Condolences to the Bryant and Altobelli  families at this time of loss.

MLB Top 100

MLB published their top 100 prospects last week.  It included three Phillies minor leaguers.  Alec Bohm was ranked #30, Spencer Howard #34, and Bryson Stott #87.

Bohm was ranked the #1 third baseman, and Howard was ranked the #9 right-handed pitcher.  Stott extrapolates out to the #16 shortstop. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of January 27th →

Baseball was all abuzz last week with the Astros cheating scandal.  The organization was fined, lost draft picks, and the manager and GM were suspended for a season.  They were later fired by the Astros owner.  The Red Sox and Mets managers were subsequently let go as they were mentioned as being involved in the final report on the Astros scandal.  The Red Sox will likely receive their own penalties when their own cheating case comes to a conclusion. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of January 20th →

Friday, the Phillies came to terms with four more of their arbitration players.  Those with whom they avoided arbitration were  Vince Velasquez, Jose Alvarez, Zach Eflin, and Adam Morgan.  They had come to an agreement with Andrew Knapp back in December. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of January 13th →

While some are still in denial regarding the Phillies’ current intention to stay under the competitive balance tax, here’s a possible line up as proposed by one of the Phillies’ beat writers.  So, if it’s true, we can get used to what the opening day line up might look like. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of January 6th →

Have a safe and Happy New Year. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of December 30th →

Happy Holidays to all as we enter Christmas week and the start of Hanukkah.

It’s been rather nice to be a sports fan in Philadelphia recently.  The Eagles fielded their taxi squad and were still able to soundly beat an overrated Cowboys team in what was essentially a playoff game for the division title.  Now, just beat the Giants.  The Sixers are fifth in the conference after losing three of their last four games. They’re still likely one of the top three teams in the conference.  The Flyers are coming off their best November, are sixth in the conference, and sitting in better position than in years past for their late season rush to qualify for the playoffs.  A ranked Villanova basketball team knocked off #1 Kansas in an upset over the weekend.  Penn State basketball entered the weekend ranked 23rd after upsetting a top ranked Maryland team a couple weeks ago.  The Temple and Penn State football squads are going “bowling” this week.  And, the Phillies bolstered their line up and rotation with the additions of Didi Gregorius and Zack Wheeler. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of December 23rd →

Baseball’s winter meetings have ended.  The Phillies acquired free agents RHP Zack Wheeler and SS Didi Gregorius.  They also selected an infielder from the Cubs organization during the Rule 5 draft and flipped him to Oakland for “cash considerations”, maybe just the $24,000 for making the selection or hopefully for some international dollars which are traded in $250K increments.  Even the minimum international allotment would be nice.

Big names have been flying of the board at a refreshing rate this off season.   Fifteen of MLBTR’s top 20 free agents have signed.  They are listed below with MLBTR’s projection and the actual contract outlay/status. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of December 16th →

Baseball’s winter meetings have begun.  Sunday, there was a full slate of meetings and events starting with a Job Fair that began at 7:00 AM and ran all day.  I was surprised to learn that the winter meetings are essentially an MiLB event.  Between 300-400 people will find jobs with minor league affiliates.  Industry and trade shows target MiLB leagues and organizations who negotiate their own deals free from MLB oversight.  During the next three days, every minor league has at least one meeting scheduled.  None of the schedules I’ve seen have anything listed specifically for MLB teams.  Maybe they have their own separate, secret schedule? Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of December 9th →

As we turn the page on the calendar to December, we move closer to spring training and real baseball.  During a slow week, the Phillies announced the signing of former all-star Josh Harrison to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training.  The 32-year-old infielder/outfielder was a teammate of the Phillies’ Andrew McCutchen. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of December 2nd →

The Phillies hired Joe Dillon as their new hitting coach.  He spent the last two seasons as the assistant hitting coach in Washington.  He had been the Nationals hitting coach at their AAA affilaite 2014-15, and the Miami Marlins minor league hitting coordinator 2016-17. Continue reading Open Discussion: Week of November 25th →