Phils change approach, add infield depth in draft

By Brian Hamilton, PhilaPhans Phillies Minor League Editor

In recent years, the Phillies have been known as a team that likes to draft the most athletic players that they can find—and draft a lot of them, in the hopes that they can develop some of those players into future major leaguers. So far, the results have generally paid off. In his rankings of minor league systems published prior to the start of the 2011 season, ESPN baseball analyst Keith Law tabbed the Phillies’ system 5th best out of all 30 major league clubs. Perhaps the best example of an athletic or “toolsy” player that the Phillies have drafted in recent years is Domonic Brown. As many Phillies fans know, Brown was recruited as a wide receiver in football by the University of Miami. However, he opted for a professional baseball career instead when he elected to take a $200,000 bonus from the Phillies after he was selected by them in the 20th round of the 2006 draft.

Of course, that decision has turned out well for both Brown and the Phillies. Brown has developed into a player who possesses all five tools that major league scouts look for—hitting ability, hitting with power, running, fielding, and throwing ability—in spades. He has been the Phils’ top-ranked prospect for three years running, and he has now cracked the club’s starting lineup against right-handed pitchers. Many fans and observers think Brown has the potential to be an above average regular player, if not an All-Star, in the very near future.

If there was any criticism of the Phillies’ system, however, it could be the feeling that the Phillies have over-emphasized this approach. Some have felt that the Phillies have ignored more advanced players baseball-wise, as well as players at certain positions, in order to continue to stock up on the typically rawer, but more “toolsy” type of player. Some selections of these players, such as the choice of Brown, appear to have worked out well. Others, like the choice of athletic but slow-to-develop outfielder Anthony Hewitt in the 1st round of the 2008 draft, look to have flopped. Regardless, most observers felt that coming into the 2011 draft, the Phillies finally needed to add infield depth to an organization with older incumbents at the major league level in Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Placido Polanco, and no obvious heirs to those positions on the horizon in the minor leagues.

The Phillies drafted in such a way this year that seemed to reflect agreement with that assessment. Before beginning their long-awaited run on infielders, however, the club selected outfielder Larry Greene with its first selection, the 39th overall. Greene, a left-handed hitting corner outfielder, hit .562 with 19 home runs and 52 runs batted in for Berrien County High School in Nashville, Georgia. Ranked #57 among ESPN’s top 100 draft prospects by Law, Greene has what many observers consider the most raw power of any high school hitter in this year’s draft class. For this, he has drawn comparisons not only to current Phillies prospect Jonathan Singleton, but also Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard. Although he has committed to play next season at Chipola Junior College in Florida, Greene is expected to sign relatively quickly with the Phillies and should instead begin his career with the rookie-level Gulf Coast League Phillies later this month or early next month.

Following its selection of Greene, the Phillies began going after those badly-needed infield prospects. The club began by choosing Roman Quinn, a speedy high school shortstop out of Florida, with their first of two second round selections (66th overall). Next, with the 90th overall pick and their second of two second round picks, the Phillies selected third baseman Harold Martinez out of the University of Miami. Martinez has already signed a professional contract and is expected to begin his career at short-season Williamsport. Out of their eight selections between round 4 and round 11, the Phillies selected four additional infielders. Perhaps the most interesting of those is their 11th round choice of Tyler Greene (no relation to Larry Greene), a high school shortstop from Florida. Tyler Greene was ranked 74th among ESPN’s top 100 draft prospects, and could be a tough sign. He has a commitment to play next season at the University of Georgia and will likely demand close to a seven-figure bonus to sign with the Phillies.

Although the Phillies may not be able to sign all of the infield prospects they drafted, the Phillies are likely to sign many of them to add to what was probably their greatest area of organizational weakness. “We came to the conclusion that it has been over the last several years very difficult to find a position player,” Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. told MLB.com. “Our first three guys are position players that we think have some ceiling…other than the first guy, guys who can play in the middle of the field, which is important.”

- BH

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Posted by brianhamilton on Jun 13 2011. Filed under Breaking News, The Pharm Report. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry