This is the time period where those at the mid to lower levels of the minors begin to get nervous that their time has come, and that news was broken to two today.

Matt Sisto, 23, was the Phils 20th round pick in the 2012 draft.  He was advised today he was released.  The big RHP out of University of Hawaii pitched in Williamsport last year,  going 1-3 with a 3.51 ERA in 24 games.

UCLA product Garrett Claypool was also released today. CLaypool, 24, was the Phils 10th round draft pick in 2010, and after some promising outings in 2011, had his 2012 mired with injury going 3-2 with a 7.30 ERA for Clearwater.

In other news, 2B Cesar Hernandez and P Justin Friend were reassigned to minor league camp, leaving 39 players currently still in major league camp.

The Phillies announced today that five more players were optioned to minor league camp.  The list includes pitchers BJ Rosenberg, Tyler Coyd, Mauricio Robles; Outfielder Tyson Gillies along with Catcher Sebastian Valle.

No real surprises here as the Phils now stand at 41 in major league camp.

Again from Baseball Betsy’s blog

Some Thoughts:

– Joseph is clearly ahead of Rupp and Valle

– Franco drops back a group with the return of Asche as does Altherr with the return of James, Mitchell, and Gillies Continue reading New Minor League Workout Groups →

In the prospect cycle, being eligible for the Rule V draft and necessitating a 40 man roster spot is a big point.  A good season earning you a spot on the 40 man can really jump your value (Zach Collier) and a bad season can leave you behind those who do have a roster spot.  Here are the guys who will need a 40 man spot at the end of the year and where they project to play (just a reminder anyone signed/drafted under age 19 has a 2009 cut off otherwise it is 2010).  This is less about predicting who is a lock for a spot but highlighting the guys who need to have big years in 2013, this is only those that will be newly eligible, see the December discussions on last years eligible prospects.  (predicted opening day team in the parenthesis)

C – Tommy Joseph (Lehigh Valley)

C – Cameron Rupp (Reading)

1B/RF – Kelly Dugan (Clearwater)

CF – Aaron Altherr (Clearwater)

RHP – Brody Colvin (Reading) Continue reading 2013 40-Man Roster Decisions →

Poor Roy Halladay’s arm.

Discuss.

The Phillies made their first round of Spring Training cuts today with the following players re-assigned to minor league camp: Pitchers: Adam Morgan, JC Ramirez, Kyle Simon, Joe Savery; Infielders: Michael Martinez and Cody Asche, Catcher: Tommy Joseph and Outfielder: Joe Mather. Joining that group on Monday at the minor league complex will be Pitchers Jonathan Pettibone and Ethan Martin, along with outfielder Zach Collier.  None of these moves were unexpected, although I am slightly surprised Savery’s demotion came so early.

Of the above group, the most impressive in limited action this Spring were Morgan, Joseph, and Asche.

So, a full two weeks of Spring Training games have been played and to start the chatter, here is where I believe things would stand if the season started tomorrow:

Catchers(2): Kratz, Quintero. Ruiz serving his suspension

Infield(6): Howard, Utley, Rollins, Young, Frandsen, Galvis

Outfield: Brown, Revere, Mayberry, Nix, Young.  If Young is not ready for the start of the season, I see Pete Orr making the team, as he can play both the INF and OF and can run.  Ruf simply is too much of a defensive liability at this stage to make the team. He needs to play 50-60 consecutive games in LF in Lehigh Valley. Continue reading Two Weeks In… →

There has been a lot of talk about the talent in the Phillies system and how it stacks up against other teams.  So I decided to take a look at two things, where does the talent come from, and what kind of talent is it.  For this exercise I purely used my Baseball America Prospect Handbook to have the same set of evaluators on each team.  For teams, I have used a sample size of 10, the five teams in the NL East and BA’s Top 5 farm systems.  I have adjusted for trades so these lists are slightly different than how they appear in the handbook.  I looked at the data to see if there were any trends that showed how to build a good farm system that the Phillies might be missing on. Continue reading How we stack up: The Construction of a Farm System →

I don’t mean cut, like Ethan Martin sent to minor league camp, but like which Minor League FA or “other” gets released. I will go ahead and guess that it’s Aaron Cook.