Restocked System Shows Potential

PHILS PHACTS:

Phillies Master Farmville – The objective of all Major League franchises is to compete for a World Series title. The reality, of course, is that it can't happen for every team every season. When a team isn't competing, it usually means it's rebuilding time, or they become "sellers," especially during the Trade Deadline and the offseason. Depending on the state of the organization, the hope may be for a quick turnaround, or there could be a long-range plan in place. As the calendar is about to flip to 2016, a bit of retrospection is in order. In the past year, some teams have improved their farm systems more than others. The following list of the five most improved farm systems in 2015 was compiled considering all methods of player acquisition: trade, Draft, international signing, even the Rule 5 Draft. This isn't a ranking of the top farm systems; that's something that will come in the New Year after the new prospects rankings come out. Atlanta Braves: When John Hart was hired by the Braves as the president of baseball operations, after he served the team as a consultant for the 2014 season, one of his first orders of business was to rebuild a once-proud farm system. Atlanta used to thrive annually because of homegrown players, and it was seen as essential to get back to the "Braves way" of doing things. John Coppolella, now the team's general manager, worked in step with Hart to do just that, and no team has done more to restock the prospect shelves. Starting with the trade that brought Manny Baneulos from the Yankees on Jan. 1 and ending with the blockbuster Shelby Miller deal that netted them Dansby Swanson and Aaron Blair, the Braves added no fewer than 12 players to their current Top 30 list via the trade market. And that doesn't include the Jason Heyward or Justin Upton trades completed last December, nor does it include graduated prospect Mike Foltynewicz from the January Evan Gattis trade. And Hector Olivera doesn't count as a prospect according to MLBPipeline.com guidelines (we use the same rules that govern the international spending pool). The big deals from this offseason brought in three sure-fire Top 100 caliber players in Swanson and Blair from the Miller deal and lefty Sean Newcomb in the Andrelton Simmons trade. Had that been it, the Braves would still make this list. But then their 2015 Draft haul has to be considered. Not only did the Braves go bold by taking Kolby Allard, an injured high school lefty who had top of the round potential, in the first round, they also added young high school talent (the old Braves way again) with Mike Soroka, Austin Riley and Lucas Herbert. Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies made most of their noise at the Trade Deadline and during this offseason, breathing some much needed life into a weak system. Two trades -- the Cole Hamels deal in July and the Ken Giles one this winter -- brought in six players in their current Top 30, including four of the top five. When Hamels was sent to the Texas Rangers, the Phillies were able to add Jake Thompson, Nick Williams and Jorge Alfaro, all in the current Top 100 list, along with Alec Asher, who made his big league debut in 2015. The bounty for Giles was Mark Appel (Top 100) and Thomas Eshelman (2015 draftee), both in the current Phillies' Top 30. Vincent Velasquez graduated off prospect lists late this past season, so he technically doesn't count, but he was a top 100 prospect prior to his big league time with Houston. Other trades brought in more talent: Ben Revere netted Alberto Tirado and Jimmy Cordero; Chase Utley's return was Darnell Sweeney and John Richy; Jonathan Papelbon brought in Nick Pavetta. That's 10 Top 30 players (Cordero isn't in the Top 30) via trades. Throw in Cornelius Randolph and Scott Kingery from the Draft, Tyler Goeddel from the Rule 5 Draft and Jhailyn Ortiz, MLBPipeline.com's No. 8 international prospect whom the Phillies signed for north of $4 million, and the Phillies aren't far behind the Braves in terms of restocking success. Milwaukee Brewers: The best deal for the Brewers may have been the one they didn't make at the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline. When the reported trade sending Carlos Gomez to the Mets fell through, they ended up making an even better deal, at least in terms of rebuilding their farm system, with the Astros. It brought in four prospects that landed in their Top 30, including Top 100 prospects Domingo Santana (since graduated) and Brett Phillips. Josh Hader should join them after a strong season and even stronger Arizona Fall League campaign. Adrian Houser threw well following the trade, too. Zach Davies came in a Deadline deal as well, from Baltimore in return for Gerardo Parra, and he made six starts in the big leagues at the end of the year. That gave the Brewers immediate return in both deals, with Davies and Santana both looking like members of the 2016 Opening Day roster, along with some future star-caliber prospects. Smaller deals at the start of the year (Yovani Gallardo) and at the very end (Jason Rogers) also netted Top 30-caliber prospects, but aside from the Gomez deal, it was the 2015 Draft that has helped restock the prospect shelves the most. The successful haul brought in four Top 30 players, with the Brewers getting high-ceiling talent like Trent Clark and Demi Orimoloye as well as intriguing college arms like Nathan Kirby (a first-round talent who had injury issues) and Cody Ponce. Add in the advancement of homegrown players like Orlando Arcia and Jorge Lopez and the Brewers have turned around their pipeline as quickly as any team. Cincinnati Reds: The trading of Aroldis Chapman was the icing on the Reds' rebuilding cake. From the Trade Deadline through the Chapman deal, Cincinnati dealt four players to bring in a dozen new young players. Some have already seen time on the Reds' Major League roster (Brandon Finnegan and John Lamb from the Johnny Cueto deal; Adam Duvall from the Mike Leake trade). Some should help out at the start of the 2016 season (Jose Peraza and Scott Schebler from the Todd Frazier deal). Coming soon might be the best player netted in any of the Reds' trades, lefty Cody Reed, who was in the Cueto deal and is coming off a breakout 2015 campaign. The Chapman trade gave the Reds a potential replacement for Frazier at third eventually in Eric Jagielo and an intriguing arm in Rookie Davis among the quartet of young players received. In addition to all of the trades, the Reds had a very strong Draft haul in June, adding five players to their current Top 30 list, headlined by high school catcher Tyler Stephenson. Cincy even used the Rule 5 Draft to bring in an intriguing player, outfielder Jake Cave, and the club is also considered the favorites to land Cuban infielder Alfredo Rodriguez. Considering the success the organization has had in that market (See Chapman, Aroldis and Iglesias, Raisel), that should be seen as a major addition if and when it occurs. Colorado Rockies: Any time you trade a cornerstone player like Troy Tulowitzki, the hope is to bring in an infusion of young talent to help rebuild. The Rockies did just that in bringing in three arms with big-league futures. Jeff Hoffman is the best of the trio and the one who has the chance to be a true frontline starter. Miguel Castro has Major League time, and as a closer at that. Jesus Tinoco is the farthest away, but he had a very impressive full-season debut. Besides the Tulo trade, the 2015 Draft helped the Rockies turn the farm system in the right direction. Five members of the team's current Top 30 came from last year's Draft after Colorado used its bonus pool -- the second-highest of any team -- aggressively. It started, of course, with getting Brendan Rodgers, who was No. 1 on the Draft Top 200 at the time of the Draft. The other four -- Mike Nikorak, Tyler Nevin, Peter Lambert and David Hill -- all were in the Top 100. That wasn't the only way the organization brought in high-end amateur talent. The Rockies gave Daniel Montano, who was ranked No. 14 on the International Top 30, $2 million in July, and they handed out several other six-figure bonuses to Latin American talent.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies finally put an end to the season finishing in last place in the NL East with a record of 63-99. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and bipolar performances, this has ended up being one of the worst seasons in franchise history! However, at least Ryan Madson got another ring this year.

Pitching And Homeruns = Postseason Victories

YESTERDAY IN POSTSEASON PLAY:

It was the AL’s turn on Sunday with both Texas teams heading into Monday with a one game advantage. Once again, Dallas Keuchel proved to be a prime performer for Houston continuing to add exclamation points to an already fantastic 2015 campaign. As for the Blue Jays, mid-season acquisition Troy Tulowitzki proved to be the key in preventing the sweep and breathing new life into Toronto’s postseason hopes. On Monday we find out whether the ALCS is locked in or whether these four teams will match up for a final contest.

Astros Thwart Royals 4-2

Ace lefty Dallas Keuchel turned in another fantastic effort before the home crowd, rejuvenated slugger Chris Carter bashed a home run and Minute Maid Park was rocking. It's becoming a way of life for the Astros. Keuchel held the Royals to one run in seven innings, and Carter had three hits, including his first postseason home run, to lift the Astros to a 4-2 win before a raucous crowd of 42,674 in Game 3 of the American League Division Series on Sunday afternoon.

Blue Jays Wrangle Rangers 5-1

The Blue Jays stayed alive and have renewed hope in the best-of-five American League Division Series after Troy Tulowitzki hit a three-run homer and Marco Estrada tossed 6 1/3 strong innings to prevent the Rangers' potential celebration Sunday night. Tulowitzki's first hit of the series was a huge one, and Estrada held Texas to five hits as the Blue Jays took Game 3 of the ALDS with a 5-1 victory at Globe Life Park.

POSTSEASON PREDICTIONS: Read my post from October 6^th to see how many I have gotten wrong!

CURRENT POSTSEASON PICTURE:

American League Division Series

Houston leads series 2-1

Game 4: Monday, October 12, at 1:00 PM

Texas leads series 2-1

Game 4: Monday, October 12, at 4:00 PM

National League Division Series

Chicago and St. Louis tied 1-1

Game 3: Monday, October 12, at 6:00 PM

New York and Los Angeles tied 1-1

Game 3: Monday, October 12, at 8:30 PM

PHILS PHACTS:

Ultey Suspended For LEGAL Slide – Dodgers infielder Chase Utley was suspended for Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-five National League Division Series by MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre for his takeout slide that broke the leg of Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada in Game 2 Saturday night. Utley will appeal the discipline, according to his agent, Joel Wolfe. The decision will be held in abeyance until the appeal process is completed, but according to a source, it was unlikely that the hearing would happen before first pitch. The Dodgers issued this statement: "The Dodgers stand behind Chase Utley and his decision to appeal the suspension issued tonight by Major League Baseball. The club will have no further comment at this time." The Dodgers won Game 2, 5-2, evening their NLDS with the Mets at one game apiece. "I recognize that there has been much commentary and many questions regarding the unfortunate play in last night's game in which Ruben Tejada was injured," Torre said in a release. "As I said after the game, the determination of whether a baserunner has intentionally interfered with a player attempting to turn a double play is left to the judgment of the Umpire on the field, and that judgment call is not subject to review. I should add that determining where to draw the line between an illegal slide and a legitimate hard play is an extremely difficult call for our Umpires. "However, after thoroughly reviewing the play from all conceivable angles, I have concluded that Mr. Utley's action warrants discipline. While I sincerely believe that Mr. Utley had no intention of injuring Ruben Tejada, and was attempting to help his Club in a critical situation, I believe his slide was in violation of Official Baseball Rule 5.09 (a)(13), which is designed to protect fielders from precisely this type of rolling block that occurs away from the base. "We have been in discussions with the Players Association throughout the year regarding potential rule changes to better protect middle infielders, and we intend to continue those discussions this offseason." The rule in question states: "A batters is out when: "A preceding runner shall, in the umpire's judgment, intentionally interfere with a fielder who is attempting to catch a thrown ball or to throw a ball in an attempt to complete any play. "Comment: The objective of this rule is to penalize the offensive team for deliberate, unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner in leaving the baseline for the obvious purpose of crashing the pivot man on a double play, rather than trying to reach the base. Obviously this is an umpire's judgment play." Umpires reviewed the play and awarded Utley second base. A replay review showed that Tejada did not make contact with the second-base bag as he attempted to turn the double play, nor did Utley. The Dodgers parlayed that call into a four-run inning, taking a 5-2 lead. Had the play been interpreted differently in the moment it occurred, the seventh inning could have ended with the Mets leading, 2-1, regardless of how far up the line the runner heading to first had advanced. On FOX Sports 1 during Game 3 of the American League Division Series between the Blue Jays and Rangers in Arlington, Torre elaborated on his written decision. "I was sitting behind the first-base dugout last night," he said. "I know Chase plays very hard. From my angle it looked like a hard slide. It really wasn't until I looked at video later on that I saw how late the slide was and how he sort of followed Tejada, sliding into him. It was based on the fact that he slid very late and it appeared to me he hit Tejada and the ground about the same time. He was more targeting the player as opposed to the base. He certainly didn't want to hurt him. He was just breaking up the double play, but I just thought it was a little bit much." Wolfe, Utley's agent, was quick to announce an appeal and denounce the discipline. "A two-game suspension for a legal baseball play is outrageous and completely unacceptable," said Wolfe. "Chase did what all players are taught to do in this situation - break up the double play. We routinely see plays at second base similar to this one that have not resulted in suspensions. Chase feels terrible about Ruben Tejada's injury and everyone who knows him knows that he would never intentionally hurt anybody. We will be appealing this suspension immediately." Torre responded to Wolfe's criticism on FS1. "I can't worry about what's happened in the past," Torre said. "I'm just worried about what I saw and the fact that we're trying to have rules that will keep these players on the field. It's unfortunate. Chase Utley's a great player. He's always played hard. I've always admired that about him. Unfortunately this time his playing hard, it just happened to have a bad result." When asked about a possible rule change for runners sliding into second, Torre said: "I know you want to upend the second baseman or shortstop because he has the ball and to break up the double play, but I think we're more concerned about keeping guys on the field, so we're talking more. In fact, in the Arizona Fall League we're doing some testing on having the players go into second base as opposed to going for the infielder." The Mets issued this statement: "The New York Mets completely support the decision made by Major League Baseball to suspend Chase Utley for two games and feel this was the appropriate course of action. With this decision behind us, the team and our fans can now focus on playing winning baseball." The last time a Dodgers player was suspended in the postseason was reliever Jay Howell, who was suspended for three days after being found to have pine tar on his glove during Game 3 of the 1988 National League Championship Series against the Mets. The suspension was reduced to two days after his appeal.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies finally put an end to the season finishing in last place in the NL East with a record of 63-99. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and bipolar performances this season, this has ended up being one of the worst seasons in franchise history! All time, the Phillies are 1-0-0 on this day.