One Less Thing to Talk About

Other Stuff

We won’t have Matt Rizzotti to kick around anymore as the 26 year old Designated Hitter was traded this morning to the Minnesota Twins for cash considerations.  Rizzotti, the Phils 6th round pick in the 2007 draft was certainly one of the most discussed players over the last several years here at Phuture Phillies because of his ability to hit and do little else.  The trade will give him the opportunity to do just that in the American League.

The Phils made the surprising decision to have RIzzotti repeat AA after an outstanding year in 2010 at the plate for the RPhils.  Rizzotti again had a very good year in Reading in 2011 hitting .295/.392/511 with 24HR and 84 RBI. However as a liability in the field, it became apparant that the Phils felt there was no room in the organization for him.

Always gracious with his time and a very good guy….Good Luck Matt.

2012 – New International Players In Spring Training

1. VSL/DSL, 2. GCL, International Signings

This post will provide a brief summary about the new names seen on the minor league work groups this spring.  There are more than 20 players on the minor league spring training rosters that are new signings or who played last year in one of the two Latin American complex leagues (the DSL and VSL).

The big news internationally for the Phillies this past year was the signing of OF Carlos Tocci for a reported bonus of $759,000.  This bonus is one of the largest ever given by the Phillies to an International player, though the team’s largest bonuses in the past have a mixed record of success.  The highest bonuses have generally been spent on players that did not work out (Seung Lee, Il Kim, Carlos Rodriguez), though the team has had some success with mid-level bonuses to players like Carlos Carrasco and new 2B Freddy Galvis.  By all accounts Tocci is a highly skilled CF with plus tools but with major questions about how much power he might eventually add.  Tocci is the big name in spring training, however, and it will be interesting to see where the team places him.  Galvis was in a similar situation and he was given an aggressive placement in the NY-Penn league when he was 17.  Tocci will not even turn 17 till later in the Summer, however, so a GCL destination is the most likely. Continue reading 2012 – New International Players In Spring Training →

Some minor league assignments

Spring Training 2012

Courtesy of Matt Gelb.

AA Reading: May, Pettibone, Julio Rodriguez, Jiwan James, Tyson Gilles, Sebastian Valle
A+ Clearwater: Brody Colvin
A Lakewood: Altherr, Eldemire, Kyrell Hudson, Brian Pointer, Maikel Franco, and Tyler Greene
Extended ST: Larry Greene and Roman Quinn

Not many big surprises. It will be interesting to see JJ and Gillies in the same outfield, and I expect that if this happens Jiwan James will play RF. Also nice to see Pointer is headed to Lakewood. Not surprised to see LG and Quinn head to XST, and I expect one/both of them will make it to Lakewood in May, which we’ll call “The Jon Singleton Plan”

Spring Training Chatter, Week of 26 March

Spring Training 2012

The regular season is almost here. A few roster spots are up for grabs. Talk about the things that interest you here. And be good to each other, we’re all on the same team.

The case for Jake Diekman to make the opening day roster

Diekman, Jacob, Spring Training 2012

As of this writing, the Phillies bullpen is still in flux, and Jake Diekman is still in major league camp. I had a chance to watch him close out yesterday’s game against the Red Sox, and I have to say, he certainly deserves a spot on the 25 man roster. He is currently on the 40 man roster, and thus a move would not have to be made in terms of clearing a spot for his contract to be purchased. I wrote this about him this winter when compiling my Top 30 prospects, where he just missed:

Jake Diekman, LHP – The Phillies protected him on the 40 man roster, and he’s a conversion project of sorts, as he’s begun to throw from a low-almost sidearm angle. You can see his delivery here in action against former Phillies farmhand Anthony Gose. That just looks toxic on lefties. And there is a good chance he carves out a JC Romero-esque career. But I’m not sure that merits a spot in the Top 30. Maybe it does. But maybe not.

He struggled a bit with his control last season at AA, walking 44 in 65 innings. He has swing and miss stuff, evident in the 83 strikeouts in those same 65 innings. And lefties can’t touch him. But I was impressed that he was able to generate some bad swings against the RHB he faced yesterday. The final out of the game did come on a mistake fastball he left up that was hit sharply to centerfield, but after watching him pitch, I think he has what it takes to stick in the big league pen right now. More importantly, Antonio Bastardo is still not 100% healthwise, working through a bit of a dead arm period. The Phillies leaned heavily on Bastardo last season, and he started to wear down a bit in the 2nd half of the season. With the Phillies current rotation being what it is, the bullpen figures to see less work than any other NL team again this year. Looking at the pitching staff, assuming the Phillies carry 12 pitches, these guys are locked in:

SP: Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Worley, Blanton
RP: Papelbon, Bastardo, Contreras, Stutes, Kendrick, Qualls

That is 11. That also assumes that Contreras is ready for Opening Day. If the Phillies do go with 12, they can slot Diekman right in to the final spot. If they go with 11 and Contreras is not ready, Diekman can take his spot. With Kendrick in the bullpen, there is no real urgency to carry another multi-inning reliever in Herndon. The only other competition for the final spot would come from Aumont (who was optioned) and Savery. While Savery has pitched well, Diekman’s ability to destroy LHP should give him an edge. Its a nice problem for the Phillies to have right now, but given what he has shown this spring, especially the fact that he’s issued only 1 walk in 5 innings, I think Diekman deserves the final spot. We should know more in the next week.

Minor League Workgroups (21March2012)

Spring Training 2012

Thanks to reader “gkjdk” for taking a picture of the work groups yesterday and sending it my way. Remember, these groups aren’t hard and fast groupings of where prospects will start, but they do give us some idea how the org feels about particular guys and how advanced/ready they are. Click this link, the photo is too big to display.

Just a few things I find interesting:

* Jiwan James is working out with Group 1, and Tyson Gillies is in Group 2.
* Miguel Alvarez is in group 2, after struggling last year at Lakewood
* Kevin Walter is in group 5

Tell me what jumps out at you.

More Cuts

Other Stuff

The Phils annouced four additonal roster moves this morning, none especially surprising.  Optioned were RP Michael Schwimer along with RP Phillipe Aumont.  Re-Assigned were pitchers Jeremy Horst and David Purcey.  All should play pivotal roles in Lehigh Valley this year and I would expect major league time this year from at least two of the four above.

Freddy Galvis to start at 2B on Opening Day

Galvis, Freddy

Well, this is some way to start your Monday, eh? The news on Chase Utley isn’t good, and it appears the team is ready to turn to Galvis at 2B, a position he hasn’t played much at all outside of a few spring training appearances. So what should we expect from him? It’s hard to say. As I covered in my Top 30 writeup on Galvis, his 2011 offensive performance essentially came out of nowhere, as he made big gains in all areas. Normally when you see steady growth, you expect bumps along the way, but the grow Galvis experienced in 2011 was sudden. Could he continue to grow rapidly, even at the major league level? It’s possible. There will certainly be a learning curve here, and he’ll go through rough stretches as he adjusts. But we know he’s one of the best defenders in the minor leagues, and his reactions, soft hands, and solid arm should play well at 2B. I think it’s likely that he’s nothing more than a .240-.250 hitter early on, but capable of driving the ball in the gaps and as he adjusts, his numbers should tick up. More importantly, for a team that will need to save runs, his glove could be a difference maker.

For those of you new to the site looking for info on Galvis, you can see his profile page here and also my writeup on him in my Top 30 prospects list.