Philadelphia Phillies: Ranking the Phillies’ Organizational Depth by Position

The Philadelphia Phillies are in the midst of the greatest era of baseball in their entire 121-year history—a history that includes more losses than any other team in Major League Baseball.

Phillies fans have sold out over 140 consecutive games at Citizens Bank Park and they are more than deserving to finally have a consistent winner.

The Philly faithful had to watch slop like the Robert Persons and Omar Daals for far too long. They now have one of the greatest rotations ever assembled (albeit on paper) and a lineup that has a ton of postseason experience.

While Philadelphia sits back and enjoys a top-20 pitcher in baseball start 80 percent of their games, the national media and fans’ perspective is that the Phillies better enjoy their success now because their window is almost closed.

After all, bringing in the top pitcher in the game in Roy Halladay does not come cheaply. Couple that with the fact that the core of this Phillies team (Utley, Howard, Rollins) are not getting any younger and maybe the national audience has a point. The Phillies’ average age last season was 31.9 years of age, by far the oldest in the league.

Are the Phillies the Boston Celtics of the NBA? No, of course not (I HATE the Celtics and Boston for that matter, Go Flyers!).

The Halladay trade continued the Phillies’ recent habit of sending away prospects for elite pitching help; while it looks terrific on the surface, how much do these type of moves deplete the farm system?

The Phillies were gift-wrapped Roy Oswalt last season from the Astros in July, in exchange for J.A. Happ and minor leaguers Anthony Gose and Jonathan Villar.

Even smaller deals, (Joe Blanton in 2008) sent away a significant amount of young talent, but accomplished the goal of keeping the team on top while its nucleus of everyday players is at its peak.

Is the cupboard bare? Absolutely not. In fact, the Phillies have a substantial amount of talent in the minors, especially at the lower levels.

Class A Lakewood has won back-to-back titles, and many players have turned themselves into legitimate prospects over the past two seasons.

It has been mentioned by scouts throughout baseball, “no team has more talent in A-ball than the Phillies.”

How does the future look for the Phillies? In this list, we will take a look at how set the Phil’s are at each position by evaluating their current players and prospects down on the farm.

Which positions need to be addressed via trade or through the draft? Which current players on the Phillies have their position locked down for the next five to 10 years?

Which positions are in good shape for years to come? Here is a ranking of the Phillies’ organizational depth by position.

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