The 2022 Philadelphia Phillies Draft Picks, UDFA and Signings

allentown 2022-07-21 18:11:55 UTC #142

A measured and I think an accurate review of the draft. I share the 'where's the pitching' view, especially since we spent basically $0 on international pitchers. [And I don't buy the argument that it's too difficult to tell who the good pitchers are at ages 15-16. We've wasted one heck of a lot more on international position player busts than on international pitching busts -- and despite spending less on international pitchers over the years, are efficiency there is a lot higher than it is with hitters -- I guess I should caveat this by saying I am excluding the infamous two Korean pitchers from back in the Giles era.]

zambonir 2022-07-21 18:43:53 UTC #143

Those two were signed in 2001, Giles stepped down in '97. (Not that I seriously consider Monty's era to be all that different, especially in this area.)

andyb 2022-07-21 18:55:43 UTC #144

Definitely agree there. Our best signings the past 3 decades might have been Carlos Silva and Carlos Carrasco. Francisco Morales is not a success yet but seems worthy of his bonus. Starlyn Castillo might have been a mistake.

As with HS pitching in the draft where I always wanted us to sign 3 or 4 every year, I would love to sign 3-4 international mid-dollar signings on the pitching side in the $300K-$500K range. The odds are probably against signing million plus international arms because of injury, but that does not mean the midlevel can't be efficient. In the draft it is as much about finding the Ryan Madsons and Ben Browns as it is about high picks like Abel and Painter.

Matt_Winkelman 2022-07-21 19:03:54 UTC #145

I actually think they have been pretty bad in the mid-tier pitching side of things. They gave bonuses >$250k, but <$1M to Victor Vargas, Carlos Betancourt, Israel Puello, Hsin-Chieh Lin, Joalbert Angulo, and Fernando Ortega in the Klentak years and have very little to show from it.

I think by the time you are in that range you are much better going low bonus for either pure projection guys or going for the guys that pop up at 17 or 18. It isn't that you can't predict anything on 15 and 16 year olds, and more being open minded about signing older arms because we see even domestically, there are dudes who were bad HS pitchers who suddenly don't come into it until 19-22.

allentown 2022-07-21 19:09:26 UTC #146

Thanks! That seemed like much longer ago than that. Usually I underestimate the passage of time.

andyb 2022-07-21 19:21:09 UTC #147

Agree the last few years have not been positive on that midlevel strategy, but I also wonder if we subscribe too much to small sample size trends. Where are the top Latin American pitching prospects coming from and how much money does it take to sign them? That is the proper question to ask and a difficult one to research.

We definitely see low dollar signings adding velocity to get them in the 92-94 range all the time. It is not like these signings have had much major league impact either though. A look at the DSL rosters this year really has most of the better pitchers being older than the hitters. I just don't know if any of these pitchers are any good. A popup arm like Jean Cabrera does not seem much of a prospect for instance.

With organizational roster limits in place (and who does not think DSL limits won't be next?), it is tough to develop 20 low dollar pitchers for 3 years and hope a few become real prospects. I think it is too simplistic to say that not investing much dollar-wise in pitching is the way to go.

xogfog 2022-07-21 19:24:20 UTC #148

Well, as Groucho used to say, time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana.

fish 2022-07-21 20:54:51 UTC #149

There are two really good looking pitchers coming out of Taiwan in the next signing period (though i've read they are only thought to be in the 600k bonus range)- the Phils have been connected to at least one. Both would make me a lot happier about the current draft class. .

HopeSpringsEternal 2022-07-21 22:54:30 UTC #150

Does Ranger Suarez ($25,000 in 2012) count as a good international signing?

andyb 2022-07-21 23:07:25 UTC #151

Yes, but the Phillies were lucky then as he was a mid-80s velocity guy who nobody thought would throw 92-94 like he does today.

Nobody ever argues against signing low dollar players to fill out your class. Everybody does that. There are not enough roster spots to sign 50 Ranger Suarez types though. At some point one needs to invest dollars and inform that investment with a strategy. Getting lucky (even if you are smart) is not an organizational strategy.

allentown 2022-07-22 00:23:59 UTC #152

There were up until a few years ago. The Commissioner put an end to that strategy. I don't think any PTB liked the 50 Ranger Suarez approach. A lot of guys signing for small bonuses are no real value for buscaderos, agents, the Players' Association, or the many owners who would prefer not to have to fund the staffing of a couple more minor league teams.

Squire 2022-07-22 00:25:32 UTC #153

It’s weird because last years draft feels good because Painter is a top 50 prospect and 5th rounder McGarry is a top 100 prospect. But Wilson and Vairs are disappointments to me, Ottenbreit already had TJ and McGowan and Tonkel are ghosts.

I’m not disappointed in this years draft because it was about what I expected they would end up with.

allentown 2022-07-22 00:34:10 UTC #154

Perhaps unrealistically, I expected a serious pitching prospect or two, not the likely 3 largest bonuses going to OFs after an international season basically devoid of pitching. The Phillies tripling down on OFs is spitting into a strong wind.

fish 2022-07-22 03:45:46 UTC #155

But that is really good. Imagine doing that every draft.

andyb 2022-07-22 03:58:23 UTC #156

We had like $2 million more to spend last year. This year's draft unfortunately was always going to be about the top pick if we did not choose to go underslot. And we didn't, so this draft is mainly about Crawford.

Squire 2022-07-22 12:21:26 UTC #157

Steve Potter has 2 new UDFA signings

Jack Dallas, RHP, Lamar University
Ryan Leitch, C, Marshall University

julio 2022-07-22 14:13:29 UTC #158

I can't find anything about these signings on Steve's blog site, or his Twitter, that supports this.

I'm not questioning the accuracy of your report, Squire - but I can't update the top post until I see some source of information.

Update: I've independently verified the Ryan Leitch signing - in Leitch's Twitter tweets and retweets. Still can't find anything about Dallas.

andyb 2022-07-22 14:37:03 UTC #159

This tracker adds one more. Danny Wilkinson a LHP from Villanova. Definitely making more of an attempt to get players with local ties this year. I guess the $125K also helps. Undrafted free agents are the one area where we have excelled in recent years being willing to spend a few hundred thousand extra compared to most other organizations (though since we start with a lower pool they should really be able to spend a couple million here if they had the spots. I suspect there is not room for much more than 12-15 total.

Nobody new on the BA tracker which is here:

Wilkinson is a bit interesting. Terrible 2022 year. 21 years old. Googling finds him mentioned being classified to the 2022 draft in a Fangraphs 2021 Top 50 article. Then he went to the Cape this year and pitched 6.1 hitless innings with 1 BB and 15 Ks. Big K numbers as a reliever his entire career. Maybe he is only a LOOGY, but he seems to miss lots of bats.

Dallas here:

Philadelphia came to Beaumont to find Dallas ... Jack Dallas that is! Congratulations Jack on signing a free agent contract with the Phillies' organization. #WeAreLU pic.twitter.com/czlaZvhrfm
— Lamar Baseball ( @Lamar_Baseball ) July 22, 2022

julio 2022-07-22 14:52:14 UTC #160

Thanks, andyb! I've updated the tables in the top post - also updated the slot values for the June revision that MLB and the MLBPA agreed to.

I also found signing bonuses for Leitch and Penner, at the Canadian Baseball Network:

andyb 2022-07-22 15:04:06 UTC #161

If we decide to throw $125K around to all these free agents I imagine only a half dozen organizations are doing that. At least we do this part right.