Ryan Madson signs with the Reds, Phillies receive 2 draft picks

2012 Draft

Ryan Madson signed a 1 year deal with the Reds, which means another part of the Phillies 2012 draft puzzle has been completed. See the updates below for the clarification of the picks the Phillies received. The news isn’t as good now as we originally thought.

Update –>; The Phillies pick is actually #14, and everyone moves down 1 spot. The new CBA is funky.

Update #2 –>; There is still some confusion as to where the Phillies will pick. I’ve seen multiple reports indicating the Phillies do get pick #14, and others saying the Phillies will receive a 2nd round pick. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Update #3 —> It appears the Phillies weren’t so lucky, and instead will now receive the pick before the Reds second round pick, as well as a sandwich pick. The sandwich pick will be in the 30s, and the pick from the Reds will likely be #72. That’s a bummer.

2012 Reader Top 30, #6

2012 Reader Top 30

Freddy Galvis won a tightly contested race for the #5 spot, edging out Jon Pettibone and Phillippe Aumont by just a few votes. This will set up an interesting race for #6, as I expect the two pitchers will again split the vote. I’m going to make one change, and that is how players are added to the poll. Mitchell Walding received 0 votes this round, while 3 people wrote in Michael Schwimer and 2 people wrote in Brian Pointer. One of those two will replace Galvis in the poll, the other will replace Walding since he received zero votes. To get a guy on the ballot he has to be written in and receive more votes than someone already on the list. I hope that is clear.

As a reminder on eligibility for the list, to be eligible the player must have fewer than 130 AB or 50 innings pitched. So far we have

01. Trevor May, RHP
02. Jesse Biddle, LHP
03. Sebastian Valle, C
04. Brody Colvin, RHP
05. Freddy Galvis, SS

Check below for #6

Continue reading 2012 Reader Top 30, #6 →

2012 Reader Top 30, #5

2012 Reader Top 30

Brody Colvin comfortably took spot #4 on the list, cruising past Freddy Galvis, Phillippe Aumont and Jon Pettibone. With those three tightly bunched, the voting for #5 should be interesting. Joe Savery somehow received the most write-in support, so he’ll be added to the list for #5 in place of Colvin. As a reminder on eligibility for the list, to be eligible the player must have fewer than 130 AB or 50 innings pitched. So far we have

01. Trevor May, RHP
02. Jesse Biddle, LHP
03. Sebastian Valle, C
04. Brody Colvin, RHP

Check below for #5

Continue reading 2012 Reader Top 30, #5 →

2012 Reader Top 30, #4

2012 Reader Top 30

Sebastian Valle takes the #3 slot in runaway fashion, with a tightly grouped pack of four prospects following behind, which should make for interesting voting and discussion in this round. I will add Julio Rodriguez, based on popular demand, to take the spot of the chosen Valle. The voting for #4 will run through the weekend, and we’ll be back with #5 on Monday. As a reminder on eligibility for the list, to be eligible the player must have fewer than 130 AB or 50 innings pitched. The list so far

01. Trevor May, RHP
02. Jesse Biddle, LHP
03. Sebastian Valle, C

Check below for the next poll.

Continue reading 2012 Reader Top 30, #4 →

2012 Reader Top 30, #3

2012 Reader Top 30

Well, not much of a surprise at #2 with Jesse Biddle winning in a landslide, but the real fun should start now, as things will get a bit trickier. I will add Maikel Franco to the poll now. Again, if you want to write in a candidate, go for it, and as we knock off the guys on the list, I’ll be adding one new prospect each day. If there is someone that you absolutely believe should be listed, even if you don’t plan on voting for them in the current round, you should make note of it in the comments. Otherwise, the player with the most write-in votes will be automatically added. As a reminder on eligibility for the list, to be eligible the player must have fewer than 130 AB or 50 innings pitched.

The list so far

01. Trevor May, RHP
02. Jesse Biddle, LHP

Check below the fold for the newest poll

Continue reading 2012 Reader Top 30, #3 →

2012 Reader Top 30, #2

2012 Reader Top 30

Trevor May was the runaway winner for the top spot which should come as no big surprise. Things will get more interesting as we move on to #2 and then on down the line. As a reminder on eligibility for the list, to be eligible the player must have fewer than 130 AB or 50 innings pitched. Mitchell Walding received the most write-in support (4 votes), so he will be added to the poll for #2 in place of Trevor May.

The list so far

01. Trevor May, RHP
02.

Check below the jump for the next poll

Continue reading 2012 Reader Top 30, #2 →

2012 Reader Top 30, #1

2012 Reader Top 30

Hello everyone. First off, happy new year to you. We’re going to start the Reader Top 30 today, and for those of you who are new to the site, take a look at last year’s voting to see how everything works. To quickly summarize, we will start at #1 and select the best prospect in the system, based on total number of votes received. Once a player has been voted in to a spot he can’t be voted for again. We’ll go down the line until we get to #30. Because we’re at the tail end of the New Years holiday, I will leave voting for #1 open both today and tomorrow, and the voting for #2 will begin on Wednesday, with a new poll every weekday. There has been a bit of confusion in terms of who is eligible, so this year we’ll make things really simple. To be eligible, the player must have fewer than 130 AB or 50 innings pitched. Just another reminder, you can only vote once, and if you want to vote for someone not listed in the choices, vote “Other” and type in your answer. The poll for #1 is below, enjoy.

Check below the jump for the poll

Continue reading 2012 Reader Top 30, #1 →

Carlos Rivero claimed on waivers by the Nats

Other Stuff

Just as I say I might not have anything to post about again for a while, the Nats have claimed Carlos Rivero off waivers. I wrote extensively about Rivero back in May, and while I’m sad to see him go, I don’t think this is anything to get too worked up over. He showed good tools in 2011 in a rebound season, but he is still largely a flawed prospect. He is very rough defensively at 3B, and if he can’t stick there, the only other logical spot for him is an outfield corner, where his bat may not play quite as well. He’d have been a nice guy to take a look at for one more season, but he isn’t a big loss. That said, its odd that John Bowker wasn’t DFA’ed if they were looking to clear a 40 man roster spot….

General Discussion: The end of 2011

Phillies Chatter

I wanted to quickly thank everyone for their continued support this year, including everyone who has helped provide original content here and those of you who read the site regularly and especially those of you who provide comments and feedback on a regular basis. I am planning a major post next week at some point, but I don’t want to promise it in case something else comes up and delays my timeline for releasing it here. This is something I have spent a considerable amount of time on, and I hope it is something that is well received. I will be off the grid quite a bit over the next 2 weeks, so I’ll create this discussion thread now, and it may be the last post for a little while. Of course if something major happens, like a trade, I will do my best to put something together.

So, discuss whatever it is you’d like here, trying to keep it related to the minor league system, and enjoy your holidays. I expect to have my major feature posted next week, so look for that. Thank you again for your continued support, and I am really looking forward to 2012, as I have a number of ideas and things I’d like to introduce here.

What to expect in 2012: Julio Rodriguez

2012 Expectations

Welcome to the 4th installment of the “What to expect in 2012” series. We’ve previously covered Trevor May, Jon Pettibone and Sebastian Valle. Today we’ll cover one of the more controversial prospects in the system, RHP Julio Rodriguez. J-Rod was an under the radar 8th round selection in 2008 out of Puerto Rico and since signing, he’s posted big strikeout numbers, low ERAs, and very divergent scouting reports. Some reports had his velocity in the 90-93 range, average for a RHP. Other reports had him at 86-89, far below average for a RHP. I wrote this about J-Rod way back in 2008 after he was drafted:

He’s got a great pitcher’s frame, and his motion has lots of arms and knees, which could probably create some deception. His fastball has decent life, and the Phillies are probably banking on him adding velo as he fills out his frame. The only thing I really noticed, from the side, is that it seems that he hangs over the rubber for a split second, which might be holding back some of his velocity.

he’s obviously a project, I’d bet he repeats the GCL next year unless he just lights up the world in Instructs and looks awesome in the spring. If he fills out his frame and adds 2-3 mph on his fastball and can tighten his curveball, we might have something. The Phillies seem to do a decent job with projectable RHP (Myers and Madson come to mind), so we’ll see what happens here. Its going to be a slow road for Rodriguez, but assuming he’s healthy next year, he should be a fun one to monitor over the summer.

He did repeat the GCL in 2009 and performed well, and he’s moved somewhat slowly, reaching A+ in his 4th pro season (3rd full season) He hasn’t added a ton of velocity, but again, that depends on the report you read. But the results speak for themselves…take a look:

(click to enlarge)

As I’ve said in every top 30 write-up since he was drafted, he’s going to have to prove himself at every level. The jump from A+ to AA is massive, especially in the Phillies system for pitchers, as they go from a pitcher friendly league to a hitter friendly league and a very hitter friendly home park. His GB% plummeted to just 30% in 2011, and that will cause problems next year if it persists. The most impressive stat for Rodriguez has been his opponent’s BA. In 2011 it was .184, and that follows sub .200 numbers in both 2010 and 2009. Hitters are definitely not seeing the ball out of his hand, and it leads to a lot of weak contact. What is the secret? Is it the long arms and legs? Can he continue to repeat it? 2012 is going to be a huge year for J-Rod, in whatever role the Phillies use him. What are your expectations?