The Phuture

Before getting into the meat of this post, I wanted to say that we are due for another Male Bag pretty soon. After tons and tons of questions and comments for last month's, I'm severely lacking enough material for a good Male Bag right now. This is more than likely my own fault for not recording all of your questions or comments as well as I have in the past, but because of this I want to encourage everyone to hit me with a question or comment at some point in the next few days so we can get a July Male Bag. It'll also make my job easier as I'm moving stuff in in Virginia this weekend.

So on Monday we looked at what our roster could potentially look like a few weeks from now. Today, though, I want to take a look at what our roster could potentially look like a few years from now.

In seasons past, I have followed a handful of minor league players throughout the season and tried to give you guys random updates on them. That totally sucked and was boring for everyone (except me). I found myself updating statistics every week or 2 and barely ever using those statistics for anything other than my own weird satisfaction, and it wasn't even that satisfying because I could, at any time, just check their stats online and not waste my time typing them into a spreadsheet.

Today I plan on looking at a few minor league players in a much different way. I want to look at what our roster could be in 2014. Why 2014? Because I said so. Some players will almost definitely still be around then, and other spots we will need to fill. Obviously, much of this ends up getting done through trades and free agency, but I'm going to take a look at the Phillies if we only used players coming up through our system. That means we have to deal with crappy guys like Utley, Howard, Rollins, Hamels, and Ruiz. Not cool guys we can get in free agency and trades like Adam Eaton and Raul Ibanez. (Ok so obviously trades and free agency have been awesome for us (Lee, Halladay, Oswalt, Polanco, etc.), but I think it's more awesome that the core of our team for our 4 straight division titles is full of true Philles - guys we drafted, developed, and called up to the bigs).

To do this, I'm just going to go around the diamond, starting with pitching.

Our 5 starters:
Roy Halladay
Cliff Lee
(not) Cole Hamels
J.C. Ramirez
Jarred Cosart
Jesse Biddle

I think that Halladay, Lee, and Hamels will still be around then. Halladay and Lee are almost certain because of their contracts. Halladay has a vesting option (or some other made up baseball contract term) for 2014, and Lee is signed through 2016 (I think) with a vesting option (there it is again) for 2017. Hamels is wishful thinking at this point. You know what? I don't think we can afford him. I'm changing that. Cole Hamels probably won't be around. He is going to be worth a lot of money as a free agent, and with the big contracts we currently have I just don't know that we can make him happy monetarily despite the fact that I think he is a priority for us. That's a shame. So that leaves us with J.C. Ramirez, Jarred Cosart, and Jesse Biddle. One question you may ask: Where's Vance Worley? I actually fear that Vance could be traded as early as this year (doubtful, but his value may be at its highest because I don't know how good he is going to end up being), and, if not, I think he won't really last as a starter for us. I can't give you great reasons why, I just feel like his success now is not indicative of his future.
Ramirez, Cosart, and Biddle are all in the minor league system right now. Ramirez was a part of the Halladay/Lee trade, and he is currently in Reading. Although he is not one of our top prospects, I think he gets to the majors quicker than anyone else because of his current position and can lock down a spot in the rotation for a little while.
Cosart and Biddle are the more exciting guys, both of them currently top 5 prospects for the Phillies. Cosart is actually predicted to arrive in the big leagues in 2013.
Coming into this season, he was the 34th ranked prospect in the country. Right now he sits at #2 in our organization and is in Clearwater. He's just 21 years old and has been solid in 16 starts this season, compiling a 3.23 ERA and holding opponents to a .220 average. Biddle was our first round pick in last season's draft, and he's a Philadelphia native. He's a left-handed pitcher, so I think he has an advantage getting into the starting rotation. The Phillies love good lefties.

As for the bullpen, we should see some familiar names, but also a couple you may not know as well.
Michael Stutes
Antonio Bastardo
Drew Carpenter
Ryan Madson
Mike Zagurski
Phillippe Aumont

Aumont is the only one here who has spent no time in the majors, and he is another we got in the Halladay/Lee deal. He could potentially end up as a closer, but that is a tough thing to figure out sometimes in the minors because you don't know how a player will respond to that role until they get to experience it on a bigger stage. Also, Aumont is Canadian, so I don't know if he's mean/crazy enough to close.

Now, on to the position players:

Catcher: Sebastian Valle

I think that Chooch will still be around and starting in 2014, but he will surely be on his way out at that point. Valle has become his successor nearly by default since we have traded away our 2 best catching prospects in the past 2 seasons. He is doing very well right now hitting the ball in Clearwater with a .324 average. He doesn't hit with a ton of power, but we don't really need that out of a catcher. Valle is actually projected to get to Philly in 2013, and it will be interesting to see how well he handles big league pitching.

First base: Ryan Howard

Howard is clearly a priority for this organization, and I expect him to be here throughout his career. His contract will keep him here potentially through 2017.

Second base: Chase Utley

My hope is that Utley can stay healthy and continue to be our second baseman long into the future. He is set to be a free agent in 2014, but I can't imagine Utley and the Phillies not doing everything they can to keep this great relationship alive.

Third base: Aaron Altherr

This 20-year-old may be the worst prediction that I have here, mostly because he is actually an outfielder. He has been put in at 3rd base a few times, and I'm hoping that the Phillies decide to try him out there some more and end up keeping him there. For some reason, the Phillies have avoided 3rd base prospects like the plague ever since Scott Rolen came and went. It has consistently been a position that we have simply had no one waiting, resulting in players like Wes Helms, Greg Dobbs, and Abraham Nunez. I honestly have no clue who will end up at 3rd for us, but I'm hoping it's one of our own for once.

Shortstop: Freddy Galvis

He's only 21 years old and playing in Reading this season. Although he has not fooled anyone into believing he is a spectacular hitter in the minors, I have heard great things about his glove at arguably the most important defensive position on the field. If not Galvis, this could end up being 2nd base prospect Cesar Hernandez. Either way, I think that Jimmy's days in Philadelphia will be just about numbered as soon as we even think we have a replacement that is ready.

Left field: Jonathan Singleton

Singleton is the #22 prospect in the country, the #5 outfield prospect in the country, and the #1 prospect in the Phillies organization. He's just 19 years old but has shown a lot of promise as a complete hitter who can also swipe a few bases if needed.

Center field: John Mayberry, Jr.

Victorino could very well still be here in 2014, but you know all about him. You also probably know all about Mayberry, so I won't talk about Mayberry too much because you all have heard way too much about him from me (if you forget, reference any post from this season). A few people he may be blocking, though, would possibly include Altherr as well as a center fielder in Clearwater named Jiwan James. Mayberry will be 30 in 3 years, and that is usually somewhere around a baseball players' prime (see: our entire roster 2 years ago). These other guys are currently projected to get up to the majors in 2013 or '14, so it all depends on how ready they are and how well Mayberry is doing. I think one of them will be up as a 4th outfielder on the team, though.

Right field: Domonic Brown

If Dom makes it to the beginning of next season as a Philly, I think he will be here for a long time. Not long ago, he was the 3rd ranked prospect in the country. He has shown flashes of everything you could want in a player, and I think he is one that we can start to build the future of the Phillies around much like we did with Rollins, Utley, and Howard. The question will be: Who else will join him?

Although this is an absolutely impossible thing to do, I hope predicting a roster for 2014 is a more interesting way to look at some of our current minor league prospects. The time will be coming all too soon that we need to start making some real changes within our organization. My hope is that we can continue doing it in true Philly fashion by sticking with mostly our own guys.