Hey everyone. As you know I have a tendency to get a bit wordy and wander off on multiple tangents, I’m going to really attempt to keep this short and sweet. Over the last few months, I’ve debated in my head what direction this website was going to go. Some of you have been around since it all started back in December 2006, and some of you have only recently found the site. For the majority of my life, I’ve been an idea person. I have a lot of ideas, my brain works really quickly and in many cases, this prevents me from actually being able to focus on really important things. For 99.9% of all the ideas I’ve ever had, I get involved, I learn stuff, and then I get bored and move on. This site started in the exact same fashion. It started with a few posts, a few page views, and then 6 months later, it was actually a thing. And a year went by, then two, then 5. When I hatched up this idea back in November 2006, I figured I would start it, get bored with it, and then move on to something else. But this site has been the 0.01%.

However, I’ve reached the point where I can no longer keep updating and providing content for the site. In the last few months, putting together even a recap of box scores has become a chore. I used to get deeply involved in the discussions here but had to stop, because it simply became too frustrating and I did not have the time with my new job. Now I barely have the time and motivation to cut and paste 4 box scores a night. Though my mind tends to wander and I jump around a lot, I always commit myself 110% to everything I do, and when I realize I can no longer give 110% I move on. I’d rather go all out and try to do the best I can and move on to something else than stick around and half-ass a project, its just not my nature. The support I have received here over the last 5+ years has been amazing. From the emails to the dedicated users who regularly post in the comments to all of the people who have volunteered their time and energy to the site. I believe what I’ve compiled here makes this site unique, and it will be something I’m forever proud of. The site won’t be removed or deleted or anything else. I’ve received a few offers in the last 6 months to sell the site in its entirely and have it integrated in to some network of sites. That was never my intention, and it’s not my intention now.

I have reached out to someone about possibly keeping the site going. When I have a clear idea as to what will happen going forward, I will provide you with an update. Its been a pretty incredible ride, and I’m extremely thankful for all of the people who’ve come here and provided positive value, as I really believe this turned in to a great little community. If this site does not keep going, I know that a few of you will take the lead and form a new site/place to continue the discussion. I wish I could email all of you individually and thank you for your support, just know that I truly do appreciate everything and maybe our paths will cross again at some point down the road.

Hi and thanks for stopping by. If you are new here, or even if you are a regular reader, please read the FAQ page right here. You can also find it by clicking the FAQ link at the top of the site. I receive a number of common questions via email, and I wanted to answer these basic questions in one quick and easy place to find, as well as go over a few very simple rules/features of the site. If you have any questions or comments, please send me an email.

You know me, I’m not big on spamming here. So I’m only going to mention this once. I’m also going to turn off comments here, because I’m not looking for feedback here, I’m simply spreading the word once, like a small seed in the ground. I’ve been meaning to create a place where I could write about things other than Phillies prospects. And I finally did it. This will include lots of things, including general Phillies/sports thoughts, as well as music, books, movies, and life’s deep questions. If you follow my twitter feed, you already read this stuff. Now I have a chance to write more long form essays. So, if you want to check it out, the link is here. If you don’t, that’s totally understandable. Thank you.

I wanted to put this here as well, because it deserves its own mention. A huge thank you to everyone who visited today, and more importantly, a big thank you to Dave, Ryan, Ketch and everyone else who posted updated information as the draft was happening. Today is now officially the busiest day in the site’s history, with over 40,000 hits in the books. Again, just a huge thank you for the constant support and for giving me an audience to share my thoughts with.

I wanted to take a moment to say thank you, as we’ve reached a rather substantial milestone here at phuturephillies.com, crossing the 6,000,000 hit mark. When this site was conceived at the end of 2006, it was just an idea in my head. If you know me at all, you know I have lots of ideas, and I fail to follow through on 99% of them, its just the way my mind works. This one, proudly, I’ve followed through on, and it wouldn’t have happened if not for the constant support and encouragement I received from the regular readers way back in the beginning of 2007 when the site really started. I’ve learned a lot since then, especially from the people who have contributed here regularly in the comments. We’ve come a long way from 100 hits a day and a handful of comments a day.

There are a billion people I need to thank, starting with the regular writers here: Gregg, Dave, Chuck, Cody, Andy, and for providing daily updates on our Top 30, Ketch. Gregg really deserves a special mention here, as he’s gone well above and beyond the call of duty, especially when I’ve been strapped for time, to provide breaking news posts and detailed information on all of our affiliates, especially at Lehigh Valley. Those who have contributed posts and features before include: Jordan, Ben, and Ryan. Also, the alumni who have moved on to bigger and better things: Kevin, Jeff, Dan, Zac and anyone else I’ve sheepishly forgotten. Gracious thanks go to Todd, who helps maintain all of the rosters and transactions portions of the site, as well as to Rob, who contributed the current banner to the site. Also Chris, who helped me with some of the CSS edits when we moved to the current layout. A special big time thanks to Michael Schwimer, who has provided invaluable content to the site and helped bring it to other avenues, which has no doubt attracted more readers to the site. A thank you to Kevin Goldstein, Keith Law, and the others I can’t mention (their preference) who have provided me with excellent information and opinions on our prospects.

But the biggest thanks of all goes to YOU, the reader, who keeps coming back here every day, even in the depths of winter when we’re scraping the barrel for things to discuss. Even on the deadest of days this winter, the site still received thousands of hits a day. It is this level of dedication and interaction from you, the reader, who makes this place run. I can’t ever say enough thank yous to those who have donated their time, energy and even money to making this site what it is today. It is your dedication and support that made this place what it is and makes me want to improve it and make it even better.

I hope to see all of you (and a bunch of new faces) when and if we hit 7,000,000 and beyond!

Hello everyone. After a long cold winter, and seeing brief glimpses in spring training, the minor league season kicks off Thursday, and we’re back to having lots of box scores to dissect and lots of players to analyze. With this in mind, I wanted to give a brief update, and then make two appeals to you, my loyal readers. First, Gregg, Dave and Chuck will again be helping me crank out reports for the full season affiliates. Dave will be following the 2010 Lakewood crop to Clearwater, Chuck will be covering Reading, and Gregg will continue his outstanding coverage of Lehigh Valley, which looks to have one of the best squads our AAA affiliate has had in a long time. I will also be coming out of retirement to write the weekly Lakewood report, as well as a weekly (or bi-weekly) notes column, if time permits. So look for those reports to start up in a couple of weeks once we have games to discuss. If you haven’t read my “how you can help phuturephillies.com in 2011” article, please do so. With so many games and so many interesting players to watch, input from you, the reader, who attends games sees our guys in action is vital to making this site even better. And my second appeal is this; lets try to strive for patience and rational analysis/discussion this season. As Brody Colvin taught us last year, making snap judgments after a few games is often foolish. Let’s wait until we have at least sort of meaningful samples, and let’s discuss things in a calm, reasonable manner. This site has grown leaps and bounds in 4+ years, and its something I’m incredibly proud of. For the most part, the people who read often and participate in the discussions do a great job of self-policing, ignoring the people just looking to get a rise out of others, and making this place great. I ask that everyone up their game even more this year, so I don’t have to be comments police. I want to spend more time writing articles for the site and looking for new features to add and less time playing blog sheriff.

With all of that said, here’s to a fantastic 2011 minor league season.

I receive emails asking this exact question from time to time. It thrills me that so many people continue to visit this site, and the contributions from readers, both in the form of discussion and submissions makes this site what it is. With that said, I wanted to outline the things you can do to help, including what you can provide while at games that can be a big benefit. The first area you can help is with tracking down news articles and links related to our current prospects. With all of the profile pages added, my goal is to update and make these pages better as the season progresses. When someone you know says “Hey, who is this Jon Singleton guy”, I’d appreciate you telling them, and giving them the link to the Jon Singleton profile here, which contains his scouting report, an assessment of his tools, and his player history. The second area where you can help is by going to games and then reporting back things you see. Some people aren’t sure what to look for, so I’ll go into that in detail below the fold.

Continue reading How you can help phuturephillies.com this season →

A massive thank you to Dave (and Ryan with an assist) for helping churn out all of the player profiles ahead of the 2011 season. Here are 5 more for your perusal. Zach Collier, Gauntlett Eldemire, Brian Pointer, Matt Rizzotti, and John Mayberry Jr. I ask that if you have feedback on a specific profile, you post it in the comments section of the appropriate profile, not here. If there is anyone missing, let me know. You can of course access all of the profiles at the top of the site by hovering your mouse over the profiles tab, and then finding the guy you are looking for.

Our goal is to only cover the legit prospects, as its more time consuming to make the profile pages for the fringiest of fringe guys, but if someone legit is missing, we’ll add it. Cesar Hernandez, Galvis, Santana, and Miguel Alvarez are on the to do list. It is my goal for the profiles to become a central part of this site, updating and maintaining them going forward. As the season starts, I will use some of my free time to search for news articles, pictures, and more videos for each prospect and add it to their page. You can help do that as well by posting any links/articles/videos you find in the comments section of each profile. I’ll have more on this as we move forward.

I’m going to write one very brief post on this. The comments on this post will be turned off. My hope is that this clears up any gray areas or uncertainties. I’m going to use bullet points here so it is really easy to follow.

* This is my website. I started this website. A few very generous people have volunteered hours of their time to provide content and make this site better.
* Because this is my website, I get to make the rules. No one is forcing you to read this website. You can choose, under your own free will, to either read or not read the site.
* By choosing to read the site, you understand that I make the rules, and I enforce the rules as I see fit.
* In the last week, I’ve had to remove more comments than I had to remove in the 4+ years the site has been operational prior to the last week.
* I have a very busy life. I do not have time to sit here for hours a day and weed through/edit/delete comments because people are being abusive and nasty. Compared to most outlets of the internet, the discourse here is very friendly. Which is a testament to 99% of the people who regularly contribute.
* Going forward, if you see someone causing trouble, just ignore them. By responding, you only give them fuel.
* Any comments that break the rules, ie, personal attacks, foul language, or anything else unsightly will be removed. Consider this your first and only warning. If you don’t like this policy, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not one for censorship, but I’m also not one for people taking a dump on my lawn, and this website is my lawn. Or something.
* In short, please grow up and be respectful of the site and each other. If you can’t make your point without being insulting, derogatory or overtly nasty, then your point probably isn’t worth making.

Hello. As we approach the 2011 season, I want to make a number of improvements to the site, and the first and foremost on my list is completing a number of player profiles, as I’ve done a few and then haven’t had time to write any more. You can find all of the profiles here. I’m looking for someone with exceptional writing ability, who can follow the templates I’ve used for the already created profiles. I will go over all of the specifics in more detail at a later point. So if you are knowledgeable when it comes to prospects, you have good writing skills, and you want to lend a hand here, please send an email to phuturephillies at gmail dot com with the words “profile writer” or something similar in the title. Thanks in advance.