OT: Philadelphia Phillies (MLB): Offseason edition

[JDinkalage Morgoone]

Any expectations/predictions on Appel for next year?

 

[Hurricane28]

Any expectations/predictions on Appel for next year?

I just want to see him excel after having a rough 2015

 

[Tankadelphia]

USA Today predicts the Phillies to be the worst team in 2016

 

[Tankadelphia]

a .319/.414/.539 career hitter, bell's peak season came in 2007 when he hit for 31 home runs and 111 runs-batted-in over just 90 games with the avispas de santiago de cuba. Bell spent the entirety of last season with the quebec capitales of the canadian-american association, where he hit .317/.363/.424 with 18 extra-base hits in 59 games.

Bell must first be cleared by major league baseball before he is made an unrestricted free agent. Given his age and years of professional experience, notes rosenthal, he would not count against the phillies' international bonus pool limits if signed.

espinosa-dash said that bell, 5 feet 7 and 187 pounds according to baseball-reference.com, ran the 60-yard dash in 6.4 seconds in a workout on wednesday, displaying better than average speed. His career slash line in cuban’s professional league is .319/.417/.547, and he had nearly as many walks (431) as strikeouts (439) in 3,441 plate appearances. “in those olympics, he was in his prime, a raul mondesi-type who could run and throw, had power — he was the guy,” the scout said. “he’s not the same player now. I know he has numbers in cuba. But he’s not the same powerful little guy, little but strong.”

 

[Tankadelphia]

Phillies with 5 in Keith Law's top 10:

4. J.P. Crawford

A plus defender at short with high OBPs, speed and 35-40 doubles a year is an All-Star in our current offensive environment, and Crawford seems like he’ll be ready to reach the majors and start providing that glovework by the end of this year.

63. Jake Thompson

He has great feel for pitching and is very aggressive on the mound, pitching a bit like a guy with bigger stuff, which is why he seems so likely to become at least a back-end starter. He has the mentality and command to become a mid-rotation guy in time.

68. Mark Appel

Even as is, he’s a fourth starter in the big leagues, but getting into a new player development system, one in which he can get back to his style of pitching, should be the best thing for him.

74. Nick Williams

A low-OBP center fielder who can poke 20 homers is a big league regular, and if Williams can find a more patient approach that lasts more than three weeks, he could be a lot more.

82. Jorge Alfaro

There is a good argument to be made that it’s easier to fix one problem than two, meaning the Phillies should just put Alfaro in right field and tell him to pretend he’s Vlad Guerrero. But if he can just be an average receiver, maybe just a fringy framer, with that arm and that power, he could still be worth several wins per year. Power from behind the plate is so scarce that only seven catchers have reached 25 homers in any single year in the past five seasons, and we’ve seen only 28 20-homer seasons from catchers in that span, six of them fromBrian McCann. So here’s hoping the trade was the wake-up call Alfaro needed to start acting like a catcher and work on game-calling and pitch-framing and all the stuff that makes the job so hard, because he has All-Star appearances riding on his willingness to do just that.

Also with 5 in BA's top 100:
#6 J.P. Crawford
#27 Nick Williams
#75 Jake Thompson
#88 Cornelius Randolph
#96 Andrew Knapp

 

[Tankadelphia]

Top 20 Phillies Prospects from Keith Law as well:
J.P. Crawford
Jake Thompson
Mark Appel
Nick Williams
Jorge Alfaro
Scott Kingery
Cornelius Randolph
Franklyn Kilome
Ricardo Pinto
Rhys Hoskins
Roman Quinn
Thomas Eshelman
Carlos Tocci
Nick Pivetta
Darnell Sweeney
Andrew Knapp
Arquimedez Gamboa
Dylan Cozens
Adonis Medina
Malquin Canelo

 

[zarley zelepukin]

Top 20 Phillies Prospects from Keith Law as well:
J.P. Crawford
Jake Thompson
Mark Appel
Nick Williams
Jorge Alfaro
Scott Kingery
Cornelius Randolph
Franklyn Kilome
Ricardo Pinto
Rhys Hoskins
Roman Quinn
Thomas Eshelman
Carlos Tocci
Nick Pivetta
Darnell Sweeney
Andrew Knapp
Arquimedez Gamboa
Dylan Cozens
Adonis Medina
Malquin Canelo

Some of his rankings are sort of outliers. Gamboa is one that stands out- he was a pretty hyped signing out of LA; real nice glove at SS but didn't hit a lick last year. He's sort of low on Medina and Knapp, and high on Kingery, Hoskins and Eshelman relative to other lists I've seen.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Also with 5 in BP's top 100:
#6 J.P. Crawford
#27 Nick Williams
#75 Jake Thompson
#88 Cornelius Randolph
#96 Andrew Knapp

This is BA's list I believe.

 

[Tankadelphia]

This is BA's list I believe.

woops, you got it, my bad, fixing it now

 

[Tankadelphia]

Some of his rankings are sort of outliers. Gamboa is one that stands out- he was a pretty hyped signing out of LA; real nice glove at SS but didn't hit a lick last year. He's sort of low on Medina and Knapp, and high on Kingery, Hoskins and Eshelman relative to other lists I've seen.

Keith Law compared Hoskins to Goldschmidt in one of his chats, so he obviously likes him a ton

 

[Hurricane28]

I don't like how Knapp is so far down on the list. I think he could be catcher of the future if Alfaro is moved to 1st

 

[Tankadelphia]

I don't like how Knapp is so far down on the list. I think he could be catcher of the future if Alfaro is moved to 1st

I think he is average-below average defensively with average power. Only good tool is hitting. That limits his upside. Think like a slightly higher average Wilson Ramos

 

[zarley zelepukin]

I think he is average-below average defensively with average power. Only good tool is hitting. That limits his upside. Think like a slightly higher average Wilson Ramos

Above average hitting, average power, average-ish defense would be a good starting C. The offensive bar is very low there.

As far as moving either Knapp or Alfaro off the position, I think it's more important for Knapp to stay there. Alfaro could play RF with his arm and athleticism, but Knapp would probably have to go right to first base and his bat likely won't play there.

 

[FLYguy3911]

Keith Law compared Hoskins to Goldschmidt in one of his chats, so he obviously likes him a ton

Don't think Law liked Goldy as a prospect so that might not be a compliment.

 

[Tankadelphia]

http://www.csnphilly.com/blog/700-level/keith-law-says-cole-hamels-trade-could-be-phillies-herschel-walker-moment

 

[SolidSnakeUS]

I still miss Hamels regardless.

 

[deadhead]

Appel is a total gamble, Houston messed with him by trying to make him a 4 seam power pitcher, unfortunately his four seam is straight as an arrow with no deception. In college, he was primarily a two seam FB thrower with movement, and it won't surprise me if the Phillies get him back to that pitcher. Good secondary stuff, if you see him as a workhorse middle of the rotation guy he's got a high probability of success - if you're looking for an ace you'll probably be disappointed.

 

[Hurricane28]

Appel is a total gamble, Houston messed with him by trying to make him a 4 seam power pitcher, unfortunately his four seam is straight as an arrow with no deception. In college, he was primarily a two seam FB thrower with movement, and it won't surprise me if the Phillies get him back to that pitcher. Good secondary stuff, if you see him as a workhorse middle of the rotation guy he's got a high probability of success - if you're looking for an ace you'll probably be disappointed.

Agreed on all points. Hoping he can slot in behind Nola and Thompson. But the rotation still needs an ace and I don't see Nola or Thompson becoming one

 

[FLYguy3911]

The potential ace is in the draft. Let's see who they select.

 

[Sombastate]

I still miss Hamels regardless.

Same

 

[whitstifier]

The potential ace is in the draft. Let's see who they select.

It'd be nice to eventually get a homegrown ace, but ETA for ace level production is at least 3/4 years. Let's hope someone unexpected emerges, like Keuchel or Carrasco.

 

[Hurricane28]

I don't want the Phillies anywhere near Strasburg if he goes to FA this year

 

[whitstifier]

I don't want the Phillies anywhere near Strasburg if he goes to FA this year

They're probably going to go after him like most teams in the league. They'd be foolish not to.

 

[montreal]

Matt Harrison won't be attending spring training, they don't expect him to pitch this year but have to wait and see. Most of his contract is covered by insurance at least.

 

[Hurricane28]

Matt Harrison won't be attending spring training, they don't expect him to pitch this year but have to wait and see. Most of his contract is covered by insurance at least.

ehh didn't expect anything out of him tbh. Mostly taken back to get us more from Texas