The ranking was driven by a strong 2013 draft topped by J.P. Crawford. This puts the Phillies 2nd among NL East teams, and is overall very optimistic.
http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10354393/houston-astros-top-farm-system-rankings-mlb Continue reading Keith Law Ranks Phillies Prospects (Org Rank, Top 100, Top 10)
Fangraphs Top 15 Phillies Prospects
Marc Hulet of Fangraphs released his Top 15 Phillies prospects today. The full article is here, http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/2014-top-10-prospects-philadelphia-phillies/. Here is the list of prospects:
- Maikel Franco
- Jesse Biddle
- J.P. Crawford
- Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez
- Severino Gonzalez
- Carlos Tocci
- Aaron Altherr
- Roman Quinn
- Cesar Hernandez
- Tommy Joseph
- Andrew Knapp
- Dylan Cozens
- Cord Sandberg
- Shane Watson
- Adam Morgan
MLB Draft Insider Phillies Top 14
Chris Crawford is go to source for all sorts of news and reports on the draft. This year he has launched his own site and is putting out minor league rankings as well. The list is free http://mlbdraftinsider.com/2014/01/top-14-in-14-philadelphia-phillies/. He also has stated that the Top 3 guys all make his Top 75 overall prospects.
Top 14:
Kevin Goldstein releases his Phillies Top 20 Prospects List
You can check it out here. The scouting reports for 1-11 are behind the BP pay wall, so please don’t copy/paste that stuff here. His one line blurbs for 12-20 are free to read. I’ll add in a one line summary of his thoughts for 1-11, but check BP for the full content.
Four-Star Prospects
1. Trevor May, RHP – 3 good pitches, has improved command, still tends to lose his release point and works high in the zone which is dangerous.
2. Jesse Biddle, LHP – 3 good pitches, inconsistent fastball velocity, needs to focus on repeating his delivery.
Three-Star Prospects
3. Phillippe Aumont, RHP – Huge fastball, still struggles with his mechanics.
4. Freddy Galvis, SS – Defensive wizard, might hit enough to be a regular.
5. Sebastian Valle, C – Good power potential, improving defense, zero approach at the plate.
6. Jonathan Pettibone, RHP – 3 good pitches but no real out pitch right now, looks like a durable #4 SP.
7. Larry Greene, OF – Huge power, huge question marks about the rest of his tools.
8. Roman Quinn, SS – Great speed, good pop for his size, defensive home is yet to be determined.
9. Julio Rodriguez, RHP – He’s a magician.
Two-Star Prospects
10. Maikel Franco, 3B – Good upside as a hitter, good defender but not a great athlete.
11. Brody Colvin, RHP – Bad year, stuff was down, delivery was a mess.
Nine More:
12. Justin De Fratus, RHP: Could pitch in the Philly bullpen this year; ceiling is set-up man.
13. Carlos Tocci, OF: High-profile international sign has plus-plus speed and line-drive swing.
14. Lisalberto Bonilla, RHP: Smallish Dominican throws strikes with three average pitches.
15. Jiwan James, OF: Still as toolsy as they come, but has made little progress.
16. Cesar Hernandez, 2B: Impressive pure hitter, but pressure is on bat due to defensive limitations.
17. Aaron Altherr, OF: Anticipated breakout player collapsed at Low-A, but ceiling is still high.
18. Mitchell Walding, SS: Fifth-round pick is big athlete with plenty of upside.
19. Jake Diekman, LHP: Lefty side-armer with more velocity than most of his type.
20. Perci Garner, RHP: Power reliever who could move quickly with health.
Sleeper is Kenny Giles.
Phuture Phillies 