trevor may is a better prospect than travis d'arnaud.

anthony gose's positioning surprises me, but i guess noone else in the organization has proved anything more, so it may as well be him at 6.

Can someone share the Baseball America criteria for being eligible for one of these lists ? I assume it is a combination of age, and not more then a certain amount of time on a MLB active roster. My question is prompted by Bastardo at #9.

This year's BA Handbook will say, "A prospect is anyone who has no more than 50 innings pitched, 30 relief appearances, or 130 at-bats in the big leagues, regardless of service time." The relief appearances deal is added for this year; I'm calling it the Daniel Bard rule.

Jiwan James as fastest baserunner over Anthony Gose is a bit of an eye opener.

John, thank you......

Jiwan James as fastest baserunner over Anthony Gose is a bit of an eye opener.

Didn't Florida want him to play receiver? I can believe a guy like that having some wheels

This year's BA Handbook will say, "A prospect is anyone who has no more than 50 innings pitched, 30 relief appearances, or 130 at-bats in the big leagues, regardless of service time." The relief appearances deal is added for this year; I'm calling it the Daniel Bard rule.

That's good to know. Although I'd like to gently suggest it's about 4 years too late and should have been the Bobby Jenks rule.

TOP DRAFT PICKS
OF THE DECADE

2003 Tim Moss, 2b (3rd round) Out of baseball
2004 Greg Golson, of Rangers
2005 Mike Costanzo, 3b (2nd round) Orioles
2006 Kyle Drabek, rhp Phillies
2007 Joe Savery, lhp Phillies
2008 Anthony Hewitt, 3b/of Phillies
2009 Kelly Dugan of (2nd round) Phillies

You very conveniently left out Floyd, Hamels and Utley to start the decade.

You very conveniently left out Floyd, Hamels and Utley to start the decade.

the most recent of which was 7 years ago. they've gotten a total of 7 ABs from their last 7 top draft picks, and yet they've won 3 straight division titles, 2 pennants and a world series.

i think it was the "OF THE DECADE" subtitle that prompted #9

Domingo Santana, age 16, not overmatched in the GCL. If the door man is sure about his ID, I'm impressed.

they've gotten a total of 7 ABs from their last 7 top draft picks

...two of whom are pitchers and one of whom is their second-best prospect.

...two of whom are pitchers and one of whom is their second-best prospect.

7 years, 7 players, 7 ABs, 0 IP.

i don't care what the caveats are, to have gotten where they are, with that kind of performance from their top picks is something to be mentioned.

Yes, it was the "of the decade" that prompted the comment.

they've gotten a total of 7 ABs from their last 7 top draft picks, and yet they've won 3 straight division titles, 2 pennants and a world series.

That is because a team typically does not win championships with recently drafted players. You might expect one or two to contribute but no one would expect an 08 or an 09 pick to contribute to a champion. Even a 2007 pick would be making the bigs in a hurry to contribute. Their 2006 pick, after a rough start, seems to be working out very well. They could have dealt him as part of a Roy Halladay deal if you believe the rumors.
They didn't even have a first rounder in 03 or 05 and while Tim Moss washed out they managed to deal Constanzo, and others, for Brad Lidge. Greg Golson has made the majors and may have a future, though he is still raw.

I guess I'm just not sure what your point is. The Phils top picks since 2002 don't look super-hot but aren't anything to be ashamed of considering that most of their picks were later in the first round and in two years their top pick was a 2nd/3rd rounder.

The recent Phils remain as a great example of how to build a team the "right" way. The team's best players were all home-grown (Howard, Utley, Rollins, Hamels, Burrell) and they had other homegrown players (Myers, Ruiz, Madson, Happ, Kendrick) have good years as well. They also got big impacts from "free talents" (Victorino, Werth) and had other scrap heap pickups contribute solidly in roles as well (Durbin, Dobbs, Condrey, Coste). Their farm system further contributed by helping to acquire instrumental guys like Lidge, Lee and (to a lesser extent) Blanton as well as Fransisco as a young role player.
They used free agency primarily to fill holes with manageable stopgap deals (Seanez, Romero, Eyre, Feliz). The only bigtime deal they handed out (Ibanez) was a successful targeting of a 30 HR bat to replace Burrell.
I don't see what there is to quibble with really.

they've gotten a total of 7 ABs from their last 7 top draft picks

It's somehow a failing of the Phillies that their 2008 and 2009 top picks didn't make the major leagues in a matter of months? That's a pretty harsh standard.

i don't care what the caveats are, to have gotten where they are, with that kind of performance from their top picks is something to be mentioned.

I mean, not really. One of those was a 2nd rounder, another was a third rounder and all but one of the rest were high school picks. They aren't really supposed to be racking up at bats. A late-first round pick from HS making the bigs at age 23 isn't all that shocking.

EDIT- And, of course, as Spycake mentions, using a sample of MOST RECENT picks to evaluate draft pick is pretty stupid to begin with.

Nobody from the 2009 class has made it to the majors yet, and surely you can't expect a hitter drafted in June to be logging significant at-bats for the defending world champions. So, you can cross 2009 off the list... 6 years, 6 players, 7 at-bats.

Same can be said for 2008. Gordon Beckham wasn't available to the Phillies. He's the only hitter so far from that class to get a lot of playing time. So, 5 years, 5 players, 7 at-bats.

The only hitter so far from 2007 who would've been available to Philadelphia is Julio Borbon's 157 at-bats. However, the Phils had Ibanez and Victorino and Werth this year anyway. So, 4 years, 4 players, 7 at-bats?

2006, they took Kyle Drabek. It looks like that one might work out just fine. So, 3 years, 3 players, 7 at-bats?

No first in 2005, but they got 464.1 average innings out Jon Lieber in exchange for it.

I guess I don't see what your point is?

Would I be the only person who likes Michael Taylor more than Dominic Brown? I see Brown as a bit of a tweener (though a very, very good one) and maybe a little too Garrett Andersonish for my tastes.

Then again Anderson was quite a player for a few years...

Would I be the only person who likes Michael Taylor more than Dominic Brown?

No, there was a good BA podcast earlier in the year debating these two against each other. I think the question was if you were the Blue Jays which OF prospect do you ask for as a part of a Halladay deal.

I guess my answer (as mentioned earlier) is Taylor as I think he is MUCH more likely to have a corner OFers bat and I am not convinced that Brown is a long term CFer (this is only based on what i have heard I am in no way a prospect hound, nor have I seen him play).

PS-I know a Repoz reference!
Hooray good beer!

jonk, spycake, mm1f: what exactly are you trying to prove? yes, there are extenuating circumstances and yes there are selective endpoints, but in a endeavor which is driven so sharply by high impact players, it is most definitely noteworthy to point out that a team which has won back to back pennants and three consecutive division titles has received virtually no direct impact from their last 7 top draft picks.


my god people, are you really this ####### argumentative that you're ripping apart a throwaway comment which had no malicious attachment, and no overarching meaning.

get laid.

and until next time, go to hell.

Would I be the only person who likes Michael Taylor more than Dominic Brown? I see Brown as a bit of a tweener (though a very, very good one) and maybe a little too Garrett Andersonish for my tastes.

i'm not too sure about this. i love michael taylor, absolutely love him, but domonic brown does have that possibility of moving to CF at some point. he didn't play a single game in center last season, which may close the door on that possibility, but he played half his games there in 2008, and if he moves there, he's no doubt the better prospect.

Would I be the only person who likes Michael Taylor more than Dominic Brown?

I can see it. Taylor could be incredible. Even more impressive to me than his .320 average last year is he only struck out 70 times. At 6'6 250 he could develop a lot more power, and he can even run. Looks quite a bit like the skillset of Dave Winfield.

Steagles...I just popped in here, and I'm gonna side with the others. Next time edit your post for accuracy before choosing your selective endpoint, and you'll seem more credible (although not by much...)

you all are idiots. what part of "to have gotten where they are, with that kind of performance from their top picks is something to be mentioned" can be construed as a criticism of the Phillies? none. he's saying he's *impressed* by the Phillies' front office to overcome what he considers failures in drafting (whether or not you believe that) and still compete at an extremely high level.