Tired of the doom and gloom?
Tired of hearing how old everyone is?

Keith Fucking Law is here to make us feel... better?! With his annual ranking of minor league systems.

14. Philadelphia Phillies

Similar to Texas but with fewer prospects who are potential grade 65 or better players in the majors. I thought the Phillies had one of the best drafts, perhaps the best of anyone, in 2013, landing a few high-ceiling high school kids -- such as shortstop J.P. Crawford -- while mixing in some solid college bats like catcher Andrew Knapp.

For reference here is his write up on the rangers

13. Texas Rangers

Most of the talent here is very young and likely three years away, but there is as much All-Star potential in this system as there is in just about any of the systems after the top five -- just a lot less probability, as guys like Joey Gallo or Lewis Brinson could be elite big leaguers just as easily as they could wash out in Double-A.

Were doing it!!

Insider link: http://m.espn.go.com/mlb/story?storyId= ... rc=desktop

only a few more years and we could be in the top 5. those hs kids just have to stay in the minors until then.

Law has gone on record already as saying that he thinks Crawford is a future star.

Eem wrote:Law has gone on record already as saying that he thinks Crawford is a future star.

18 year old that put up a .308/.405/.400 line across two levels. I needed to remember that to cheer myself up.

Roger Dorn wrote:Some quotes from Ruben in Today's Inquirer...

On Howard's age coming into the season:

"That's ancient, I guess, huh?" Amaro scoffed last night. "I think people make a little too much of that. It is what it is. If people don't perform, it will be because of age, I guess. But I don't necessarily believe that. Was Boston a fairly old team last year? They did fairly well. They weren't a young team. They had older guys. They had experienced guys. But they had to perform. And they had to stay healthy. But I feel pretty bullish about the guys we have being ready to play."

On Howard's health:

"I think he's going to be on the field and healthy and he's going to provide solid offense for us," said Ruben Amaro Jr., the general manager whose popularity has waned along with his slugger's health. "And I know if he's on the field, that's what he's doing, and we'll win games because he is on the field. "He's 100 percent. There's nothing medically wrong with him. His knee's fine. His calf's fine. It's time for him to play and produce."

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20140128_Phillies___Big_Piece__now__Big_If_.html

Ruben seems like a great guy to work for.

To put a little more perspective around Law ranking the phillies 14th this year, he had us at 27 last year.

27. Philadelphia Phillies
Their highest-ranked prospect on my top 100 (no team was shut out entirely) is the lowest of any team's highest-ranked prospect. They do, however, have a number of intriguing, high-risk guys from low-A on down, especially on the pitching side.

Here is 2012

25. Philadelphia Phillies


Philly has a ton of athleticism at the lower levels, but the upper levels were wiped out by trades the past few years. New farm director Joe Jordan, the Orioles' former scouting director, has a ton of raw material to work with but no finished or even nearly finished products.

Bill McNeal wrote:To put a little more perspective around Law ranking the phillies 14th this year, he had us at 27 last year.

27. Philadelphia Phillies
Their highest-ranked prospect on my top 100 (no team was shut out entirely) is the lowest of any team's highest-ranked prospect. They do, however, have a number of intriguing, high-risk guys from low-A on down, especially on the pitching side.

Perhaps Law is both a douchebag, and knows what he's talking about. We tend to marry the first with a dismissal of the 2nd, but it's not like our system has been cranking out players while he dissed it.

Shore wrote:

Bill McNeal wrote:To put a little more perspective around Law ranking the phillies 14th this year, he had us at 27 last year.

27. Philadelphia Phillies
Their highest-ranked prospect on my top 100 (no team was shut out entirely) is the lowest of any team's highest-ranked prospect. They do, however, have a number of intriguing, high-risk guys from low-A on down, especially on the pitching side.

Perhaps Law is both a douchebag, and knows what he's talking about. We tend to marry the first with a dismissal of the 2nd, but it's not like our system has been cranking out players while he dissed it.

i can't recall, but how did he feel about guys that we sent out (donald, knapp, drabek, carrasco, marson, d'Arnaud, taylor, cosart, singleton)

Woody wrote:

Roger Dorn wrote:Some quotes from Ruben in Today's Inquirer...

On Howard's age coming into the season:

Was Boston a fairly old team last year? They did fairly well. They weren't a young team. They had older guys. They had experienced guys.

Besides this being a punchably arrogant thing to say, Boston had 1 "starting" player older than 32, and it was David Ortiz

This year we'll have at least 5 starting position players older than 34

It's also aggravating that no one calls him on that, and he says Boston had older players(which, obviously isnt true), and still won. It's like if he said Jamie Moyer was a Phillies pitcher in 2008, jamie moyer is old, so WFC. Our GM, everybody!

his argument is flimsy as hell, but what's a good argument to make? Ryan Howard sucks and we're stuck with him til he dies on the field. maybe this is the year

Phillies get Lee, give up few high-end assets
By Keith Law | ESPN.com
For the Phillies, this looks like a steal. In Cliff Lee, they acquire one of the best pitchers in the American League over the past 18 months while retaining their top two prospects and trading four guys who all have serious question marks.


Phillies win Oswalt deal, Astros get value
By Keith Law | ESPN.com
The Astros' hands were tied a bit by Oswalt's no-trade clause, but Houston still got value in the deal.
Roy Oswalt makes the Phillies two or three wins better for the rest of the season, given what they've been running out there and the injury to Jamie Moyer, and sets them up much better for a playoff series by eliminating the possibility of an October start by a J.A. Happ or a Kyle Kendrick.


The deal: Mariners win, Jays win, Phillies lose
By Keith Law | ESPN.com
Assuming that this series of three trades as currently reported stands, here's how I'd break down the exchanges for each of the four teams involved:

Law's take does kind of line up with my hunch that we'll get good again around 2017 or 2018. Adding another really high end guy at #7 who can move fast will be key, but of the dozen or so lottery tickets in rookie ball and short-A last summer, if two or three are players we should be in decent shape.

dajafi wrote:Law's take does kind of line up with my hunch that we'll get good again around 2017 or 2018. Adding another really high end guy at #7 who can move fast will be key, but of the dozen or so lottery tickets in rookie ball and short-A last summer, if two or three are players we should be in decent shape.

They can also accelerate that by being more aggressive in free agency the next couple off-seasons if it becomes apparent that Franco, Asche, Biddle, etc. are going to be contributors

Next year's free agent crop looks pretty good too. Potentially a lot of big contracts. That'll be really interesting to see if the Phillies wallow through another year here.

The Phillies also need to be more willing about moving their young players along, rather than have them start their rookie year at age 26 and platoon them for a year or two. Hopefully Asche (and maybe Franco) are a sign that they've adjusted their thinking on this.

Benny Lava wrote:

Woody wrote:

Roger Dorn wrote:Some quotes from Ruben in Today's Inquirer...

On Howard's age coming into the season:

Was Boston a fairly old team last year? They did fairly well. They weren't a young team. They had older guys. They had experienced guys.

Besides this being a punchably arrogant thing to say, Boston had 1 "starting" player older than 32, and it was David Ortiz

This year we'll have at least 5 starting position players older than 34

It's also aggravating that no one calls him on that, and he says Boston had older players(which, obviously isnt true), and still won. It's like if he said Jamie Moyer was a Phillies pitcher in 2008, jamie moyer is old, so WFC. Our GM, everybody!

When I was a kid, we didn't wear seat belts. I did not die. It is safe to have children not wear seatbelts. Logic!

I figured they'd be ranked between #15-20, so 14 is a nice surprise. Law has been pumping up last year's draft class from the moment they were selected. It's imperative to have another great class this year. That's why I'm whole heartedly against giving up a pick for a guy like Jimenez.

Warszawa wrote:Is arroyo still out there? Any news on aj Burnett? Although I have little hope for the team as constituted I still think they could contend if they add a legit #3 starter

AJ is going to pitch.

AJ didn't get tendered. So that would be good.

Burnett would be perfect