How long can Andy MacPhail survive as Phillies organization again ranked poorly?

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After four years, MacPhail's organization stuck in neutral

The folks at Baseball America collectively produce one of the most respected all-around resources in the game. They are well known for their prospect, draft and minor league coverage. And they also provide some of the best coverage of the deeper issues involving all aspects of the game.

Baseball America is also really good at coming up with lists and rankings. They regularly provide updated rankings lists of the top prospects in each organization. They also do overall organizational rankings as well, which reflect the state of each club’s minor league talent situation.

The Philadelphia Phillies were ranked just 23rd among the 30 big-league organizations prior to the 2019 season. Now the Baseball America organizational ranking has been updated, as they note: “taking the 2019 MLB Draft, our updated Top 100 and new team Top 30s into consideration.”

Those newly considered factors did not help the Phillies. In fact, the organization has now dropped two places, down to just 25th among 30 clubs in Major League Baseball.

Only five organizations are rated lower right now, including the division rival New York Mets just behind in the 26th spot. The Washington Nationals are just ahead of both, sitting in the #24 slot.

The Atlanta Braves embarrassment of prospect riches continues to grow. The defending NL East champions and current division leaders are now ranked in the #3 position. Meanwhile, the rebuilding Miami Marlins have entered the top ten in the #10 spot.

With third baseman Alec Bohm at #37 and pitcher Spencer Howard coming in at #68, the Phillies have just two of the current Baseball America top 100 prospects. It’s not only BA thinking poorly of the Phillies top-level minor league talent. MLB Pipeline currently has just Bohm (36) and pitcher Adonis Medina (75) among their top 100 prospects. Bohm (54), Howard (56) and Medina (71) show up among the current Fangraphs top 100 prospects.

By contrast, the Braves have a half-dozen in the Baseball America top 100, including three youngsters rated higher than Bohm. Both MLB and Fangraphs have the Braves with five on their lists, with four of those ranking higher than any Phillies prospect.

Phillies may finally have a legitimate lefty starting pitching prospect emerging

Damon Jones has emerged as a legit Phillies pitching prospect

Baseball America is one of the most respected resources in all of baseball for all sorts of information on the game. That is especially so regarding their evaluation and coverage of minor league baseball and top prospects.

In a regular feature, the periodical and website releases a monthly “Dynasty Stock Report” as a research tool for fantasy baseball players who might be looking for emerging prospects.

For their June release, Baseball America had an interesting name pop up in the “Surging” category of that stock report. The named belonged to a Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, left-hander Damon Jones.

Jone is a 24-year-old southpaw (he turns 25 in September) from Idaho who was the Phillies 18th round selection in the 2017 MLB Amateur Draft out of Washington State University.

After signing with the organization, Jones began his professional career that same summer at short-season Williamsport. He then advanced to Low-A Lakewood for his first full season in 2018 and began to excel. That season, Jones went 10-7 with a 3.41 ERA, striking out 123 batters over 113.1 innings across 23 games, 22 of those as starting assignments.

This year, Jones has upped his game. Over 11 starts at High-A Clearwater the lefty went 4-3 with a 1.54 ERA and 1.063 WHIP. He allowed just 38 hits over 58.1 innings, earning a promotion to Double-A Reading. There he has continued to dominate, allowing nine hits over his first 22 innings across four starts.

Shortstop Luis Garcia named top prospect in Gulf Coast League

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Luis Garcia, an 18-year-old shortstop signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in July 2017 out of the Dominican Republic, was named by Baseball America as the top prospect in the Gulf Coast League.

In their latest issue, displaying Shohei Ohtani on the cover, the respected baseball bi-weekly publication ranked the top 10 prospects in each of the six short-season and rookie minor leagues.

Garcia was awarded the top spot in the GCL following his first season playing in the United States. Garcia slashed .369/.433/.488 over 187 plate appearances across 43 games while playing for the “Phillies West” squad. He also knocked in 32 runs, scored 33 times, and swiped a dozen bags.

In writing up the GCL rankings, Ben Badler of Baseball America described Garcia as follows:

“…a smooth, graceful defender at shortstop with quick feet, great hands and a plus arm. He has the ability to make the flashy barehanded play, though unlike a lot of young shortstops, Garcia also makes smart decisions in the field and plays under control. While there was a split camp among scouts on Garcia’s hitting ability as an amateur, he showed a mature hitting approach from both sides in the GCL.”

In the issue, BA also included two more Phillies prospects in their rankings. The club’s 2018 top draft pick, Williamsport Crosscutters third baseman Alec Bohm, was rated the #8 prospect in the New York-Penn League. Williamsport catcher Rafael Marchan was ranked #12.

Garcia was ranked #14 in our Phillies Nation Top 20 Phillies Prospects list released back in early August. We rated Bohm as the second-best prospect in the entire farm system behind only pitcher Sixto Sanchez.

MLB.com also currently ranks the 22-year-old Bohm as second with Garcia at #14 among their Phillies top prospects. On Garcia, the MLB scouting report states:

“One of the bigger things that stood out was Garcia’s glove at shortstop. He has plus range, excellent hands and good footwork, with a plus arm that really stands out. Given that he’s just 17 for all of the 2018 season, there are obvious strength gains that will need to occur, but there’s confidence that will come as he starts to mature.”

Garcia is just beginning his minor league development, but he is off to a fantastic start. If he continues to develop as hoped, Phillies fans are still not likely to see him at Citizens Bank Park much before the 2022 season.

Originally published at Phillies Nation as "Baseball America names Phillies Luis Garcia as top prospect in Gulf Coast League"

Phils Place Six on Baseball America Midseason Top 100 Prospects List

The Philadelphia Phillies have placed six prospects among the Top 100 in the game on Baseball America’s Midseason Top 100 list.

In ranking released today, the strength of the Phillies minor league system was revealed once again, as a half-dozen of the organization’s prospects were ranked within the Top 100 in the game by Baseball America.

Following on the heels of yesterday’s announcement that four of the club’s prospects had made the Top 50 as ranked by Baseball Prospectus, this continues to reinforce that Phillies fans still have a number of supremely talented youngsters on the way.

RELATED STORY: Phils Have Four Prospects on Baseball Prospectus Top 50

The six prospects ranked by Baseball America are led by shortstop J.P. Crawford, who was placed at the top by BP, but who is rated in the #3 slot by BA behind 2nd baseman Yoan Moncada of Boston and pitcher Alex Reyes of Saint Louis.

Crawford has been hot of late as he adjusts to the highest level of the minor leagues with AAA Lehigh Valley. 

Just a step away now from the big leagues, it would surprise no one to see him debut with the Phillies during the second half of this season.

Phils Place Six on Baseball America's Midseason Top 100 Prospects List

In ranking released today, the strength of the Phillies minor league system was revealed once again, as a half-dozen of the organization's prospects were ranked within the Top 100 in the game by Baseball America.

Following on the heels of yesterday's announcement that four of the club's prospects had made the Top 50 as ranked by Baseball Prospectus, this continues to reinforce that Phillies fans still have a number of supremely talented youngsters on the way.

The six prospects ranked by Baseball America are led by shortstop J.P. Crawford, who was placed at the top by BP, but who is rated in the #3 slot by BA behind 2nd baseman Yoan Moncada of Boston and pitcher Alex Reyes of Saint Louis.

Crawford has been hot of late as he adjusts to the highest level of the minor leagues with AAA Lehigh Valley. Just a step away now from the big leagues, it would surprise no one to see him debut with the Phillies during the second half of this season.

Outfielder Nick Williams was ranked in the #40 spot by Baseball America, the only other Phillies prospect listed among their Top 50 overall.

Rounding out the Phillies contingent on the Baseball America Midseason Top 100 are right-handed starting pitcher Jake Thompson (62), catcher Jorge Alfaro (67), catcher Andrew Knapp (80), and pitcher Franklyn Kilome (96).

To be eligible for the BA list, players had to be in the minor leagues still as of June 21st, which was the midway point of the minor league season. 

They also had to not have exceeded MLB rookie eligibility of 130 big league at-bats or 50 innings pitched, or 30 appearances in the majors by a reliever.

It is also important to note that 2016 draftees, such as the Phillies' Mickey Moniak, or July 2nd signees were not eligible for the list because BA wanted this list to reflect a preview of the upcoming July 31st MLB non-waiver trade deadline. All of the players ranked are eligible to be dealt this year.

Next week, ESPN's Keith Law is expected to release his own midseason top 100 ranking. As the Phillies continue to move forward in their rebuilding program, I will continue to bring you all of the exciting, relevant content needed on these emerging future stars,

Five Phillies Prospects in Baseball America Top 100

The Philadelphia Phillies have received more respect from yet another major prospect talent evaluation source.

On Friday evening, Baseball America released their 2016 Top 100 Prospects list, and the Phillies were honored to have five players named to those ranks.

For the few uneducated, Baseball America is a decades-old publication in both print and web media well-respected and widely recognized as one of the game’s best authorities and resources on minor league, prospect, and amateur coverage.

If you do the math, there are 30 Major League Baseball organizations. In order to at least be representative on any Top 100 list, a club would need to place at least three and preferably four players on that list.

Placing five names in the Top 100 also helps to highlight the reason that Baseball America has lifted the Phillies to #8 in their organizational rankings. 

The Phils not only have those five prospects on the way, but have depth down through the system, with a number of others who were certainly under consideration.

Baseball America Preseason 2016 Top 30 Phillies Prospects

The Philadelphia Phillies farm system is universally considered to be greatly improved, which reflected in new rankings released by a respected source.

Baseball America’s annual Prospect Handbook is being delivered all across the country. I received my copy yesterday, and reading online of others receiving theirs today. 

It is considered the bible of prospect evaluation by many, ranking each Major League Baseball organization, as well as ranking and commenting on the top 30 prospects in those organizations.

It would not be a surprise for most fans of the Phillies to learn that our favorite ball club has not fared well in recent annual organizational rankings by Baseball America. 

Since ranking 11th prior to a 2011 season that saw the team finish with its best record in franchise history, the Phils have tumbled, finishing 27th, 23rd, 22nd, and 22nd again over the last four seasons.

Antonio Bastardo Traded to Pirates

Antonio Bastardo was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates

The Philadelphia Phillies have traded relief pitcher Antonio Bastardo to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Bucs minor league left-hander Joely Rodriguez.

As GM Ruben Amaro continues to dismantle what we here at TBOH have come to call the “Glory Era” roster, the players who helped win the 5-straight NL East crowns, back-to-back NL Pennants, and the 2008 World Series continue to move.

Bastardo came up in 2009, and despite pitching just 6 regular season games he got to make an appearance in each of the NLDS and NLCS that year. He would further pitch in the postseason for both the 2010 and 2011 Phillies.

Just this afternoon at the Phillies blog TBOH, I published an article titled “Antonio Bastardo a Hot Commodity” which specifically noted the recent Pittsburgh interest in the lefty. I knew he was ‘hot’, just not exactly how hot.

In 2011, his first full season in the big leagues, Antonio Bastardo was lights-out as a setup man for a team that won a franchise-record 102 games. That year he pitched in 58 innings over 64 games in which he allowed just 28 hits. That year he struck out 70 batters while walking only 26. 

Since then, Bastardo may have never reached that same shutdown level, but he has added three more excellent seasons on to his career resume. He consistently gives up fewer hits and strikes out more hitters than innings pitched.

Coming to the Phillies is Joely Rodriguez, a lefty who just turned 23 years old a few weeks ago. He has been used almost exclusively as a starting pitcher in the Bucs organization through 6 years, beginning as a 17-year old.

The Phillies might see him as a bullpen piece in the future. Before the 2014 season, Baseball America had him as the #30 prospect in the Pittsburgh organization, speculating that he might move to the pen.

Yasmany Tomas and Phillies: a Perfect Match

Cuban defector Yasmani Tomas looks perfect for Phillies

Ever since it was announced that Cuban phenom Yasmany Tomas had left the island nation and would be seeking a job in Major League Baseball this past summer, speculation has run rampant as to which organization was his most likely landing spot.

In recent weeks, that speculation has focused squarely on the Philadelphia Phillies, with the Fightins now considered the odds-on favorites to land the power-hitting corner outfielder.

Tomas played for 5 years in Cuba’s top league, Serie Nacional, and Baseball America rated him as the #6 prospect performing at the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He is graded as having a ’70’ in raw power on the standard 20-80 scouting scale.

There is little doubt that Tomas would not need much developmental time in the minor leagues, if any at all. He would project to plug immediately into the Phillies starting lineup in either right or left field, and would likely become the #3 hitter in the batting order, with Chase Utley moving up into the 2-hole.

Baseball America's Prospect Handbook

Today in my mailbox the yellow package arrived from the folks at Baseball America. Contained inside was their annual Prospect Handbook product, the Bible for following baseball prospects.

Published annually, the Prospect Handbook contains the Top 30 prospects for each organization in Major League Baseball as evaluated by the staff of Baseball America.

The book contains a full page spread on the #1 prospect in each organization, shows a thumbnail photo of each of the top 10 prospects, with a bio and brief scouting report on every one of the 30 listed.

A new feature with the 2012 edition is the inclusion of both a scouting numerical "grade" and a "risk factor" for each evaluated prospect.

The scouting grade will reflect the state of the player's current physical skills. The risk factor will show whether that player is more likely at this stage of his career to maximize those skills and to reach his potential.

The scouting grade is based on the traditional baseball 20-80 'OFP' (Overall Future Potential) formula in which players are rated on their power, hitting ability, arm, base running/speed, and fielding ability.

The highest ranked players, those in the 75-80 range of the scale, are impact talents that can change the face of an organization. Most prospects will fall into the 50-55 range. You will rarely see players at a 30-35 or lower level make it into the book.

The risk factor was developed by the folks at Baseball America, and includes ratings of "Safe", "Low", "Medium", "High" and "Extreme" that will reflect their opinion as to how likely it is that a player with a certain skill set is to maximize his potential and translate those skills to the big league level.