The Next Five – 2014 Rankings

Prospect Rankings

So instead of me trying to write up a HILARIOUS Top 30 like I did last year, (you all remember how funny that was? No? Oh, come on!), or a serious Top 30 that will be put to shame by the depths to which Matt will go this year, (or even the depths to which he went last year), I’m going to take this chance to lobby for a couple guys who missed our Top 30, and give you all the chance to discuss. I might do it again next week as well, just to see how we might have progressed to 40. And if it’s rolling along just fine, maybe go five a week right up to opening day. I ranked 76 guys last year, and my list is around 95 right now, before I cull out a handful of NPs from last year’s draft and guys who proved themselves NPs from last year’s performances, plus whichever borderline guys get cut in the spring training numbers game.

So here’s my next five, with my personal rankings in parentheses:

Continue reading The Next Five – 2014 Rankings →

2014 Spring Training, Day 8

Spring Training 2014

Similar routine as yesterday – meeting at the mound with Sandberg, stretching exercises, and then base running.  Today, home to second, and second to home.  There was more effort from more players, but 3 or 4 still look like they are taking it easy.  One or two might be going easy due to injuries last year.

Continue reading 2014 Spring Training, Day 8 →

Wetzler, Monda, and Marti Wolever

Wetzler/Monda Discussion

2013 Draft

I’ll open a thread for everyone to discuss Wetzler/Monda.

Baseball America Article

I’ll mention that I asked Aaron Fitt last night if he knew whether there was a possibility that Monda and Wetzler shared an adviser/agent, and he said plainly that they did not.

My immediate reaction is this can’t help The Phillies attract guys in the draft, but it may lead them to avoid guys who are a little more on the fence than they’re willing to say. If you’re in Jason Monda’s situation, I think you’re more unequivocal in your dealings with The Phillies – a “STAY AWAY FROM ME” kind of thing.

Ethically, it seems pretty questionable for a club to try to burn a college guy(s) over standard practice. When the signing deadline came and went, these two guys not signing seemed an indictment of The Phillies PacNW team. We’ll see how the details shake out. Too early to pass judgment. But feel free to do so in the comments. Continue reading Wetzler/Monda Discussion →

2014 Spring Training, Day 7

Spring Training 2014

The morning started with a team meeting at the mound on Schmidt Field.  After calisthenics and stretching, the position players broke up into 2 groups on Schmidt and Ashburn and ran drills from home-to-first, and first-to-third.  As could be expected, Utley ran the hardest from the start.  Most others started slower.  Ruiz, Asche, and Frandsen kept pace with Utley throughout.  Rupp and Marson hustled but were handicapped by the fact that they are slow.  Cedeno and Revere eventually reached a faster speed.  The rest maintained the same comfortable pace throughout. Continue reading 2014 Spring Training, Day 7 →

Maikel Franco #17, Jesse Biddle #71, and JP Crawford #78 on Baseball America Top 100

Other Stuff

Last night Baseball America release their Top 100 prospects in minor league baseball.  The Phillies were represent on that list by Maikel Franco (17), Jesse Biddle (71), and J.P. Crawford (78).  Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez was eligible for the list, but did not make it.

There are many parts of the list I don’t agree with, but that has a lot to do with my personal philosophies on what has value.  The full list can be found here.

Here are the writeups on the Phillies Players: Continue reading Maikel Franco #17, Jesse Biddle #71, and JP Crawford #78 on Baseball America Top 100 →

2014 Spring Training, Day 6

Spring Training 2014

First full squad practice. You would think that there would be more to write about, but I really don’t have much.

After all their preliminary stretching, calisthenics, running, and long toss, the players split into 4 groups – a handful of pitchers went to the “Seven Mounds” (apparently this is their official designation for the mounds between the buildings), outfielders went back to Bright House for batting practice. the infielders and outfielders split into two groups on Schmidt and Ashburn Fields to practice fielding bunts.   Rupp and Marson rotated at catcher.

Schmidt Field included the 6 infielders we expect to be on the 25-man roster – Howard, Utley, Rollins, Galvis, Asche, and Frandesn.  Rollins and Galvis rotated at short, Asche and Frandsen rotated at third.  The pitchers were – Buchanan, Biddle, Diekman, De Fratus, Garcia, Hollands, Lincoln, Jimenez, Martin.  I think Rosenberg, Aumont, Gonzalez, Lee, Kendrick, and Papelbon were also part of this group. Continue reading 2014 Spring Training, Day 6 →

Trades, Player Development, and the Value of High Picks

Other Stuff

There has been a lot written into about the downfall of the Phillies and their various strategies to pull themselves out of it.  I think much of the downfall has been placed on the wrong things.  Bloggers often reach for the draft and player development as two easy punching bags.  I think it is a lazy way of being sensational and lacks a understanding of the basics of player development.

What set in motion this examination was a paragraph from a That Ball’s Outta Here editorial on a David Murphy piece: Continue reading Trades, Player Development, and the Value of High Picks →

General Discussion – Week of 2-17-2014 – A Farewell To Arm Edition

Weekly Discussion

A Farewell To Arm – Joe Savery.

Joe: I’m not brave any more Billy. I’m all broken. They’ve broken me.

Billy: That’s ok, Joe. We want you at first base.

Joe: But I’ve only played pitc…oh wait…yeah, ok, sounds fun.

Discuss.

Reader Top 30 – Final Recap & Reader Lists

2014 Reader Top 30

Another year, another list of 30 prospect names in an order.  Due to the length of the exercise circumstances change between 1 and 30, so it is far from a perfect list, but here is your chance to give your opinion on it as a whole.

Additionally feel free to submit a personal Top 30 in the comments.

  1. Maikel Franco
  2. Jesse Biddle
  3. J.P. Crawford
  4. Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez
  5. Carlos Tocci Continue reading Reader Top 30 – Final Recap & Reader Lists →

2014 Spring Training, Day 5

Spring Training 2014

Tomorrow the full squad begins working out at the Carpenter Complex.  As of today, the only guy I haven’t seen in camp is Michael Martinez.  You don’t know how good it feels to finally be able to type that.

Okay, I watched 3 BP sessions  on Saturday, Sunday and today.  Here’s what I saw from the prospects.

Tyson Gillies – First, this guy shows boundless energy.  He seems to run everywhere.  He chases down a lot of fly balls during BP, and does it at full speed.  Saturday, he continued to make good contact, swinging well though the ball with lots of line drives as the result.  He reached the RF Berm on a couple swings.  He’s the only guy I’ve seen bunt after the two mandatory bunts each batter has to lay down at the start of his turn at bat.  I missed his BP on Sunday.  (He was part of a group that batted after shagging fly balls from Samuel).  Monday, he was still making good contact on most of his swings. Continue reading 2014 Spring Training, Day 5 →