The Phillies announced the signing of 33-year-old Caleb Cotham as their pitching coach. As I mentioned last week Cotham is a Driveline type coach. That would seem to cement Driveline in the organization from top to bottom. There should be no disconnect as pitchers move up levels and eventually pitch for the Phillies. It also appears that the more traditional pitching instructors will continue to be weeded out when their contracts are up or offered buyouts.
“There shall be no Competitive Balance Tax in place following the 2021 championship season, and the Parties expressly acknowledge and agree that the provisions of this Article XXIII (except those concerning the collection and distribution of the Competitive Balance tax proceeds for the 2021 Contract Year and the assessment of any associated penalties for exceeding the Base Tax or Surcharge Thresholds) shall not survive the expiration of this Agreement.”
It’s always nice to read good reports on our prospects. Or, is it?
Within the past 10 days, two articles have been published about our prospects who attended Instructs. One by Jim Salisbury for NBC Sports on October 29th and one by Jonathan Mayo for MLB Pipeline on November 6th. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of November 9th
I went to the Complex Saturday to watch my third and final Instructional League game between the Phillies and Blue Jays. Mark Wylie and I were the only TWO people in attendance. The game started at 9:30 AM and was over by noon. Word is that a lot of players were going home that afternoon. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of November 2nd
I went to the Complex Saturday to watch my second Instructional League game between the Phillies and Blue Jays. I was one of SIX people in attendance – my friend Steve Potter and his wife and daughter, my friend and photo contributor Mark Wylie, me, and Mike from Harrisburg. Mike read last week’s account of the game and flew in Friday to join us Saturday behind the left center field fence on Roberts Field. Sort of a Clearwater branch of the Phandemic Krew. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of October 26th
I went to the Complex Saturday to watch an Instructional League game between the Phillies and Blue Jays. I was one of five people in attendance – my friend Steve Potter and his wife and daughter, my friend and former photo contributor Mark Wylie, and me.
The game was held on Roberts Field. If you are familiar with the Complex, you’ll have noticed that a walking and bike path runs down Old Coachman Road, crosses the road at the north end of the Complex parking lot (where the pedestrian light is installed), and continues between the Complex and Clearwater’s regional trash collection point. The path skirts the outfields on Carlton (CF and RF) and Roberts (LF and CF) Fields. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of October 19th
MLB completed their scuttling of the Minor Leagues when they transferred the minor league offices to MLB headquarters in New York City.
The Professional Baseball Agreement (PBA) between the two entities expired on September 30th. The move effectively makes the minor leagues a branch of MLB. They are already referring to minor league teams as “licensed affiliates”. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of October 12th
I imagine most if not all of you are dissatisfied with Meddleton’s half-measure solution exercised this week. Although I wasn’t necessarily in favor of removal, Meddleton’s actions don’t really address the issues in the front office, and actually may just perpetuate the status quo for another season. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of October 5th
The Phillies missed the playoffs when they could only win one of their seven games this past week, and one of the last eight. Wait til next year! Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of September 28th
The Phillies went 4-4 last week, but still have a 73.9% of making the playoffs. They closed out their series in Miami with a loss on Monday, then dropped two of three to the Mets at home. They began a crucial series against the Blue Jays with a double header sweep on Friday, their first double header sweep since 2012. They went on to split the remaining two games with the Jays over the weekend. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of September 21st
