Joseph, Martin and Simon improved Phillies farm system
As they do every year around this time, the Phillies brought in a pack of minor-league prospects for a four-day orientation program that they hope will serve them well if and when they make the climb to the big leagues.
Joseph, Martin and Simon improved Phillies farm system
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
A couple hours after the Eagles introduce Chip Kelly as their 21st head coach Thursday, the Phillies will hold a media event of their own at Citizens Bank Park.
As they do every year around this time, the Phillies brought in a pack of minor-league prospects for a four-day orientation program that they hope will serve them well if and when they make the climb to the big leagues.
The final day of the program includes media interviews and there is something really interesting about this year's cast. Three of the seven players in town were not even with the organization a year ago at this time.
That trio consists of catcher Tommy Joseph and pitchers Ethan Martin and Kyle Simon. The other four players taking part in the program are projected third baseman of the future Cody Asche, outfielder Zach Collier, left-handed pitcher Adam Morgan and catcher Cameron Rupp.
Joseph, Martin and Simon came to the Phillies in three separate trades and performed well enough that the Phillies feel as if they significantly improved their farm system with the additions.
Here are some short bios on the three newcomers to the organization:
Tommy Joseph: He was acquired along with outfielder Nate Schierholtz and minor-league pitcher Seth Rosin in the July 31 trade that sent right fielder Hunter Pence to San Francisco. With Schierholtz released in December and Rosin considered more of a fringe prospect, Joseph will be the player that determines the outcome of the Pence trade.
That deal, of course, has already worked out well for Pence, who will have a World Series ring from the Giants to show his friends for the rest of his life. It could work out for the Phillies, too, if Joseph follows Carlos Ruiz as the team's next catcher.
Joseph, 21, batted a combined .257 with 24 doubles, 11 home runs and 48 RBIs last season at double-A Richmond and double-A Reading, the two Eastern League affiliates for the Giants and Phillies. His defensive tools and leadership qualities have pushed him ahead of Sebastian Valle as the team's top catching prospect. With Joseph, Valle and Rupp all targeted for double-A and above in 2013, it should be interesting to see how the Phillies handle the minor-league assignments at the end of spring training.
Ethan Martin: He was acquired along with pitcher Josh Lindblom and infielder Stefan Jarrin in the July 31 trade that sent Shane Victorino to the San Francisco Giants. Like Joseph in the Pence deal, Martin will likely determine the success or failure of the Victorino deal.
Martin, 23, was the 15th overall pick in the 2008 draft by the Dodgers, but his development with the team had been slow. He appeared to make strides forward last season, going a combined 13-6 with a 3.48 ERA in 27 double-A starts, including seven with the Phillies' Reading affiliate. He figures to be a part of manager Dave Brundage's starting rotation at triple-A Lehigh Valley this season.
Kyle Simon: When the Phillies traded Jim Thome to the Chicago White Sox after the 2005 season, they did well to get Aaron Rowand and Gio Gonzalez in the deal. Rowand only spent two seasons here, but was a very productive player and Gonzalez was later dealt back to the White Sox for Freddy Garcia in a trade former general manager Pat Gillick would rather forget.
It seemed much less likely that the Phillies would get a quality player for Thome when they traded him to Baltimore last summer, but Simon was outstanding in the combined 20 relief appearances he made at single-A Clearwater and double-A Reading after joining the organization.
The 22-year-old righthander was 3-0 with one save and a 1.26 ERA at Clearwater. He struck out 14 batters and walked only one in 14 1/3 innings.
In 13 ppearances at Reading, he was 1-0 with two saves and 1.42 ERA. He allowed just 12 hits, struck out 21 and walked five batters in 25 1/3 innings.
The Phillies sent Simon to the Arizona Fall League, but he did not fare as well in five starts with the Peoria Javelinas, posting a 2-2 record and 9.00 ERA.
Gabriel Lino, a 19-year-old catcher from Venezuela, was also part of the Thome trade and he played in 37 games at Lakewood last season, hitting .227 with three home runs and 14 RBIs. The Phillies also liked what they saw from Lino.
none of these are ranked among top 100 prospects in baseball by respected independent Baeball America... by contrast at least a dozen of the prospects traded away by Rube have been or are currently considered elite top 100 prospects— warbiscuit- compare how Nats get a team's top-ranked prospect when they trade their "excess" Morse to what a clueless g.m. gets when he discards a Cliff Lee or Pence.. compare what smart teams like Braves pay in a trade for Bourn, the Giants for Pence, the Nats for Span -and what a desperate fool paid for Pence from Astros and Revere from Twins,,, amazing to see the discrepancy in smart g.m.s to someone like Rube and think that the g.m. is not one of the most important components for a successful organization --how do all the Philly fans ripping the Eagles for their poor talent evaluations defend the even more blatant awful squandering of money and prospects by the Phillies front office that has resulted in a team that probably has less upside than the Eagles right now— warbiscuit
- Please! Again? Would you like me to recite for you again how Kyle Drabek and Michael Taylor are performing? Lou Marson? Carlos Carrasco? JA Happ? Drabek and Taylor were the most highly touted prospects dealt and they have been utter and abject failures since leaving the organization. I will state it again, Drabek & Taylor have been utter and abject failures in the majors. Your other example you cite is D'Arnaud who *STILL*...has not produced one major league plate appearance. Frankly, the only two prospects dealt in the base six seasons who have yet to have ANY modicrum of success to date post transaction were Nick Punto and Gavin Floyd, neither of whom were dealt by Amaro. — Special Agent Fox Mulder
- Typo- intended to say that the only two prospects dealt who HAVE HAD at least some success post transaction have been Punto and Gavin Floyd. Others- Marson, Carasco, Drabek, Taylor, are failures (you can imagine the unsubtle 'Bisquit parlance he would use to denote that population) or health risks; true unknowns- D'Arnaud, Singleton, Zeid. Or, marginals that can easily be replaced- Happ, Worley. — Special Agent Fox Mulder
- Domingo Santana? Jonathan Villar? Anthony Gose? Jared Coasart?... Bottom line,what the Phillies gave up for Pence was exhorbitant, versus what they got back 12 months later in what may have been a premature salary dump. — bearsfriend
- Dude. Who are you. At least get the payers right. This is why other Phillies baseball sites laugh at the commenters on Philly.com.
For heavens sake.— zubzub - players ... er ... this is why drinking and posting is not good. — zubzub
- Story posted 11:11 am. By 11:47, toolbiscuit has already blurted out 2 paragraphs of the usual nonsense. Would philly.com consider just giving him his own message board?— 1980
- One thing dogbiscuit knows how to do, and he does it well, is hit the RELOAD button!!
- He's extreme, and obviously bitter. But his posts are much more informative,and somewhat entertaining. Much better than yours. — bearsfriend
- Why don't you list all the prospects the Phillies have traded away in the last few years and then give us their stats. Maybe you can mention Aumont, one of those you trashed, now being on the big league team. Try and do it without calling me a moron.— dirttracker
- just the Oswalt and Pence trades were 2 of the worst deals in past decade:
Gose (fliped for Wallace)--age 22 -may be future Bourn or Revere - made major league debut with Toronto
Villar --age 21 -ranked top 100 prospect by Baseball America
Singleton --last ranked #34 best prospect (currently suspended, but stil considred potential future All Star slugger)
Domingo Santana -- 23 hrs, 97 rbis for A for Astros, etc etc etc
Cosart -- rated #50 best prospect 2012, age 22, had AAA success last year --likely quality major league starter
comparing what Rube received for Lee (erratic middle reliever Aumont) to what he paid for Halladay (best catching prospect in baseball D'arnuad plus 2 current major league starters) is like comparing paying $10 million in value to $36.97 in receipts...comparing what Rube paid for Oswalt and Pence to what he recived (joseph is middling mediocre prospect) is like comparing another $10 million paid in value to $5.56 in receipts— warbiscuit - see, e.g., bleacherreport 1/14/13: "7 Most Overrated Moves of the 2013 MLB Offseason...Phillies Acquire Revere ...cost the Phillies a big league starter in Vance Worley and their top pitching prospect in Trevor May, which appears to be a steep price on the surface....essentially Juan Pierre lite...need to hit over .300 to be viable option offensively as he does not get on base at a high enough clip (.319 career OBP).."— warbiscuit
- Relying on and quoting from bleacherreport is like relying on and quoting from your own lengthy posts (which, of course, you do habitually). You are aware, I hope, that almost ANYBODY can write for bleacherreport. Those guys aren't baseball people, they're not journalists (other than maybe some experience writing for campus and community papers). They're pretty much just fans.Nothing that appears on bleacherreport comes with any authority whatsoever; it's about a half-step above these message boards (only because there is some editing and proofreading over there).
Here, let me make this point again in terms you can relate to: Your mind-numbing, soul-crushing, planet-shattering reliance on bleacherreport is, quite obviously, the single most egregious human mistake of the last three decades, and has set baseball and American life in general back at least a century.— 1980 - Are you saying Warbiscuit is ill informed?...Harsh, yes. Lacking knowledge of timelines,transactions,and events concerning the Phillies? Not at all, so I believe you're barking up the wrong tree. RAJ has made some pressing miscalculations in attempts to give the Phils an edge during the closing of the "window"..He has made some questionable FA signings to the bullpen and bench in recent years. He has had a few back door tantrums with associates/underlings,namely LaMar and Davey Lopes , which certainly did not strengthen the organization...Did RAJ learn from a few mistakes? That's the key to the equation. Biscuit is a torch and pitchfork type of guy, and should rest a bit rather than tote around the noose... But don't say he's clueless...The passion and knowledge is there. He just needs manners. — bearsfriend
