Phillies, boobs, and Crab Fries. What could be better?

1. Dom Brown

2. Jarred Cosart

3. Jonathan Singleton

4. Trevor May – May turned in another absolutely dominant outing since the recent update. There’s no sign of the command issues that plagued him in Clearwater and if things stay that way, he’ll quickly find himself in the four star category competing with Cosart for top arm in the system.

5. Sebastian Valle

6. Jiwan James

7. Jesse Biddle

8. Brody Colvin

9. Domingo Santana

10. Tyson Gillies – A run in with the law hurts his placement on the prospect list, but it doesn’t entirely strip away his skill. Now there is plenty of added uncertainty as to whether or not Tyson will make it to the big league club. He remains an undeniably better prospect than the large group I nominated as potential #11’s (you can add Harold Garcia to their ranks, a decent utility infield type prospect currently in AA).

And that is that, cocaine use does not mean he’s no longer a prospect, at least not yet. It’s certainly something worth following…

First, a bit of news, in case you haven’t heard by now: Chase Utley will be in the lineup tonight, batting second. The National League is officially on notice.

On Saturday, we went over three of the teams currently in the playoff picture, and laughed at related Google image search results. Now, the others, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s launch into it quick and dirty, the rating system is intuitive after all. One thing to note, everything after Singleton is really up to interpretation. These guys are all talented, young, and toolsy, but they also all have to learn a couple things to ever taste the bigs.

5 Star

1. Dom Brown, age 22 (.225/.227/.350 in 41 PA at MLB level) – So the former top prospect in the minors has had a rough first bounce with the big club. That’s forgivable in itself, he started the year in AA and he has only had the 41 PA. By now we’ve all had a chance to see why I was saying Brown is more like a 4.5 Star prospect than a true 5 star. In the OF he has a cannon and his range is good when he takes a clean route. He moves about the field like BJ Upton in large, loping strides. If he could learn to judge the ball a little better, he could play CF about as well as Werth can. At the plate we haven’t learned much about him and that is where he’ll need to show us something to break camp as a starter next year. Everything looks fine to me despite some general disappointment from the fanbase.

I suspect Dom’s slow start will convince Ruben to grab somebody to platoon with Francisco if Brown has a rough Spring. Hopefully he doesn’t think that’s Gload.

4 Star

2. Jarred Cosart, age 20 (3.79 ERA, 71 IP, 77K, 16BB) – Bad news with Cosart. An elbow injury has ended his season, although Chuck Lamar is hopeful he’ll be recovered for the fall league. This is something to keep an eye on, hopefully it’s something that won’t linger or recur.

3 Star

3. Jonathan Singleton, Age 18 (.296/.392/.487, 13 HR, 57K, 48 BB, 362 PA) – Last update I was mulling moving Singleton all the way up to 4 Star. Now I feel vindicated in keeping him in 3 Star territory (unfortunately). While it’s a great line for an 18 year old in the Sally League, it’s carried by his earlier unworldly mashing. He cooled off of late and in the last 10 games he has a meager .227/.239/.364 line. The plate discipline’s even flown out the door with 9 k’s and 1 BB. The power has cooled considerably as well. He remains a very good 1b prospect, but this serves as a nice reminder that we probably shouldn’t be making plans for the 18 year old with Howard locked up long term. Unless he picks things up now or has himself a nice Fall Season (I assume he’s heading there), he may open 2011 with a repeat at Lakewood.

Of course, there’s a decent chance that all we’re seeing is an 18 year old wearing down from his first full season in pro ball. Despite not playing with a team early in the season, extended Spring Training is just as tiring on a young athlete.

4. Trevor May, Age 20 (2.44 ERA, 48 IP, 67K, 18 BB since demotion): May experienced some serious issues with the walk in Clearwater, handing out 61 free passes in 70 IP. The 90 K demonstrate just how talented he is. Since he was shipped to Lakewood, he’s shown much better control, walking only 18 while still dominating the opposition. Perhaps May could benefit from spending some time under Halladay’s wing because he seems to have adopted the Justin Verlander method of pitching. May will get another shot at Clearwater next season in his age 21 season.

5. Sebastian Valle , Age 19 (.253/.297/.434, 25 2b, 15HR, 92K, 24BB, 423 PA): It’s been a nice full season for Valle who’s continued to demonstrate plus power for a young catcher along with iffy plate discipline. Scouts continue to show some concern about his true defensive position with the consensus being something along the lines of “I think he’ll stick behind the plate.” While it’s a positive comment, it leaves open the possibility that he won’t stick which would be devastating to Sebastian’s prospect status. He’ll move along to Clearwater next season where the Phillies will hope he begins to show some discipline.

6. Jiwan James, Age 21 (.280/.329/.372, 3 HR, 30SB, 17 CS, 111K, 30 BB, 516 PA): The first thing to remember with this ultra toolsy prospect is that he spent the first two season’s of his pro career as a pitcher. He converted back to the OF late last season making this his first full year as a pro position player. The tools are all there, although the power projects the least. He has a powerful arm and the range and speed of a potential plus defender in CF. His plate discipline has improved as the season continued, although he has considerable ground to make up yet. He has a similar ceiling to Dom Brown, except there’s years of distance between the two.

7. Tyson Gillies, Age 21 (Disabled): The good part of the Lee trade seems to have vanished from baseball, ostensibly due to an injured hamstring. I’ve yet to uncover anything, I think I’ll try to get in touch with the guys over at Phuture Phillies and see what they’ve heard.

8. Jesse Biddle, Age 18 (3.06 ERA, 32.1 IP, 39K, 9BB): Not a bad introduction to professional baseball. The Phillies local, first round pick has done well since joining the GCL and is angling for a full season assignment in 2011. There’s not much more to say right now, he’s good but he’s young. We’ll see how things go.

9. Brody Colvin, Age 19 (3.17, 122IP, 108K, 39BB): Colvin was expected to be a project, but he’s settled in nicely in the Sally League. There’s not much to update, he’s having a nice season and  should get a crack at continuing things in Clearwater next season.

10. Domingo Santana, Age 17 (.249/.342/.385, 5HR, 64K, 21BB, 190 PA for Short-Season Williamsport): We’ve covered Domingo’s earlier struggles as the Sally League’s youngest player. While he failed that particular challenge, he has gotten a taste of playing a full season’s worth of games. He remains young, even in the New York-Penn League, but not unheard of young. The power output is a bit disappointing but not unforgivable from one so young. He’s still striking out way too often, but his 33% rate is an improvement. Otherwise, his plate discipline has remained as he’s still drawing plenty of walks.

Bonus!

11. Kelly Dugan , Age 19, (.541/.630/.730 in limited action)/Others: Another ultra toolsy type, Dugan has butchered Rookie League pitchers in seven games. Of course, that doesn’t mean jack, but it’s encouraged me enough about him accessing his tools that I’ve listed him as #11.

Truly, the Phillies have a number of players worth consideration here. Austin Hyatt probably heads the pack of candidates for #11. He’s had himself a strong season despite lukewarm reviews from scouts. There’s still something to Phillippe Aumont and fellow former Mariner J.C. Ramirez has been solid but unspectacular this season (better than Aumont at least). Vance Worley looks like the next spot starter of the system, I’m not sure how he fits onto a Major League roster, but he will (just as Kyle Kendrick does). Relievers Scott Mathieson, Antonio Bastardo, and Michael Schwimer should be helping out at the ML level next season and could all be considered our 11th best. One thing to notice, of the 8 players I named as a potential #11, only Dugan is a position player.

Presumptuous as it may be to look ahead to the postseason when the Phillies would be putting their broms in the closet if the season ended today, we’re all pretty confident in this team. Two straight NL pennants and a 16-5 run largely without two of our three best hitters will do that. Shit, we’ve managed to stay in the thick of the race with Wilson Valdez playing every day; expectations should be high upon the returns of Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, particularly the latter. And as we’ve all heard and orgasmed over by now, Chase begins a rehab assignment in Clearwater this very evening. He’s targeting Tuesday’s series opener against the Giants for his return – which, btdubskis, is also the date Howard is eligible to come off of the disabled list. Ladies and gents, we may be looking at our full Opening Day roster playing together for the first time since The Great Depression.

Anyway, there’s the small matter of securing a playoff berth standing between us and a third straight World Series appearance (a few bounces from being a potential third straight championship, but hey…two out of three ain’t bad). This recent run has done a lot of good work toward brushing aside these charlatans who would fain eliminate the possibility of having their faces broken by a Doc-headed triumvirate of terror and a fully operational Death Star of a lineup, but we’re not there yet. Ergo, scoreboards must be watched.

After the jump, a look at those who would dare take our title, including how they stack up against us in a postseason series. Heavy lies the head that wears the crown, bitches.

Read the rest of this entry »

My gig at The Hardball Times doesn’t leave much scope for mercilessly panning major league teams. So from time to time I’ll come here to give you updates of the laughable from around the league…

Read the rest of this entry »

That is all.

(P.S. I’ve been busy as hell this week, mostly with my new job, but I will have the day off and a massive hangover on Saturday, so I promise at least one actual post.)

In the meantime, let us all join together and laugh heartily at a 300-pound bull of a man being made the Phillies’ bitch yet again.

The Moon Shot

The Double (predicted immediately beforehand by our very own Liney)

The Shitshow

It’s been a hell of a summer for me, which mainly has led to a lack of posting. I too vow to get back on track with this blog.

In a nutshell:

- Working 40 hours a week at the local YMCA, waiting impatiently for a full-time salaried position opens up
- Finishing up my thesis defense (Payroll Efficiency in Major League Baseball), which ended up being 50 pages deep, to be only the second Sport Management graduate from my university’s honors program ever
- With the end of the defense, being an August graduate with degrees in Sport Management and Communication (cum laude, bitches)
- Being Assistant General Manager with the Reading United A.C., who were the PDL Eastern Conference champs this year
- Working on recruiting for my assistant tennis coach position at my recent alma mater
- Solidifying my role as the play-by-play voice for my alma mater’s webcasts, as well as their crosstown rivals

…I think that’s about it. It’s been a hell of a summer, and left little time for shit like this.

Hopefully we still haven’t lost our faithful, and will gain new viewers as time passes. This won’t happen again… I think.

Folks, we’re sorry.

We’ve been the Eric Bruntlett of blogs lately, and that just ain’t cool.

There are any number of reasons as to how and why this happened. The Phillies stunk on ice for a while, and that shit is depressing enough without writing about it. Ryan lost his job a while back. I moved for the sixth (!) time in 15 months, and my grandfather passed. Liney’s been swamped by thesis defense and doing whatever it is that assistant GMs of soccer clubs do, which I am assuming involves a lot of penis. Chris has tripped and fallen over the first of 12 steps so often that AA kicked him out. And A Team…that turncoat bastard got himself a cushy gig writing for The Hardball Times and left us. He did not turn around, to see our hearts breaking. We didn’t want him to see us cry, anyway. Actually, we were all planning to step on one another to reach infinitesimal Internet fame, and just pissed that he beat us to the punch.

However, I have made it my mission to get things rolling around here again. Chris has hiccuped assent. Together, we will lead this blog into a glorious new age of prosperity and wonderment, an age where posts appear more than once or twice a month.

To show how much we mean business, I will invoke the most sacred rite I know.

I’m off to scream Meech’s name from the top of a mountain that I climbed in tennis shoes.

By now, everybody knows how I feel about Ruben Amaro. Disdain threatened to evolve rapidly into seething hatred if, as was rumored earlier this month, he attempted another ill-advised “three-team” deal to acquire pitching and ship out Jayson Werth.

Well, here we are on July 29th, and the situation has worked out better than any sane, rational Phillies fan could have hoped. Werth isn’t going anywhere, and Amaro deserves credit for getting Roy Oswalt for pennies on the dollar. Granted, he was dealing with Ed Wade, so it wasn’t exactly a triumph of intellect, but I can’t be as harsh toward his many failures without giving the man credit for his successes. Not without being a Mets fan giant hypocrite.

Ed Wade (Artist's rendering).

Seriously, folks, this could’ve been so much worse. Word ’round the campfire was that the Astros wanted Jonathan Singleton, that they wouldn’t kick in a significant amount of cash, and that Oswalt wanted his $16 million option for 2012 guaranteed as a provision for waiving his no-trade clause. Any and all of that would have been terrible for the Phillies. Read the rest of this entry »