Dominican Summer League Roster

Other Stuff

The DSL season started last Saturday, though the web site has been slow with updates.  The roster for the team was finally posted today.

DSL Roster

Lots of new players on the roster this year.  Notable holdovers include pitchers Yohan Flande (age 21), Daury Luna (age 21), and OF Vladimir De Los Santos (age 20).  These guys are probably not prospects any more and should dominate the league.  It will be interesting to see which new players get lots of playing time.  The younger players that get regular playing time are most likely the prospects to watch, regardless of how well they play this year.

Continue reading Dominican Summer League Roster →

The 2007 draft…one day away

2007 Draft

We’ve been talking about it a lot for the past couple weeks, but the day is almost here. Tomorrow, the draft will begin at 2:30 on ESPN2, and will last till around 8:30, which will probably cover 5-6 rounds worth of picks. The Phillies have 7 picks in the first 5 rounds, so they have a good shot to add some high ceiling talent to a weak system, generally speaking. I’ll probably just write one main post tomorrow, like this one, and then just update the post with the first round selections and give my thoughts in the comments section. So, settle in tomorrow, enjoy the picks, and share your opinions. Some things on my mind as we get ready….
Continue reading The 2007 draft…one day away →

Lynx Month Of May, (Pitching).

XX - Ottawa Lynx

Brian Mazone went to South Korea. Matt Childers and J.A. Happ went to the DL. Zach Segovia, despite generally pitching consistently,(one bad outing), could manage only one win in May. The bullpen were up and down as Manager John Russell scrambled to find replacement starters. Rick Bauer continued to get hit hard almost every time out. Brian Sanches picked up three more saves. Happ was largely ineffective in May and his elbow injury was the likely cause of his struggles. J. D. Durbin was lights out or lit up. The staff either gave up lots of runs or hardly any, no happy medium which, of course, showed a glaring lack of consistency.

Continue reading Lynx Month Of May, (Pitching). →

Jason Donald, welcome to Clearwater

Other Stuff

* In his second start at Clearwater, Jason Donald ripped a triple and a home run in Clearwater’s 8-0 victory over Palm Beach. Greg Golson also hit his 5th of the year in support of Josh Outman, who went 7.2 IP, allowing 0 ER, giving up 6 hits and 2 walks to go with 5 strikeouts. Outman’s ERA now sits at 2.94 after 65 IP. He is still walking way too many hitters, but the strikeouts are up, he’s keeping the ball on the ground, and he’s not allowing as many runs as he did in April….all positive signs.

* E-mailer Ken also pointed out this from Phillies.com

Kyle Drabek, 2006. The son of Major Leaguer Doug
Drabek, Kyle has shown the inconsistency expected from
someone a year removed from high school. He’s shown
his electric fastball, curveball, slider arsenal in
some dominant outings, and gotten beaten up in others.
Still, he’s compiled a 5-1 record and a 4.17 ERA
before being placed on the disabled list with right
elbow inflammation, but the Phillies don’t believe the
injury is serious.

Doesn’t sound serious, that’s a good sign.

Clearwater Threshers Report

5. Clearwater

It’s been two  plus weeks since our last Clearwater Threshers Report with the team going 9-9 over that period.   The team is now three games out of first place with thirteen games remaining in the season’s first half.   (For those unfmiliar with the FSL playoff format, the season is split into two halves with the winner of the first half making the playoffs to face the winner of the season’s second half.)  The Sarasota Reds currently lead the Threshers’ division, but they will have a critical three game set versus the Threshers to end the first-half of the year.

Since the last report the FSL has named the All-Star team which will include five Threshers players.  The Threshers on the All-Star team will include:  Pitchers Carlos Carrasco , Andrew Carpenter and Pat Overholt as well as catcher Lou Marson, and OF/DH Jeremy Slayden. Continue reading Clearwater Threshers Report →

Baseball America draft tracker updated

2007 Draft

One more draft update for today. Some interesting movement on the draft tracker. The () represents where the player was on the last version, bolding is my own emphasis.

01. David Price (01)
02. Matt Wieters (03)
03. Rick Porcello (02)
04. Mike Moustakas (04)
05. Josh Vitters (05)
06. Jarrod Parker (09)
07. Jason Heyward (06)
08. Ross Detwiler (07)
09. Daniel Moskos (08)
10. Beau Mills (10)
11. Blake Beaven (11)
12. Madison Bumgarner (12)
13. Matt Dominguez (13)
14. Devin Mesoraco (16)
15. Matt Harvey (14)
16. Julio Borbon (15)
17. Michael Main (17)
18. Casey Weathers (18)
19. Phillippe Amount (19)
20. Josh Smoker (20)
21. Matt LaPorta (21)
22. Kevin Ahrens (22)
23. Nick Schmidt (23)
24. Pete Kozma (26)
25. Todd Frazier (24)
26. JP Arencibia (25)
27. Will Middlebrooks (NR)
28. James Simmons (30)
29. Andrew Brackman (28)
30. Brett Cecil (NR)

Out of the Top 30

Jack McGeary (27)

Some interesting stuff here. Porcello could very well go from the projected #2 slot in the draft out of the first round. If he wants a $10 million dollar deal, I find it hard to believe a team is going to give it to him, unless it’s Boston or the Yankees. If we end up with the 19th best talent, we’d end up with Amount, a guy the Phillies have been connected to. Amount has HUGE upside, literally and figuratively, as he’s already 6’7, 225 lbs. He’s going to need some work, but his ceiling is a true #1 starter. Will Middlebrooks, a guy I highlighted last week as a possible guy to look at in the compensation round, now might sneak into the back of the first round, and Brett Cecil is popping up on the radar again as a potential first round pick.

After watching Jarrod Parker’s scouting video a few times, if you could sign him for half the money Porcello wants, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I love his mechanics and his arm. For those excited about the possibility of a Boras guy like Porcello or Wieters falling to the Phillies and us getting lucky, you can put those hopes to bed, as the ownership has mandated not paying over slot. Harvey was once in the same group as those two, but at this point, he might be more affordable and a viable option. We’ll see.

The Ottawa Lynx Month of May, (Overview and Hitting)

XX - Ottawa Lynx

Ottawa finished up the month of May with a 3-5 eight game road trip, a one game winning streak , and five games back of the Buffalo Bisons. Each team in the Northern Division finished May slightly above .500 at home with the exception of Pawtucket. It is the road record thus far in the season which has been the difference for everyone else in the division with Buffalo six games over .500 on the road and the Lynx six games under .500. Out final road trip of the month was a very up and down inconsistent affair When Ottawa lost, they lost big and ugly, (12-8, 8-0, 11-3), but still finished this road trip just one game shy of .500. The team lost RBI leader and third base man Brennan King, and J.A. Happ to the DL on this road trip and veteran Lou Collier announced his retirement, (May 30). Although the pitching and offense were inconsistent for the month and the home run drought continued, the Lynx are still very much in the race. Personnel changes affected the pitching staff and the loss to injury of Matt Childers early in the month along with King and Happ in the last week of May were especially tough forcing the team to scramble for replacements. Brian Mazone leaving to pitch in South Korea didn’t help the Lynx pitching situation much either.

Continue reading The Ottawa Lynx Month of May, (Overview and Hitting) →

Kevin Goldstein’s Top 50 draft talents

2007 Draft

The hits just keeping coming. It’s like being a kid at Christmas, and every 2 hours, you get a new toy. Goldstein has his list of the top 50 talents in this year’s draft, ranked on pure talent, not signability, and based more on projections as a pro. Here is the list, you probably need a subscription to read the full thing, but you should have a subscription to BP anyway 😉

Some highlights..

Continue reading Kevin Goldstein’s Top 50 draft talents →

Lastest Mayo Mock Draft

2007 Draft

JE posted this in the comments section of another post, thought it was worth it’s own slot. This looks MUCH better for the Phillies, and it’s quite interesting in some other spots.

1. Tampa Bay Devil Rays: David Price, LHP, Vanderbilt University
2. Kansas City Royals: Rick Porcello, RHP, Seton Hall Prep (N.J.)
3. Chicago Cubs: Josh Vitters, 3B, Cypress HS (Calif.)
4. Pittsurgh Pirates: Ross Detwiler, LHP, Missouri State
5. Baltimore Orioles: Phillipe Aumont, RHP, Ecole Du Versant Gatineau, Quebec
6. Washington Nationals: Daniel Moskos, LHP, Clemson University
7. Milwaukee Brewers: Jarrod Parker, RHP, Norwell HS (Ind.)
8. Colorado Rockies: Nick Schmidt, LHP, University of Arkansas
9. Arizona Diamondbacks: Mike Moustakas, 3B, Chatsworth HS (Calif.)
10. San Francisco Giants: Matt Wieters, C, Georgia Tech
11. Seattle Mariners: Casey Weathers, RHP, Vanderbilt
12. Florida Marlins: Julio Borbon, CF, University of Tennessee
13. Cleveland Indians: Blake Beavan, RHP, Irving HS (Texas)
14. Atlanta Braves: Jason Heyward, Henry County HS (Ga.)
15. Cincinnati Reds: Kevin Ahrens, 3B, Memorial HS (Texas)
16. Toronto Blue Jays: Matt Dominguez, 3B, Chatsworth HS (Calif.)
17. Texas Rangers: Matt Harvey, RHP, Fitch HS (Conn.)
18. St. Louis Cardinals: Jake Arrieta, RHP, Texas Christian University
19. Philadelphia Phillies: Devin Mesoraco, C, Punxsatawney HS (Pa.)
20. Los Angeles Dodgers: Madison Bumgarner, LHP, South Caldwell HS (N.C.)
21. Toronto Blue Jays: Beau Mills, 3B, Lewis-Clark State
22. San Francisco Giants: Aaron Poreda, LHP, University of San Francisco
23. San Diego Padres: James Simmons, RHP, UC Riverside
24. Texas Rangers: Michael Main, RHP, Deland HS (Fla.)
25. Chicago White Sox: Chris Withrow, RHP, Midland Christian HS (Texas)
26. Oakland A’s: Sean Doolittle, 1B, University of Virginia
27. Detroit Tigers: Tim Alderson, RHP, Horizon HS, Scottsdale
28. Minnesota Twins: Peter Kozma, SS, Owasso HS (Okla.)
29. San Francisco Giants: Josh Smoker, LHP, Calhoun HS (Ga.)
30. New York Yankees: Wendell Fairley, OF, George County-Lucedale HS (Miss.)

While I clearly would love Mesoraco at 19, some of the picks above us don’t make an awful lot of sense. The rumors are that Porcello is asking for 10 million dollars in a total package to sign….even with a new regime in KC, I don’t see that happening. If they pass, they’ll likely take Ross Detwiler. At #3, Vitters makes sense, and he’s been linked to Chicago constantly over the last month. I can’t see Milwaukee taking Parker, as they are deep in pitching but kind of shallow in impact bats. This seems like a good destination for Moustakas or Heyward. Nick Schmidt to Colorado seems like the overdraft of the round. Florida loves prep arms, but Borbon would represent an organizational need, so I guess I can see the logic there. 13-24 make sense to me, but I feel like Main is going to go higher than 24. I think Fairley is a big stretch at 30, and I don’t see Arrieta going 18th.

Interesting stuff, no doubt. This is the best case mock for the Phillies that I’ve seen to date.

Tuesday morning notes

Other Stuff

Lets get right to it..

* Jason Donald was promoted to Clearwater yesterday and went 0/3 with an RBI in his debut for the Threshers. Will the Phillies move Cardenas back to SS now or leave him at 2B? He played 2B last night, but if he can play shortstop, I’d move him back there for the time being. We’ll see. Also of note at Clearwater, Lou Marson is now hitting .286/.361/.367. The low slugging % isn’t good at all, but he still doesn’t turn 21 until later this month, and he’s holding his own at High A, that’s a positive sign.

Continue reading Tuesday morning notes →