Just a reminder that all the Phillies’ Prospects articles can be found on the page linked on the right-hand side of the screen.
I plan on doing specific posts for each of my top-10 prospects in the Phillies system, but I wanted to acknowledge the rest of my top-20 list here.
11. Jarred Cosart, RHP
6′3” 180 lbs, 19 years old
2009 Stats (Gulf Coast League)
The only Phillies’ pitcher who received a larger bonus than Cosart in the 2008 draft was Jason Knapp. That should tell you the potential the Phillies see in Cosart’s right arm. He has hit 96mph on the gun and has a developing curve and change. The Phillies are taking it slow with him and 2010 will be his first full season. In his short 24 inning appearance in 2009, he showed that he has the pure stuff to be a big-time prospect (12 hits and 25 K’s in 24 innings). Like Kyle Drabek last season, he could shoot up these rankings with a solid first season.
12. Drew Carpenter, RHP
6′3” 225 lbs, 24 years old
2009 Stats (AAA)
Carpenter is a guy, like J.A. Happ last year, who I think deserves a shot with the big club. I don’t think he can be as good as Happ, but he performed very well in AAA, and should get a fair shot at our #5 starter spot in the spring. He gives up hits, but doesn’t walk many and is in the type of guy who can throw a lot of innings. He reminds me a lot of Joe Blanton, actually.
13. Jonathan Singleton, 1B
6′2” 215 lbs, 18 years old
2009 Stats (Gulf Coast League)
Singleton is one of two players from the 2009 draft class in my top-20 rankings. He is a powerful kid who is still growing into his frame. A Ryan Howard comparison is probably a little much, but he projects as a power-hitting left handed first-baseman, so the comparison is inevitable. He also showed a good eye in his first go around in the minors, with a .398 OBP in 100 AB.
14. Scott Mathieson, RHP
6′3” 190 lbs, 25 years old
2009 Stats (GCL, A-Adv, AA combined)
I’m not even sure if Mathieson qualifies as a prospect anymore. He was in the majors in 2006, blew out his elbow. Then back in the minors in 2007, blew out his elbow again, and finally made it back this past season. Now he is a reliever, not a starter, and I read several articles that had him throwing upwards of 98mph. He was nearly un-hittable in his 32.1 relief innings and I even suggested bringing him up the last month of the season to see if he could help in the playoffs. I think the Phillies are making a mistake if he is not in the opening day bullpen this year.
15. Mike Stutes, RHP
6′1” 185 lbs, 23 years old
2009 Stats (AA)
Stutes started off the year strong but hit a wall in the middle of the year and his ERA plummeted. If the poor 2nd half performance can be attributed to his arm getting tired from his first full professional season then he still could be a viable prospect. If it’s because hitters were able to adjust to him and he couldn’t adjust back, then he might be off this list next year.
16. Freddy Galvis, SS
5′10” 154 lbs, 20 years old
2009 Stats (GCL, A-Adv, AA combined)
How on earth can someone be on this list with those offensive numbers? Well, Galvis is only 20 years old, is already in AA, and most importantly has one of the best, if not the best, gloves at SS in all the minor leagues. I’ve even seen Galvis compared to Omar Vizquel glove-wise. If Galvis can improve on his hitting, he has a chance to be an 8-hole hitter for a major league club because of his value on defense. Right now, I think of him as a Rey Ordonez type player.
17. Yohan Flande, LHP
6′2” 180 lbs, 23 years old
2009 Stats (A-Adv, AA combined)
Flande burst onto the scene last year, pitching very well in A-Adv with a 2.52 ERA in 13 starts. He struggled a bit when he was promoted to Reading, but he has decent stuff and with some refinement, he’s got a chance to make the majors. I saw him pitch in the Future’s Game at the All-Star break and he showed a decent fastball (91-92mph) but I didn’t see enough of his breaking stuff to get a gauge on it. At 23, he’s got to perform well in Reading this season.
18. Jesus Sanchez, RHP
5′11” 160 lbs, 22 years old
2009 Stats (A)
Now here is an intriguing guy. You might remember Sanchez as a 18-year old catcher in the salary dump Bobby Abreu trade. After 4 seasons and a .568 OPS in low-A ball, it was clear he wasn’t going to make it as a catcher so the Phillies tried him as a pitcher. In his first season, he was pretty impressive, as you can see from the numbers. He’s old for A-ball, but given that he is just learning how to pitch, he’s one to watch. He got better as the season went on, with a 2.75 ERA in his final 10 starts.
19. Joe Savery, LHP
6′3” 215 lbs, 24 years old
2009 Stats (AA, AAA combined)
Some people might have Savery higher, but everything I have read about him tells me that he gets by on junk, and has little room for improvement. Savery does not have a great fastball, but has gotten by on throwing mostly off-speed stuff. Unless his fastball velocity suddenly goes back to his college level (92-93 mph), I don’t see him having a chance as a successful major league pitcher. His BB/9 rate is high, so I guess that is an area he could still improve upon.
20. Austin Hyatt, RHP
6′2” 180 lbs, 23 years old
2009 Stats (Short Season, A combined)
It was essentially a tie in the 20-spot between 3 right handed relief pitchers: Hyatt, B.J. Rosenberg and Michael Schwimer. Hyatt got the tiebreaker because of his insane K/9 and H/9 rates (even as a 23 year old in low-A). In 59 innings, he struck out 89 and only allowed 31 hits. I assume the Phillies will challenge him early by quickly promoting him up to Reading or something and we will see if he can continue his success up there.
Also Considered (in alphabetical order): Quintin Berry – OF, Zach Collier – OF, Kelly Dugan – OF/1B, Sergio Escalona – LHP, Anthony Hewitt – OF, Kyrell Hudson – OF, Jonathan Pettibone – RHP, B.J. Rosenberg – RHP, Michael Schwimer – RHP, Colby Shreve – RHP, Vance Worley – RHP
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Jarred Cosart’s description intruiged me, so I did a web search and found he was the 4th highest ranked prospect in the Gulf Coast League on this list of 20 from Baseball America. Comments follow from the piece I read.
The Phillies have an affinity for signing raw athletes who offer projection but require plenty of polish, so it was no surprise that they led all organizations with four players on our GCL list: righthander Jarred Cosart, first baseman Jonathan Singleton, outfielder Domingo Santana and shortstop Jonathan Villar. Philadelphia’s top pick (second round) in the 2009 draft, outfielder Kelly Dugan, didn’t make the Top 20 but showed some potential as a switch-hitter with a solid frame and average speed.
<<Touted outfielder Domonic Brown, rated by Baseball America as the Phillies’ top prospect, closed the Arizona Fall League season in an 0-for-22 slump that dropped his average to .229. He still finished with 18 RBIs.>>
Everything I’ve read from scouts about the AFL is that the numbers there shouldn’t be taken seriously.
I just came across Jayson Stark’s Rumblings and Grumblings from last week (11/19): Pushing For A Minimum Payroll Threshold. I found it to be very revealing.
I have posted my rant about the game’s finances———-about how the owners are most certainly making a lot of money, how a lot of that money is not put back into the product on the field, how they hide their baseball revenues in their other related companies, how in turn that allows them to claim that they are actually losing money and unable to increase their payroll, how they get us to pay for stadiums that line their pockets further, and how they want the fans to see the millionaire players as greedy bastards when in fact the Billionaire owners themselves are far worse————a couple times in the past, and Stark’s article sheds some light on this area and lends credence to my paranoid conspiracy theory.
Here are a few highlights:
Just a few days ago, everybody’s favorite agent threw baseball’s pooh-bahs into a serious froth. All it took was Boras telling the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo that some teams are collecting $80 million to $90 million from Major League Baseball just in revenue sharing and central-fund welfare – and essentially stuffing much of it in their mattresses.
If we just use the raw numbers, it appears that at least 10 teams collected $90 million-plus this year before they opened their ticket windows, let one car into their parking lots or sold one slice of pizza.
Central fund (includes national TV, radio, Internet, licensing, merchandising, marketing, MLB International money): Each team, from the Marlins to the Yankees, gets the same central-fund payout. And that check comes to slightly over $30 million per team if you deduct the $10 million in pension and operations fees, or just over $40 million if you don’t.
Revenue sharing: Only income-challenged teams get a revenue-sharing check. But you should never forget that those checks are a lot larger than your average rebate check from Target. This sport shared $400 million in revenue this year – more than the gross national product of Western Samoa. Now every club’s payout is different. But the five neediest teams — which we believe to be the Marlins, Pirates, Rays, Blue Jays and Royals — averaged somewhere in the vicinity of $35 million in revenue-sharing handouts per team. And that still left over $200 million — more than $20 million a club — for the rest of the “payees” to divvy up.
Local TV/radio/cable: Good luck getting these exact figures. But we know that 29 of the 30 teams make at least $15 million a year in local broadcast money, and no team rakes in under $12 million. Obviously, some clubs collect much, much more than that. Or own their networks. Or both.
Add $30 million, plus $35 million, plus $15 million, and what do you get? That would be $80 million. At least. Before these teams spin their turnstiles once.
OK, now let’s head back to the payroll list. We count a minimum of a dozen teams, depending on how you define “total payroll,” that aren’t spending that same number — $80 million — on their major league payroll. So it isn’t just Scott Boras who has the right to ask: What’s up with that?
Even if you ignore the regularly scheduled Boras conspiracy theories, most agents make no secret of the fact that they believe baseball is exaggerating its financial throes in a $6 billion industry.
They see the payroll figures we see. They see a dozen teams that have
wiped at least $30 million in salaries off their books (in departing free agents) this winter. So while they recognize that certain teams — like the Tigers — have had a rough year, agents everywhere are clearly skeptical that those cries of poverty they’re hearing from almost every club are legit.
If the Marlins, Pirates or Padres think it’s unnecessary to spend $70 million or $80 million — or even $50 million — on their big league payroll, hey, no problem.
Just tax them for it. That’s all.
I realize that this particular article concerns teams that are collecting the most from the shared pie and spending the least on their payroll and that the Phillies do not fall into this category.
Nevertheless, I think that the article provides a good glimpse into at least a part of the deliberately well-hidden (same as every other large corporation though) revenues of the game upon which each team’s payroll is based.
Ken,
I saw your response on the last topic. I was not aware that Finley tried to sell everyone off after the 1974 season. Not surprising though, as he ended up trying to follow in Connie Mack’s sell-off-the-pieces-of-a-dynasty footsteps (which I did know about). The Marlins have nothing on the A’s franchise.
I found the following on the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society’s website:
The first dynasty was broken up following the 1914 season due to a combination of factors including rising salaries from the rival Federal League and the suspicions of Connie Mack that the 1914 team had ” quit” on him in four straight games to the “Miracle Boston Braves” who were underdogs. The second dynasty was also dismantled due to fianances. The two sportswriters who initially invested in the team had withdrawn, leaving ownership to the Shibe and Mack families.
I also found this:
Connie Mack was an astute judge of talent and assembled a club from sandlots and also by “raiding” the Phillies of the National League who had been a Philadelphia fixture since 1883. The Phillies were understandably not amused at losing several star players and sued the Athletics for their return. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Phillies.John McGraw, who managed the New York Giants of the National League, laughingly called Connie Mack’s franchise a “White Elephant”. It was Mack , however, that had the last laugh. In a move of genius, he traded all the purloined players to Cleveland out of the court’s jurisdiction. Of course, the players could not play in Pennsylvania but that matter was eventually resolved. Without the erstwhile former Phillies, the Athletics captured the American League pennant in 1902 which was only the second year of their existence. The World Series had not yet been instituted, but this was the first of nine A.L. pennants and five World’s Championships that Mack’s men would win.
Pretty wild beginnings for the franchise, huh?
Oh yeah, almost forgot. Rickey Henderson helped that 1981 A’s team a little bit too, Ken.
Regarding Rickey and the 81 A’s, Rickey included mentioning Billy Martin in his outstanding Hall of Fame speech this summer. I didn’t realize how ridiculously true it was when I said that season was largely a result of Billy’s excellent managing (though he burned his pitchers out longer term). I looked at the roster, and aside from Rickey, what a bunch of average Joes on that club.
Charles O. Finley, somehow, was a popular public figure. He wanted orange baseballs, and I wanna say was at the root of the DH implementation, but I could well be wrong. Despite looming free agency, he was the only owner who tried selling key players. I guess his straightforwardness made him popular. Those that dealt up close and personal with him had disdain for him.
Free agency was a funny thing. It was clearly right in principal to a large degree, but so many thought it would destroy the game. Salaries back then were considered outrageous, and I can just imagine what they thought in the Depression driven 30s when Babe Ruth signed for 80k, more than President Hoover, and explained it by pointing out he’d had a better year. In 1966, Koufax and Drysdale held out in unison for 110k and 100k respectively. That was considered a ton of money, and Pete Rose was considered nuts to aspire be the first singles hitter to make 100 grand. And while I never had a definitive view on if it would destroy the game, I remember and still think that the game wouldn’t necessarily shut down or suffer hugely short term. It’s still a battle year in year out based on current media revenues, overall economics, and how much of a used car salesman Scott Boras wants to be in a given year, or for a given client. Course when one is left to guess wha the owner’s revenues are, as you detailed, who knows what fair salaries are considering the uniqueness of the players skills. The Phils sold out 66 home games, lived off popularity of a WS win, and an excellent season, and yet Ruben is telling us the payroll will be the same next year. And Cliff Lee remains unsigned after next year, seemingly decades of millions apart from what he probably can get, and what the Phils will lkely offer. I wonder about that.
It’s a bit fascinating that the A’s were the ones to leave town, as great as some of their seasons were. The 50 Phils win 1 pennant every 35 years, and drive the final nail in the A’s coffin. It had never occurred to me until I read what you wrote about the significance of that timing, obvious as it may have been.
Omar Vizquel is to sign with the White Sox today. I wonder what Julio Franco is doing for dinner tonight.
For me, Rickey was unbelievably fun to watch at that time (the few times I was able to see him——against the Yankees, on the Game of the Week, or in the playoffs——in the days of yore, before all the sports coverage we have now. Caught a lot of highlights on the in-it’s-infancy ESPN, though). I’ve tried to convey to my sons the feeling of everyone——on the field, in the stands, in the booth, listening on the radio, etc——knowing that Rickey was going to run, then seeing him go regardless of the fact, and make it again and again, but it’s tough to get it across.
Funny thing is that, if memory serves, Bob Boone (who we let go because we thought was too old?) was the only AL catcher to have regular success at throwing Rickey out, and he did it well for several years.
I miss watching all the base stealers (Rickey, Tim Raines, etc…) from that era. I enjoyed that element of the game and I liked when it was a regular part of the strategy, as well as the hit-and-run, the suicide squeeze, and those types of plays (the value of an out be damned).
Yeah, free agency has been destroying the game for over 30 years now————proceeding from where you mentioned through the game’s first $1 million man (Nolan Ryan, if memory serves), through the first $3 million man (Kirby Puckett, I believe) a few years later, all the way to A-Rod, and beyond————except that the game is flush with cash and the owners are making more money than ever now, right?
Your mentioning Julio Franco makes me wonder what Von 5-for-1 Hayes is doing for dinner tonight (Manny Trillo, too).
Mark Texiera, or however he spells his God forsaken name finished 2nd in the AL MVP voting today. Had he won, he would have been the first switch hitter in tne AL to win the MVP since _______? No cheating and looking it up. Just guess, and I’ll put the answer way down below this so you can check it immediately rather than wait for an answer.
Off the top of my head, Boone was let go not quite so much because he was old, but because Ozzie Virgil, Jr. was on the horizion. Bob was like Pudge Fisk. Went on to a terrific 2nd half of a long career with the Angels under Gene Mauch. I’m going to guess Boonie was 32 when they let him go which means he would have been born in 1948.
If you think the Adam Eaton free agent signing was bad, and you think Carl Pavano was worse, the original, or very close to it free agent class included a guy named Wayne Garland. He, I believe was with the Orioles, and signed with Cleveland. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hurt his arm as early as signing the contract.
Yeah, check out this 1 season wonder and how he was in the right place at the right time.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/garlawa01.shtml?redir
And the last switch hitter to win MVP honors in the AL was…….
Vida Blue, 1971 aforementioned Oakland (nee Philly) A’s
<<Ozzie Virgil, Jr. was on the horizion>>
Somewhere, Bo Diaz, later killed in a car crash fit in the equation. Diaz was the catcher on the 83 NL title aquad. I believe Diaz was signed as a free agent and later part of the 5 for Von Hayes. My degree of certainty on that being the accurate transaction path is such that I’d be happy to bet somebody else’s lifetime savings on it.
Speaking of increased revenues…This from the Inky…
<<Prices for some tickets to Phillies games will cost more in 2010.
Most of the individual-game tickets to see the National League champions at Citizens Bank Park will cost $2 to $4 more, according to the club.>>
Well, lets see…figure 15000 such seats a game x3 bucks average=45k per date x81=3,645,000 smackers.
And guess what, sports fans. The attendees will no doubt pay more for parking, eats and treats, and you ain’t fashionable unless you have current Phillies attire which they don’t take S&H green stamps for. And the beat goes on.
http://www.buckslocalnews.com/articles/2009/11/18/bucks_sports/doc4b04762cba11c542595472.txt
Some sensible points, and a couple original ideas about the Phils the ext 2 years.
as long as they spend the money, I don’t mind the $2 ticket hike – we are still roughly middle of the pack on ticket prices.
A lot of pitchers on the list. Part of me likes this and part of me is concerned with it. I’ll hold my full thought until after the full list is up.
as long as they spend the money, I don’t mind the $2 ticket hike >>
far be it from me to add the word wisely in there