Phillies Farm System

[heyelander]

back without any demand...

[Erik]

In my main league, it's not worth drafting minor leaguers unless they're gonna hit the bigs this year or next. Given that, should I try to pick up Jonathan Singleton?

[heyelander]

In my main league, it's not worth drafting minor leaguers unless they're gonna hit the bigs this year or next. Given that, should I try to pick up Jonathan Singleton?

I can't imagine next year. He didn't finish strong and is only headed to High-A next season (I would expect.) Plus, he's only 18 or 19. I would like to see how he recovers... if he's closer to his torrid start or tepid finish. With a good season, he moves to AA two years from now as a 20 year old and with that traditionally being the biggest jump in difficulty, I would expect he would need a full season there at least

They have been playing him in the OF over the winter and I have no idea what the Phillies plans are for LF come 2012, but it's still hard to imagine Singleton getting any PT before 2013 at the earliest. I would expect to see Gillies out there before Singleton.

[Hammer]

just traded for 1 $1 Brown in my NL only league. Heres hoping he starts 2k11 in LF although I am skeptical at this point.

[heyelander]

just traded for 1 $1 Brown in my NL only league. Heres hoping he starts 2k11 in LF although I am skeptical at this point.

yeah, I think he starts the season in AAA right now, although we are still to see who is going to be playing OF for the Phils come opening day. I guess right now it's Francisco, Victorino, Ibanez and Gload. They need to find a 5th who can play CF still. I'd hate to see OF D of Gload and Ibanez with Francisco playing CF in Victorino got hurt for any extended amount of time. I have to imagine if any of the starters got hurt that Brown would be called up immediately instead of seeing Gload get extended time anywhere.

Brown needs to tear up ST to start the season in Philly.

[heyelander]

MLB is doing their Minor's previews. A couple of Phillies have made the lists so far.

D. Brown is #3 in OF

3. Domonic Brown, Phillies: The Phillies might be saying publicly they're not handing the right-field job to Brown this spring, but rest assured they're hoping he wins it outright. He has all the makings of the prototypical right fielder, with outstanding raw power and a strong arm. Brown really started to tap into that power in 2010, but he's more than just a home run threat -- he should hit for average as well. He's got good speed to boot, and his entire package reminds many of a young Darryl Strawberry.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110119&content_id=16467568&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

Singleton #4 on the 1B list (now playing LF for the phillies)

4. Jonathan Singleton, Phillies: When he was drafted out of high school in 2009, Singleton was thought of as a project -- more tools than anything. The Phillies had liked his bat, and it turned out to be very productive right out of the gate -- as Singleton was named the South Atlantic League's Most Outstanding Major League Prospect this past year. It looks like he will be able to hit for both average and plenty of power, especially as he matures. He could make a move to an outfield corner, so he won't be blocked by Ryan Howard down the line.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110117&content_id=16448384&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

Cesar Hernadez is #7 on the 2B list

7. Cesar Hernandez, Phillies: Hernandez made his United States debut in 2009 in the Gulf Coast League, but really jumped out with his All-Star performance in the short-season New York-Penn League last year. His 32 steals were good for second in the league and he was sixth in the batting race (.325). He should be a fun one to watch during his full-season debut with Lakewood in the South Atlantic League.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110118&content_id=16457012&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

[heyelander]

I'm not an ESPN Insider, so I have no idea what the write-up says besides this:

http://phuturephillies.com/2011/01/26/keith-law-ranks-the-phillies-farm-system-5th-in-mlb/

Keith Law ranks the Phillies farm system 5th in MLB
Head over to espn.com and check out Keith’s writeup (insider only) of the 30 farm systems. He highlights the Phillies ridiculously stocked Lakewood team in 2010, and also highlights that we’ve stocked our system, despite all the trades, on a relatively tight budget. Imagine if we equipped our scouts, some of the best in the game, with the budgets of the big spending teams. Also, that sound you hear is Mets fans screaming that life just isn’t fair. The Mets found themselves ranked 26th. Better luck next year!

[heyelander]

MLB.com top 50 prospects:

http://mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110124&content_id=16493480&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

4) Brown
30) Singleton

10 who "just missed" the list:
51) Cosart

of the guys who were traded away...
12) Drabek

If Cosart is 51, Colvin shouldn't be far behind.

[heyelander]

Keith Law's top 100...

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/columns/story?columnist=law_keith&page=LawTop100ProspectsIndex&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmlb%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dlaw_keith%26page%3dLawTop100ProspectsIndex

espn insider only, but the phillies on the list are:

Domonic Brown: 3rd
Jon Singleton: 27th
Jarred Cosart: 34th
Brody Colvin: 76th
Trevor May: 93rd

[heyelander]

More tidbits from Keith Law. I can't read the original, but I've seen it reported in multiple places that Law says the phillies have been working Aaron Altherr out at 3B. Altherr spent some time with Eric Chavez (who he shares an agent with) this winter and initial reports have been positive.

Atherr played SS in HS, but was drafted as another "toolsy" OF by the phillies in 2009. He he split time between the gulf coast league phillies and short season williamsport last year and put up decent numbers. At 6'5" and 190, he hasn't shown any power yet, but he apparently has the arm for 3B. Baseball America rated Altherr the phillies #10 prospect.

[heyelander]

Phuturephillies.com just finished their Reader's top 30 prospects list:

http://phuturephillies.com/2011/02/02/wrapping-up-the-2011-reader-top-30/#more-8634

1. Domonic Brown, OF
2. Jon Singleton, OF
3. Jarred Cosart, RHP
4. Brody Colvin, RHP
5. Trevor May, RHP
6. Sebastian Valle, C
7. Vance Worley, RHP
8. Jesse Biddle, LHP
9. Tyson Gillies, OF
10. Justin De Fratus, RHP
11. Jiwan James, OF
12. Julio Rodriguez, RHP
13. Domingo Santana, OF
14. Aaron Altherr, OF
15. Phillippe Aumont, RHP
16. JC Ramirez, RHP
17. Matt Rizzotti, 1B
18. Jon Pettibone, RHP
19. Austin Hyatt, RHP
20. Cesar Hernandez, 2B
21. Harold Garcia, 2B
22. Kelly Dugan, OF
23. Michael Schwimer, RHP
24. Colby Shreve, RHP
25. Freddy Galvis, SS
26. Josh Zeid, RHP
27. Leandro Castro, OF
28. Perci Garner, RHP
29. Cameron Rupp, C
30. Kevin Walter, RHP

The amazing thing about the phillies list, aside from the fact that it's so strong (I've seen it ranked 5th in baseball) even after all the trades, is the depth. The top 5 guys are all B, B+ or better, and the entire rest of the list of 30 are C, C+ guys. Basically, they are all interchangeable 6-30. Any one of these guys could be in the top 10 going into next season. The list even leaves off a couple of interesting names.

I think that's another post though. My thoughts coming soon.

[kldub4life]

Domingo Santana is a prospect who intrigues me. Plus power, and speed. A great build for baseball. I heard as he fills out the speed may not be as big a plus. He is still young but 2010 wasn't the step forward I was hoping for.

any other thoughts on him?

[heyelander]

Domingo Santana is a prospect who intrigues me. Plus power, and speed. A great build for baseball. I heard as he fills out the speed may not be as big a plus. He is still young but 2010 wasn't the step forward I was hoping for.

any other thoughts on him?

he started last season at lakewood and seemed lost. He's apparently got a decent eye for pitches, but still swung and missed a ton. Once short season ball started he was demoted down to Williamsport where he continued to struggle. I understand the idea of wanting him to get as many ABs last season as he could, but after struggling early in an advanced league, he never seemed to get back on track. Physically, he's a monster, and as you said, still young even this year for Lakewood. Hopefully he starts out better. He's too young to call this a make or break year, but it should be a step forward year for him.

I'm not sure the speed sticks around. He's a really big kid.

[kldub4life]

Yeah his physical stature reminds me alot of a young Darryl Strawberry.

[osubuxx]

Gotta give some love to my hometown homie Percival Garner the III! BBHQ has him 12th in the system - he has sweet FB and great kid too. He pitched alot at Ball State last year, so they shut him down after the draft. Hopefully this year he makes a big move up!