MLB Draft 2012: Ranking 25 Worst Draft Busts in Philadelphia Phillies History

Major League Baseball’s amateur draft can be like one giant crap-shoot.

Sure, the draft has come a long way since it’s inception and nowadays, is more like a science than an art. But it’s not a perfect science. When it comes time to make a choice on draft day, teams have to man up and take a gamble.

No draft pick is guaranteed success.

That’s what makes this event both a blessing and a curse. Teams can find themselves banking their future on a “can’t miss” prospect that eventually misses. Then what do you do. On the converse, teams can build their future with the call of a single name.

The possibilities are endless. Teams can grow sour with their draft picks, believe they’re a bust, and do away with them. Josh Hamilton says hello.

But for the Philadelphia Phillies, it has been a murky situation. This is an organization that hasn’t always put the effort into building a winner, so if you’re looking for anything with numbers in this franchise, check out the “draft busts” category.

For a long time, the Phillies weren’t on Lady Luck’s good side. Even when they tried to make a good pick they failed. It created a long history of huge busts for the organization, and with draft day right around the corner again this year, now seems like as good a time as ever to see where the Phillies of the past went wrong.

Here are the Phillies’ 25 biggest draft busts.

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Philadelphia Phillies: May Report Cards for All 25 Players on the Roster

From the first pitch on Opening Day to this point in the season, the Philadelphia Phillies have realistically had one mind-set about their approach: survive.

What are they surviving, you ask? Well, that’s a simple answer. Injuries.

The Phillies are missing big parts of their roster, including Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Vance Worley and others, and the mind-set has always been that it’s going to get better. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

But as the injuries continue to pile up, the mind-set may have to change. Roy Halladay’s status moving forward is uncertain. Jimmy Rollins is struggling to get things going at the plate.

With most of their injured players still quite some time away, the Phillies may have to convince themselves to survive another month.

That’s what they’ve been doing throughout the month of May, and it hasn’t been a terrible approach. The Phillies have had some success this month thanks to a handful of players, and it is time once again to hand out those monthly grades.

Which players need to stay the course, and which players need to turn things around if this team wants to survive the month of June?

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MLB Draft 2012: Ranking Top 20 Draft Steals in Philadelphia Phillies History

As an organization, the Philadelphia Phillies haven’t had much success with the amateur draft.

There are plenty of reasons for that little factoid, but none of them are overly important. The fact of the matter is that, throughout this club’s history, when it came time to show some results through the draft, they’ve had far more failures than successes.

But that doesn’t mean that there haven’t been a few good stories buried in that landfill that is a draft history.

The Phillies have had their fair share of “steals” in the draft over the course of time, and for the sake of this slideshow, we’ll be defining a “steal” in this manner.

A “steal” is a player that you never thought would wind up with your organization. It is a player that has had a certain degree of success at the MLB level, but was passed over by other teams for some reason or another. They’ve had to overcome adversity to excel, but if you had to go back and re-draft certain years, they’d be right at the top.

That’s a “steal” in the draft, and the Phillies have had a couple of those, despite their inefficiencies.

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2012 MLB Draft: Grading the Philadelphia Phillies’ Last 25 First-Round Picks

The MLB draft has come a long way in recent years.

During its first year in 1965, the amateur draft was a crapshoot, and in a lot of ways, it still is. But that hasn’t stopped every front office around the game from trying to turn it into a science—a methodology that helps them choose the best player available.

It’s a lot of work. From scouting young players in high school or college across the country, to doing homework on every player available, to attempting to figure out how each of a club’s potential draft picks would fit into the budget and finally selecting a guy on draft day.

It can make a team’s collective and proverbial head spin.

As far as the Philadelphia Phillies are concerned, the amateur draft has been both a blessing and a curse. It has rewarded them with some of the greatest players in franchise history and some of the biggest draft busts of all time.

So with another draft right around the corner in 2012, it’s time to look back on the last 25 drafts in Phillies history in an attempt to find out what went right, and what went horribly wrong.

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One Tell-All Stat About All 25 Philadelphia Phillies Players

The Philadelphia Phillies‘ season has had more twists and turns and ups and downs than a roller coaster built into the side of a mountain range this season, and the truth of the matter is that, with some of their big names still out of the lineup, we haven’t seen anything yet.

So while the Phillies have been anything but predictable this season, the one thing they have been is interesting, and we all knew that was going to be the case.

After all, they have the pitching. Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels have been stellar, but did anyone expect to have to keep an eye on Roy Halladay? How about Joe Blanton’s hot start or Jonathan Papelbon’s saves streak?

We knew that the absence of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard would hurt the Phillies’ lineup, but who expected Hunter Pence’s streaky year or Carlos Ruiz’s MVP-like campaign?

To say that the early part of the season was a struggle for the Phillies would be a drastic understatement, but now, right in the thick of the month of May, it sure seems as though this club is starting to fire on all cylinders as they wait for the return of their All-Star, right side of the infield.

But baseball is a funny sport, and sometimes, words don’t tell the entire story. Stats do. So if you’re looking for one tell-tale stat for each Phillies’ player currently on the 25-man roster, look no further.

Here’s why certain guys are on fire and others are still struggling.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Grading Every GM in Franchise History

Being a general manager in MLB can be incredibly rewarding or incredibly infuriating. Of course, as with most things in this game, that depends on just how successful you are.

If you were the general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980 or 2008, you’ll probably never have to pay for another meal in this town. The math is simple: When a GM’s team is going well, he rides on cloud nine. He becomes the master assembler who fit all of the pieces together, like the perfect jigsaw puzzle.

General managers for losing teams don’t have as much fun as their winning colleagues. When the product on the field is less than impressive, the general manager shoulders a large chunk of the blame. They made all of the wrong decisions. The pieces don’t fit.

Anyone with a passing knowledge of the Phillies’ history knows that they have had their share of each of those seasons—the really good ones and the really bad ones. They’ve even had a quite a few average ones.

Looking at what the future holds for this club, particularly just how hot Ruben Amaro, Jr.’s seat would be if this Phillies club missed the postseason, I thought it would be fun to take a look back at each of the Phillies’ 11 general managers.

Each general manager will have two slides. The first will give a brief review of their tenure, including some of their best and worst transactions as well as draft picks (if applicable), and the second will feature my grade of said general manager. Who’s been the best? Who knows. But one thing is certain.

It’s been the good, the bad and the ugly.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 25 Most Disappointing Seasons in Franchise History

Fans of the Philadelphia Phillies are no stranger to the meaning of the word “disappointment.” While this current string of division titles may ease the pain just a bit, you don’t lose 10,000 games as a franchise without having more than a fair share of disappointing seasons.

As with any disappointment, some hurt worse than others.

Combine that previous statement with the fact that baseball can be a funny sport and it’s the perfect storm for a tidal wave of disappointment from time to time. Teams can look great on paper and not make the postseason. That’s disappointing.

Some teams make it all the way to the World Series, and win or lose, miss the postseason all together just a year later. That’s disappointing as well.

The Phillies are a franchise who have disappointed in more ways than a single man could ever distinguish, and the 2012 season is shaping up to be no different. This is a roster studded with talent and experience. If they missed the postseason, it would be one of the most disappointing seasons ever. In fact, it would rank ninth on this list.

So while the 2012 version of the Phillies attempt to turn things around, let’s take a look at what they’re trying to avoid: Joining the 25 most disappointing teams in franchise history.

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Philadelphia Phillies: 25 Consequences If They Miss the 2012 Playoffs

For the last couple of seasons, the attitude towards Philadelphia Phillies baseball has been “World Series or bust.” Anything other than a victory in the Fall Classic is considered a drastic disappointment, so can you imagine what the attitude towards Phillies baseball would be if the club missed the postseason entirely in 2012?

I can. It would be an ugly situation.

There’s no reason the Phillies should be in a position to miss the postseason. No excuses. Sure, they’ve had their share of injuries, but with a payroll just shy of $175 million, this should be a club with depth in multiple positions, and right now, it’s not.

This is a payroll chock-full of former All-Stars failing to live up to their reputations, under-performing veterans, and even a few rookies who have yet to cut their teeth. One thing is certain: They don’t resemble the contender that a lot of pundits picked to win the National League East before Opening Day. 

The Phillies have the talent to turn this ship around, but what if they don’t? If the Phillies fail to make the postseason this year, there will be serious repercussions moving forward, and depending upon their level of failure, things could get ugly for this club before the postseason even comes into focus.

Missing the playoffs could be big trouble for this club. Here’s why.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Each Player’s Trade Risk If They Fall out of It in July

Well, things haven’t gone as expected for the Philadelphia Phillies this season.

Coming into this season, they were expected to be the bunch of grizzled veterans that would be able to ride out the injury storm and keep their heads above water, playing like a force to be reckoned with at the top of the National League East and striking fear into the hearts of the rest of the division with the return of their All-Star right side of the infield.

That won’t be happening.

It’s been a long time since the Phillies found themselves in the cellar of the NL East for an extended period of time, and that is what is happening early in the season. The lineup is floundering, the bullpen is in shambles, and injuries are taking their toll on this team’s morale. 

While it’s still way too early to suggest that the Phillies won’t be in contention by the trade deadline, it is no stretch to suggest that this team is a shell of its former self.

What happens if the Phillies are still in the cellar when July rolls around? Will they look to trade some of their big roster players? You can bet your bottom dollar they will, but who is safe and who goes?

Time to find out.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Predicting ETA of Top 25 Prospects to MLB

Even after struggling through the first month of 2012, things are going pretty well for the Philadelphia Phillies right now. After all, it wasn’t all too long ago that the Phillies were an annual last-place club, stuck in the cellar for what seemed like an eternity.

It was during that time period when prospect watching became somewhat of a hobby for diehard Phillies fans. When the product on the field at the MLB level was garbage, fans craved updates on the farm system. They wanted to know which players they could invest their hopes in for the future.

Fans yearned for the day when slick-fielding, sweet-swinging second baseman Chase Utley would play in the MLB. They wanted to see the left-handed starter with the filthy changeup—Cole Hamels—or the massive first baseman with incredible power that unseated Jim Thome—Ryan Howard.

Things are a bit different in today’s game. Scouting has become a science, and the Phillies don’t have many blue-chip prospects. However, there are certainly some reinforcements on the way for this club. Let’s take a look at some of the Phillies’ top prospects and just when they could be playing in the MLB.

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