General Minor League News, Discussion

andyb 2020-07-08 21:50:09 UTC #1

We probably need a catch all minor league thread, but there is a 4-team independent minor league baseball league starting on the 10th. Games are going to be broadcast on Fubo Sports Network For people that don't have Fubo, this also streams on the Roku channel and Pluto TV and other free streaming services.

Rosters are here (click on team).

Apparently new draftees are eligible. Did not see any recent Phillies other than Seth Lancaster who was released during spring training. I did see old friends Cameron Rupp, Tommy Joseph, and in a real blast from the past to get CD watching, Kelly Dugan!!!!). Dugan is still only 29 years old and was in independent ball last year.

2019-2020 MLB Non-Phillies News/Notes Discussion

zambonir 2020-07-08 22:13:16 UTC #2

Pete Incaviglia one of the managers (as he has been for the Skeeters in general). Clemens involved too I believe.

julio 2020-07-09 00:13:11 UTC #3

You got it! (You needn’t be shy about just creating one ).

LoneStarPhan 2020-07-09 00:53:43 UTC #4

Dugan in Clearwater
March 2011

bkox 2020-07-09 06:40:06 UTC #5

Based on Dugan's injury history, he probably be the first player on the team to be shut down due to covid.

bigegypt0417 2020-07-10 12:59:58 UTC #6

Keith law discussing the Phillies system...

https://www.philliesnation.com/2020/07/locked-on-phillies-7-10-keith-law-discusses-state-of-the-farm-system/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

nycphils 2020-07-10 13:42:59 UTC #7

Summary of Law’s views on some of our prospects - there is more detail on the pod of course, and he gives opinions on Martin and Abel too.

Medina - power arm, belongs in the bullpen, no idea about how to set up hitters, will be fine when he just goes hard for an inning or two

Francisco Morales - two high quality pitches but zero command/control so no chance as starter unless that changes

Trading Sixto - he’s not a frontline starter, secondary stuff hasn’t quite developed, can’t stay healthy and conditioning issues, was a good deal for the Phillies -too many ifs to be a #1 guy

Spencer Howard - ultimate ceiling depends on changeup b/c RHB have no chance, but change or something else needed for LHB to get to #1/#2 starter

Alec Bohm - thinks he could stick at 3rd, he’s adequate. Footwork and arm fine, conditioning better already

Mickey Moniak - for a #1 pick overall, a complete disaster. At best an extra outfielder. Draft class not great but plenty of better prospects who went in the top 10. Zero pitch recognition.

Liked this year’s draft overall. Didn’t like Almaraz’s philosophy and he had a lot of autonomy. Optimistic that Barber will be better but not enough info on him as scouting director yet.

Philsmania 2020-07-10 19:29:11 UTC #8

nycphils:

Summary of Law’s views on some of our prospects - there is more detail on the pod of course, and he gives opinions on Martin and Abel too.

Medina - power arm, belongs in the bullpen, no idea about how to set up hitters, will be fine when he just goes hard for an inning or two

Francisco Morales - two high quality pitches but zero command/control so no chance as starter unless that changes

Trading Sixto - he’s not a frontline starter, secondary stuff hasn’t quite developed, can’t stay healthy and conditioning issues, was a good deal for the Phillies -too many ifs to be a #1 guy

Spencer Howard - ultimate ceiling depends on changeup b/c RHB have no chance, but change or something else needed for LHB to get to #1/#2 starter

Alec Bohm - thinks he could stick at 3rd, he’s adequate. Footwork and arm fine, conditioning better already

Mickey Moniak - for a #1 pick overall, a complete disaster. At best an extra outfielder. Draft class not great but plenty of better prospects who went in the top 10. Zero pitch recognition.

Liked this year’s draft overall. Didn’t like Almaraz’s philosophy and he had a lot of autonomy. Optimistic that Barber will be better but not enough info on him as scouting director yet.

Medina and Morales almost sound interchangeable.

Interesting thoughts about Sanchez. At the same time, Alfaro has yet to take a big step forward and you have to wonder if what you see is what you get with him. Not bad, but not a star either. If the Phillies can extend Realmuto long-term, that could turn out to be a great trade.

With regard to Moniak I don't think he will turn out to be the worst 1-1 ever but he will clearly be in the lower echelon of them. Him not turning out so well has probably been compounded by their strategy on saving some money by picking him backfiring badly with Gowdy getting hurt, Stobbe turning out to be a bust and Romero stalling at Reading. The Moniak selection was one piece of a puzzle and pretty much all of them went south. We just might feel different about that whole scenario if Stobbe and Gowdy completed strong Reading seasons in 2019 while Romero made his ML debut at some point last season. Instead, we have what appears to be a complete wipeout.

bigegypt0417 2020-07-10 19:48:12 UTC #9

Brien Taylor will always be the worst 1:1.

allentown 2020-07-10 21:47:37 UTC #10

But Taylor had a tremendous amount of talent, but as I recall was injured (bar fight?)

zambonir 2020-07-10 21:58:51 UTC #11

I mean, TNSTAAPP, but he didn't get hurt pitching, so it was definitely freakish. Taylor's perceived to be the worst because he was the first guy in decades who didn't make the majors. The second is still on our restricted list.

allentown 2020-07-10 22:03:33 UTC #12

If one is inclined to consider him the worst, his very large bonus for the time would also be a factor. I can't see him as the worst because his pitching talent matched the scouting evaluation. He started in high-A and did very well, then had another good season in AA prior to the injury. I see the Moniak pick as worse, because his minor league performance just hasn't shown that the talent was there. It was a scouting error and Gillick may have had a very heavy thumb on the scale. I concede that one could argue that Moniak wasn't as bad as Taylor, because he signed at a discount and likely will make MLB as a 4th or 5th OF.

bigegypt0417 2020-07-12 01:25:40 UTC #13

Tweet from albertus barber...

https://twitter.com/AlbertusBarber/status/1282044138251333636?s=09

bkeich 2020-07-12 03:02:38 UTC #14

Yes, one could say that Taylor was a worse pick than Moniak, but I think that is incorrect. Taylor was largely undone by injuries, that is unforseen bad luck. Moniak clearly lacks the talent to be a high draft pick, and did from his first at bat

Moniak to me is a worse pick. He is actually doing about as well as one could expect a quick but not fast, low power outfielder to do, he just isn't talented enough to be more than he is, that is the problem. Not his fault that he has later round talent.

Taylor had the talent to succeed it just didn't work out, but no one could have known that on draft day. Moniak was a bad gamble as he really is currently playing up to what the expectation should have been.

zambonir 2020-07-12 04:08:00 UTC #15

That is still just hindsight though. It was more or less a coin-flip draft, even if you don't factor money into it. Moniak was undoubtedly a first-round talent, and a Top 10 if not Top 5 talent. And any time you take a HS player you are trading floor for ceiling. He just hasn't lived up to any of the projections (hit tool, defense, growing into power). But his story isn't also done.

The original conversation was 1-1 which is a high bar, but obviously he was not as bad a pick as Randolph, and if Haseley is no more than a 4th OF that will still be a disappointing pick (which doesn't mean it was a bad one).

gmwannabe 2020-08-13 01:00:37 UTC #16

oh Man!! just had a brief elation for about 5 seconds. Coming home a few minutes ago i looked to my right and saw the lights on at RPhils stadium. i had visions of summer baseball at the park. kevin gowdy 4 innings 2 hits 5 K's and then i came back to reality. must have had a summer league game there this evening. it was fun, to dream, for an instant.
gm

allentown 2020-08-13 15:53:53 UTC #17

But, what was his ceiling? His carrying tool was supposed to be the hit tool, but he seems average in that. He isn't much more than average speed and not a plus defensive CF. This seems like a scouting error, because the skill set of a top 5/10 pick just wasn't there. His skills seem well short of Duggan's and he wasn't a first rounder.

Philsmania 2020-08-13 16:40:31 UTC #18

I'm on the Reading organization's email list and my business has an office in Reading as well. In addition to local teams playing there, they've also had a number of socially distant concerts, movie nights and family fun nights there.

zambonir 2020-08-13 19:44:14 UTC #19

My recollection is Moniak's ceiling was supposed to be Steve Finley, which some still found underwhelming though his career stats say otherwise. MM's defense has clearly fallen well short of that comparison, as his his hit tool... to say nothing of the power they were wishing on (which even Steve Finley had).

But if it was a scouting error I reckon all teams (and pundits) made the same one, nobody didn't think he wasn't a Top 6-8 talent, if not a clear Top 5.

andyb 2020-08-13 19:48:18 UTC #20

We'll never really know. He was a consensus top 10 pick, but I imagine half the teams liked him and half did not. We are the ones who took him, so we can really only be certain that we were among the teams that liked him.