Former Reading Eagle cohort and R-Phils beat writer Mike Drago compiled his annual list of the top 20 prospects in the Phillies’ chain. Team media insiders and regional beat writers were polled.
Slugging first-baseman Jonathan Singleton of low-A Lakewood edged out right-handed teammate Jarred Cosart for top billing. It's how many of us would list them; Domonic Brown was taken out of the running for this particular poll. Singleton and Cosart shot up the charts from most preseasons polls. Right-hander Vance Worley, who was served a cup of coffee with the big club earlier this season and has pitched consistently well for Double and Triple-A, rated third, ahead of control-challenged, high-upside right-hander Trevor May. Lakewood catcher Sebastian Valle rounded out the top five. Click here to view the complete list.
To me, the moral of the story between this list and the 2009 version is that pitchers like B.J. Rosenberg, Joe Savery, Drew Carpenter, Yohan Flande and Sergio Escalona, who ranked 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 15th on this list a year ago, have once again demonstrated that minor league success needs to be measured against age. None of these guys have ever been highly regarded by any of the leading scouting magazines, they were old for their leagues and none of them were thought to have much upside. In fairness, Rosenberg suffered some injury setbacks this season.
Secondly, and as noted by Drago, the Cliff Lee bounty failed to crack the top 16. J.C. Ramirez rated 17th, while Phillippe Aumont and Tyson Gillies, considered top 10-caliber before the season, failed to make the list entirely.
Overall, the consensus seems to be that the system is young and deep, but lacks blue-chip chops. Read Drago’s complete take here.