4. Lance McCullers, rhp

I assume there's a "Jr." attached to this.

Edit: And I think I already knew that Delino DeShields Jr. was around, but it doesn't make me feel any less old.

Have the Phillies ever traded away a pitching prospect who became valuable?* I know I should be annoyed that Jarred Cosart is now a top Astros prospect, but all I can think is that his best case scenario is Kyle Drabek.

*except Adam Eaton

What makes me feel old is that Correa was born 8 days after Bud Selig officially cancelled the 1994 World Series.

I've seen Cosart pitch and I do think he's MLB quality; just not sure of how high that particular quality is. The kid has some control issues.

Gavin Floyd, Gio Gonzalez. I retract my statement.

Fergie Jenkins. :-)

Ryne Sandberg

Any of the prospects from the JA Happ trade with the Blue Jays? Kevin Comer, Asher Woj, Joe Musgrove?

Whither Domingo Santana (#6 last year)? He hit .302/.385/.536 in A+ ball as a 19-year-old. Granted, it's the California League, but those numbers don't scream collapse to me. Has the system become that much stronger, or is there a reason Santana's dropped off the radar?

Gavin Floyd, Gio Gonzalez. I retract my statement.

Well, given that he spent only one year in the Phillies minor leage system (bookended by years with the White Sox), I would not necessarily count Gio as a Phillies pitching prospect who got away. I'm sure if we had held onto him for a couple more years, we would have screwed him up also.

107-loss team bereft of impact-caliber talent + switch to AL West + this Top 10 list = very long rebuilding process. As someone for whom the Astros are still a sentimental favorite, it's a sad state of affairs.

Rio Ruiz is a great name, if nothing else.

Is great name the sabermetrics version of good face for scouts?

@ColonelTom: I wonder if Santana didn't make it because of his less-than-impressive strikeout rate.

Whither Domingo Santana (#6 last year)? He hit .302/.385/.536 in A+ ball as a 19-year-old. Granted, it's the California League, but those numbers don't scream collapse to me. Has the system become that much stronger, or is there a reason Santana's dropped off the radar?

John Manuel addressed this in the chat (subscribers only). Santana was dropped to #11 largely because of his propensity to swing and miss.

It's not only the Cal League, it's Lancaster, and it's a tossup as to whether that park or High Desert inflates offensive stats more.

-- MWE

Thanks, Mike. Looks like another former Phils' "top prospect" that may not pan out.

Whither Domingo Santana (#6 last year)? He hit .302/.385/.536 in A+ ball as a 19-year-old. Granted, it's the California League, but those numbers don't scream collapse to me. Has the system become that much stronger, or is there a reason Santana's dropped off the radar?

He gets a variety of rankings. Baseball Prospectus has Santana in the Astros Top 10. I tend to agree. His numbers in the same league and on the same team are pretty much the same as George Springer (including K rate), who is ranked No. 3, and Santana is younger at age 19. Granted he is a corner outfielder rather than a centerfielder, but he has a plus arm in RF. I think his ceiling is quite high, but his floor may be low too.

lancaster is a coors-like hitters' paradise, especially because they have a strong out-blowing wind. any pitcher with good numbers there is someone to be respected. the Organization almost always has their pimped pitchers skip over lancaster. so i personally disregard lancaster numbers unless the hitter hits mostly singles and line drive doubles because the BA/SLG is going to dive when they get to AA corpus. so me, i'm waiting to see how santana does THIS year. seems to me that Organizations tolerate pretty high K rates in their pimpees as long as the BA is good.

all the prospect people rate the youngest guys they can who have a "ceiling" even if they have only played a couple of games of pro ball. or none at all. they have minimal interest in guys who just might could like actually make the major leagues THIS year. especially if they are "old"

i'm more interested in who could help the ballclub NOW than who could turn into barry lamar in 4 years assuming everything goes right and he don't get hurt and the wind don't change, that is

Is great name the sabermetrics version of good face for scouts?

Scouts like great names, too - there's a bit on it in "Dollar Sign on the Muscle". It's one of the ties that binds all baseball lovers together.

Whither Domingo Santana (#6 last year)? He hit .302/.385/.536 in A+ ball as a 19-year-old.

I remember following Red Sox hitters coming through Lancaster, before the Sox determined it was actively detrimental to player development to have an A-ball club located on the third moon of Saturn and got the hell out of there. Some highlights:

332/456/592 (Aaron Bates, 1B)
370/455/665 (Bubba Bell, CF)
330/423/579 (Zach Daeges, LF)
326/411/492 (Tony Granadillo, 2B)
301/411/549 (Mickey Hall, RF)
300/385/468 (Ryan Khoury, 3B)

It's not baseball.

You really have to wonder why any team would put a minor-league affiliate there.

Well, I still like Santana... and I think Singleton will be a stud, too. I remember reading somewhere that Cozart can be a bit of an #######, but he's a legit prospect, too (if he were in the Cubs system, I'd think he'd immediately be their 2nd best pitching prospect, depending on one's thoughts on Ardoys/TJ comebacks).

The Astros seemed to do OK with the Pence trade in my opinion...

all the prospect people rate the youngest guys they can who have a "ceiling" even if they have only played a couple of games of pro ball. or none at all. they have minimal interest in guys who just might could like actually make the major leagues THIS year. especially if they are "old"

i'm more interested in who could help the ballclub NOW than who could turn into barry lamar in 4 years assuming everything goes right and he don't get hurt and the wind don't change, that is

Proximity to the Majors helps ratings. For example, LJ Hoes and Xavier Avery are rated 6-7 on the Orioles list, Bruce Rondon is rated 3 on the Tigers and Jake Odorizzi is rated 5 on the Royals list, all above their "talent" level. It's a good thing for the Astros that guys like Rudy Owens don't make the list. It means even though he's ready, he's still outranked by their top prospects.

You really have to wonder why any team would put a minor-league affiliate there.

Generally speaking, it comes down to a lack of other good options.

Scouts like great names, too - there's a bit on it in "Dollar Sign on the Muscle". It's one of the ties that binds all baseball lovers together.

Ahh just like the triple crown.

Scouts like great names

If Domingo would switch to pitching, he could be a Sunday starter.

Scouts like great names

And yet there doesn't seem to be prejudice against players with bad names, like "Everett Teaford" or "Noah Syndergaard".

Domingo Santana is 11th, for what it's worth.