Philadelphia Phillies: Bold Predictions for Phillies’ Top 25 Prospects in 2012

The Philadelphia Phillies have invested a lot of time and money into the future of the franchise, and when you dig into the facts, it shows. Though the Phillies have been competitive at the MLB level for quite some time now, they’ve also been quite competitive in building the farm system in order to sustain the big-league roster.

How they’ve used that system has varied. Fans of the club will see the fruits of those labors in Major League talents like Chase Utley or Cole Hamels, or similarly, in players acquired from other clubs, like Hunter Pence or Roy Halladay. Inversely, most of the fruits of that labor are yet to be seen.

Though prospects are certainly no guarantee to work out at the major league level, teams spend top dollar on resources to help them make sound decisions, and the Phillies are no different. This list will analyze the Phils’ top 25 prospects and offer a bold prediction or two about what 2012 has in store for each of these players.

Before we begin, however, it is important to note that the actual ranking here is secondary. The top 10 prospects on this list were organized by esteemed baseball scouting organization Baseball America, and the rest were filled in by yours truly.

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Picking the Philadelphia Phillies’ MVP for Each of the Last 25 Seasons

In good times, and in bad times. In sickness, and in health.

For those who have watched the Philadelphia Phillies play baseball over the last 25 seasons, that has been the feeling. Though the marriage has been rocky at times, specifically, through most of the 1990s and into the early 2000s, those who have been able to endure have been rewarded, the highlight of the agreement—a big, shiny World Series trophy in 2008.

It hasn’t been easy. The club has featured superstars and replacement level players. Stars have demanded trades that would send them as far away from the Phillies as possible, and then again, players would only waive their trade rights if the Phils came calling.

In the last 25 years, they said that Veterans Stadium needed to go. It was old and decrepit and sucking the life out of the franchise, and it did. Thus, Citizens Bank Park was built. In its infancy, they said that pitchers would never come to Philadelphia to play there, and now that time has worn on, the Phillies have the best pitching staff in baseball.

The point is this: Things change. People change.

However, one thing that absolutely can not change from season to season is that no matter how good or how bad a club may be, they’ll have a best player. Whether that player was the cream of the crop or the best of a bunch of mediocre guys, the Phillies have had a team Most Valuable Player over each of the 25 seasons.

Some players won’t come as much of a surprise, but others…Well, you’ll just have to read on to find out.

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25 Most Eccentric Players in Philadelphia Phillies History

By some accounts, you have to have a few screws loose in the old dome if you’re going to play Major League Baseball, so there aren’t many “normal” players in the game. That influx of interesting personality has opened a door that leads to a Twilight Zone-like realm of screwy baseball players and, perhaps sadly, a lot of them have played for the Philadelphia Phillies.

In fact, looking back over their long history, would it be wrong to say that the Phillies have been the most eccentric franchise of all-time? After all, not only do they have some of baseball’s zaniest players, but they’ve had whole teams of guys who you could call, well, special.

In order to accurately describe the guys on this list, however, we’re going to need a reference point, and that reference point is going to be “eccentric,” which is defined as “unconventional and slightly strange.” If you ask me, I think that’s the perfect word to describe most of the Phillies’ history.

So now that we have found some common ground, let’s get to it. We’re taking a look at some of the most unconventional, slightly strange, wacky, zany, and just plain odd players the Phillies have ever had.

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30 Philadelphia Phillies Fun Facts You Didn’t Know

When you’re around for nearly 130 years, you’re bound to generate a few interesting tidbits that cause the casual fan to stop, think, and say, “Are you serious?”

In regards to the Philadelphia Phillies, however, we’ve already heard most of those facts over and over again. Yes, we know that Roy Halladay won the Cy Young Award in both leagues and was the second person in baseball history to throw a no-hitter. We know the Phillies have won five straight division titles. Their starting rotation was more than the best in 2011—it was one of the best of all-time.

We know.

But there are a number of other tidbits that have been generated throughout the course of the Phillies’ long history, some of which are almost too unbelievable to be true—but I assure you, they are. So beyond all of the obvious facts and numbers crunching, there exists an odd realm of Phillies’ history. Let’s explore.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Domonic Brown and 25 Creative Ways to Get Younger

Contrary to popular belief, reducing the age of a Major League roster while maintaining its competitive nature is not a simple task, but it is a challenge that the Philadelphia Phillies have faced over the last couple of seasons and will face with growing importance over the coming seasons.

The question is an obvious one with difficult answers: How can a team locked into veteran contracts create an influx of young talent while remaining on top of a division growing in talent?

It’s not going to be easy.

While the Phillies have young talent they can rely on, they are certainly not the Tampa Bay Rays or Oakland Athletics. The Phillies are a big-market team that will have to spend money to draw fans, but in the near future, they’ll have to realize that you can’t build a team of 30-something players heading for a decline.

With that being said, however, the Phillies also realize that there aren’t many obvious methods of reducing the age of their roster.

In this slideshow, we’ll take a look at how the Phillies can “get younger,” but remain a National League East powerhouse in the process.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Ranking 25 Boldest Moves in Franchise History

Nothing says “off-season” quite like being bombarded by an onslaught of bizarre and seemingly impossible trade and free agent rumors, only to learn that some of them are actually much more concrete than a simple rumor: they’re real. 

The Philadelphia Phillies know a thing or two about deals that sound so absurd they must be false, but, well, aren’t. Over the last few seasons alone, they haven’t limited themselves to the winter months to strike such a deal. They’ve made big trades during the season, signed big free agents during the winter, and shocked the baseball world with their savvy negotiations.

Simply put, they’ve made some bold moves.

This trend is not new, however. Throughout the history of the Phillies’ franchise, they’ve been making some pretty bold statements. As we sit and ponder the next big transaction, let’s take a look to the past. Here are the boldest transactions in the history of the Phillies: some good, some not so much.

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Philadelphia Phillies: Power Ranking 20 Oddest Moments in Franchise History

Baseball can be a strange game.

Not the kind of strange that forces the casual fan to turn their head away from the action, but the kind of strange that forces the avid fan to lean back, raise an eyebrow and say, “That is something I may never see again in my lifetime.”

Fans of the Philadelphia Phillies are well aware of the meaning of “strange baseball.” Their team has helped to give those simple words a definition over the course of its history. From position players taking the mound, to waiting for an opponent to answer nature’s call, to watching their beloved mascot and a rival’s beloved manager resort to fisticuffs.

In the City of Brotherly Love, you could say that normal situations are strange, and that strange situations, are the norm.

Photo Credit: www.housethatglanvillebuilt.blogspot.com 

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Philadelphia Phillies: 40 Bold Predictions over the Next Five Years

A lot can happen over a span of five years.

In the game of baseball in particular, five years is quite a long time. It’s enough time for clubs that have been at the bottom of their division to capture that division’s title, and enough time for powerhouses to fall to the bottom of the pile.

Five years is long enough for some of the game’s top talent to take over at the MLB level, but it is also enough time for some top talent to fizzle out in the Minor Leagues before making their debut. On the same scale, we’ll watch All-Stars begin or continue reigns of dominance as the game’s elite, but we’ll also see our fair share of one-hit wonders, streaky players, and those who never live up to their talents.

We’ll see plenty of free agent contracts signed. Some will be bargains and others will become a team’s albatross. We’ll see teams strike big deals that change the course of their franchise, and maybe some that hurt the future. We’ll also see little trades with big consequences. Simply put, anything can happen over five years time.

What does five years hold in store for the Philadelphia Phillies?

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25 Greatest Players to Begin Their Careers with the Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies know first hand the importance of developing Major League talent within the organization.

A quick look at the Phillies’ roster in 2008, the year the club won its second World Series title, shows that building talent from within is imperative to winning a championship. Would they have been able to capture the National League pennant and the World Series without the contributions of Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, and so on and so forth? The simple answer is no.

Major League teams have realized this. After all, it is a pretty simple observation. That’s why we’ve seen the rapid, gigantic growth of the scouting and player development part of the game that was nearly non-existent in the not-too-distant past.

The Phillies have done their job of kick starting some legendary careers—that much is for certain. Once again, knowing the value of building from within has helped the Phils in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. They’ve had their share of busts, but they’ve also produced a few Hall of Famers.

Qualifying for this list is simple—a player had to play his first game in the MLB as a member of the Phillies. However, in order to keep this list relevant to the Phils, players will be ranked in order of their effectiveness to the Phillies’ organization.

So that’s it. This list demonstrates the value of building an organization from the ground up. Here are 25 of the greatest players to begin their careers with the Phillies

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Philadelphia Phillies: 25 Prospects Closest to Making an Impact in MLB

Truth be told, the Major League roster of the Philadelphia Phillies is getting old quickly, and reinforcements aren’t exactly on their way.

Believe it or not, there is a price for being an annual contender, and it runs much deeper than large payrolls and All-Star talent. Nine out of ten times, that price is paid by the farm system, be it in terms of forfeiting top draft selections to sign certain free agents or more appropriately as far as the Phillies are concerned, to acquire top talent from other teams.

Beginning with the 2009 trade deadline and right up through the 2011 season, the Phillies have moved some of the best prospects in baseball around the league to bring players like Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Hunter Pence to Philadelphia, and while those players have exponentially helped the Phillies, they certainly did not come cheap.

For example, just take a look at the Houston Astros‘ top ten prospects, as told by Baseball America. For those of you who believe the Phillies did any “fleecing” of the Astros’ organization, time to wake up and see the talent sent to Houston. Jonathan Singleton (1), Jarred Cosart (2), and Domingo Santana (6) were all a part of the trade that sent Pence to Philly. Jonathan Villar (4) was a part of the Roy Oswalt deal.

Don’t be so foolish as to think that Houston is the only team that has cashed in on the Phillies’ farm system. Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, and Jason Donald have all made the MLB with the Cleveland Indians. Kyle Drabek has donned a Toronto Blue Jays‘ uniform, and Anthony Gose (swapped with Houston) and Travis D’Arnaud are both top prospects.

That’s just to name a few.

However, that isn’t to say that the Phillies’ farm system is barren, but more so that its top talent simply isn’t very close to the Major League. There are a few interesting players that could impact the big league club in the near future, but the best prospects are still years away.

So as we list the 25 Phillies’ prospect quickest to have an impact on the MLB, it is important to remember two things: These prospects are not listed in order of talent or projection and just because they’re on this list does not mean that we’ll be seeing them in Philadelphia any time soon.

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