Phils Could Restock Farm With Draft
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Wed, June 04, 2008 01:39 PM | Comments: 19
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Thursday is the MLB First-Year Player Draft. The Phillies have the 24th pick in the first round, then have another five before the third round is through. That’s six picks of the first 110. Or, the Phils have 5 percent of the first 110 picks.
Because of the collection of picks, the “better but not great” status of the farm system and the “big but small market” team philosophy, basically everyone is saying this is an important draft for the Phils. Maybe the most important in the Bill Giles/Dave Montgomery era.
What do the Phillies need? It seems it’s power, and power at third base and in the outfield (or a shortstop) should be the most pressing needs. Phils’ scouting director Marti Wolever says he wants a position player first, if it suits best. Possible choices include (with quotes by Baseball Prospectus’ Kevin Goldstein):
Zach Collier, OF, Chino Hills High School – “Collier is a nice find here. Once seen as a top 15 pick, Collier’s game is a bit on the crude side, but his tools all grade out well, and many think his potential ranks with any high school position player out there.”
Anthony Hewitt, SS, Salisbury School - “Some think he’s the next Bo Jackson, and some think he’ll never get out of A-ball, but he offers more to dream on than anyone in a draft that offers few players with elite-level upside.”
Isaac Galloway, OF, Los Osos High School - “Many thought he’d be a sure-fire pick in the first 15 by now, but his unquestionably great tools didn’t play as well as the should have this year, so now he’s more of a risk than he was thought to be three months ago.”
But you really can’t tell what happens until they get there. Last year they took Joe Savery with their first pick, and it wasn’t likely they’d grab a pitcher. We do know the Phils will look very closely at drafting players whose value won’t hinder them financially.
“We’re budgeted to take good players. We’re going to get good players.”
That’s Asst. GM Mike Arbuckle, per Jim Salisbury. The Phils have a history of drafting players that won’t cost them much and not giving more than recommended to other players. It’s possible they can go the safe route by taking players who won’t cost much, and players whose recent concerns have lowered their value (such as a Savery, Kyle Drabek and Cole Hamels).
No matter how you slice it, it’s an important draft.
The early picks: 24, 34, 51, 71, 102, 110, 136.
The needs: Third base (collegiate-level), outfield (power), shortstop (high school-level), right-handed pitcher.
Posts: 0 Phil
I think we need a collegiate level 1B with lots of power considering Howard will probably be gone very soon.
Posted: 02:01 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
This is where they need to make big statements. They can be accused of being cheap at the big league level, fine and that can be argued even though i think they are a little cheap at that level.
but they have been REALLY cheap at the draft/farm system level. they need to upgrade their farm system significantly so that they CAN afford to deal some prospects in a big deadline trade. they really need to hit on some of these guys, desperately. theyve got some guys already 30 and older in the outfield (burrell, jenkins,taguchi), third base (feliz), in the rotation (moyer), in the bullpen (gordon, seanez), and even though resigning him for 4 years is a no brainer, lidge is 30 or 31. coste is like 34 already, lol, and ruiz is someone that alreayd needs to be replaced. so theres a bunch of guys that will almost all likely need to be succeeded in 5 yeras while some will need replaced next year and some will need replaced in 2-3 years.
some of those guys will be replaced by trade, free agency, or some of the current high-ranked prospects (golson, carrasco, marson, etc) but there will still be some yet unforeseen spots to fil in 3-5 years. the bottom line is that this draft class will need to be either be on this roster (first 2-3 picks) or in AA or AAA and near ready in 5 years or good enough to be included in a package for whichever legit player/pitcher they might need in a trade.
this is a team thats ready to win a championship right now providing they do what we have already discussed. however, in 3-5 years this is a team that will start to get old and they will be in desperate need of new blood to form around cole hamels, kyle kendrick and some other younger core players/pitchers that i expect to find in this draft, next draft and from our own systme right now. chase utley and jimmy rollins will both be 34 in 5 years. still great, im sure, but older and wiser for sure. that will be the next nucleus that this team will rely on heavily in the future.
great teams draft well, and i expect this draft and next years draft to be huge drafts and provide for the future of this team.
Posted: 02:03 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Rollins and Utley will probably be able to play until they’re 40 assuming they stay healthy. They’re both in good shape and SS and 2B have more longevity than other position’s because of the need to keep themselves in shape. They’ll be around for a while and will retire in Phillies uniforms.
Posted: 02:07 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
Oh theyll def be phillies for life. I wouldnt be surprised if both play until age 40 either assuming they are healthy. Chase Utley has the potential to be considered among the greatest of all time if he stays healthy and performs at an elite level for another 10 seasons.
if theyre still playing at that age then go ahead and trade the prospects taht they are blocking and develop guys for another few years behind them and so on until theyre nearing the end of their playing days.
Posted: 02:25 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
Utley and Rollins both have said they want to retire in Phillies uniforms. Burrell has too. I guarantee you they’ll both play at top notch level until they’re in their late 30′s. Look at Jeter, that guy still plays well and he’s pushing 40. Omar Vizquel, Miguel Tejada, Craig Biggio. There are plenty of other SS and 2B that play forever and play well. Utley and Rollins won’t be any differently. We’ll have the best middle infielders for many many years to come.
Posted: 02:30 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 1650 Tim Malcolm
Phil: I wouldn’t be surprised if when Howard leaves, Utley slides to first base (or Burrell, if he’s here). Adrian Cardenas is still a hot possibility to play 2B for the Phils in 2010.
Posted: 02:33 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 Lokey
We need a third baseman that can be ready in about 2 or 2 1/2 years
Posted: 02:40 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
That’s why they said collegiate level 3B.
Posted: 02:50 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
Yeah they def need a feliz replacement. Hell serve out his two year deal and then be out of here. I agree that third base, outfield, and of course pithcing shoudl be the priority here.
Posted: 02:51 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 Matt Kwasiborski
Hopefully, our team doctors will be able to obtain sound medical reports on the higher end draft picks. I am getting a little sick and tired of reading about how they took a HS picther who “fell” to them only to see them go down (Drabek) or will go down (Savery) one day.
We got extremely lucky that Hamels has been a productive MLB picther because he was also an injury-riddled HS picther who “fell” to us.
The odds of a healthy highly drafted pitcher making the team are long and we keep drafting injured or worn down ones. Pitching is what counts the most as we know.
We could use some depth at 3B, SS, C. I only say SS because Rollins will not play for another 10 years; so we need to find an adequate replacement if he chooses to leave or not.
Those who take athletes at their word (Burrell, Rollins, Utley, et al) should know better by now.
Posted: 02:52 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 Phil
I think Rollins will play another 10 yeas. The guy is in incredible shape.
Posted: 02:55 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 Don M
Derek Jeter is 34 years old…. Utley is 29 already…. I think he will definitely shift to 1b at some point in his career because you can play that position forever unlike a middle infielder… which is why Omar Vizquel is amazing… he has like 49 Gold Gloves (actually 11…but that is a insane)
Posted: 03:34 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 1650 Tim Malcolm
Matt: I think we’re good with catcher, considering Lou Marson is being slated as an everyday catcher and is 22. We do also have Jason Jaramillo, who lacks Marson’s offensive punch but is suitable in a backup role. Ruiz, while not great, could be a cheap backup.
Posted: 03:45 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
3rd base, corner outfielder, left handed pitcher, right handed pitcher, first base are the top things id focus on.
Posted: 03:51 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 Brian G.
What’s the best way to find out if they’re gonna play the game tonight?
Posted: 05:32 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 1650 Tim Malcolm
I believe they can call a game at the earliest 1.5 hours before, so they could now. But we know nothing yet. I say listen to WIP or either keep it here or check the Phils site.
Posted: 05:40 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 Andy Reid
The phillies should trade their first round pick then take a 2B with their 2nd round pick. The rest of the draft should consist of projects from Division III schools who never played against top competition. Lastly, make sure you grab at least 4 defensive tackles. Oh, and Billy King told me to tell you to grab a 20 year old swingman with no experience
Posted: 10:50 PM on June 4, 2008
Posts: 0 VA Steve
My vote, take the best overall athlete available at the point of selection. Unlike other sports, it is virtually impossible to tell how a selection will pan out. Start drafting by need, and I’m afraid you set yourself up for failure. If the best selections available for the Phils happen to all be pitchers at their respective slots, take ‘em.
Posted: 07:21 AM on June 5, 2008
Posts: 0 Ron
First off, you cant go off of what is going on in AAA; AAA is the island of unwanted toys and I think is actually a public works program started by gov. Rendell. You really want to look at AA and down for the prospects. Lou Marson will be the future at catcher, Jason Donald’s future is at 3B ( if he can play SS, then he can play 3rd), greg golson should be up next here at the latest and will help bring back the speed lost with the trading of bourn. carrasco, bastardo, and outman are nice, young pitchers who will come in and create parity in the staff. Of course, if things get flimsy with Howard, we could trade him, move Utley to 1st and bring up Adrian Cardenas. cardenas has hit over .300 at every level he’s played at and may be the diet pepsi version of rod carew. The phillies have produced Howard, Utley, Rollins, Burrell, hamels, happ, eaton, myers, madsen, and kendrick, so i have no doubt that the above mentioned players in the minors. I remember hearing Paul Owens once say that if you produce two good major leaguers from every draft, then that draft is a success. lets other teams refuse to take our talent, its their loss. Instead I will feel comfortable that when a young guy is called up midseason, he will suceed, just like howard, kendrick, and happ have. Adieu my friends, till we meet again
Posted: 12:11 AM on July 12, 2008