All Quiet On The Free Agent Front...

Free Agency is now 19 hours old and there is absolutely nothing to report for the Phillies. The Phillies are not expected to be involved in any of the 1st Tier free agents anyway and there has been a Kremlin-like silence from newly appointed GM Ruben Amaro Jr. so far. The Phillies have supposedly alreadly made one attempt to resign LF Pat Burrell just after the season ended. They are also supposedly in serious talks with free agent SP Jamie Moyer. Moyer, coming off of an impressive season in which he had a sub 4.00 ERA and led the team in wins at age 45, is looking for at least a 2 year deal. Shooting from the hip, I'll predict that Moyer signs a 2 year, $14-16 million with a good number of incentives based off innings pitched. Worst case is Moyer completely hits the wall in 09 and we simply have a very expensive 2nd pitching coach. Odds, and any rational statistical analysis, point to Jamie having a decent season in 09 and a further drop-off at age 47 in 2010. Still, considering we got him for free, he'll be worth whatever they end up paying him. Jamie might not have an ERA in the 3.00s again but he's still a very capable starter. Burrell is more of a long-shot to resign but I still see it happening. There hasn't been any buzz whatsoever on Burrell so far. He's a liability defensively and he doesn't like to DH so that limits his options considerably. He's likely a 2nd tier free agent and that will also hurt his marketability during an off-season where the national economic downturn will affect such signings. His best fit is in Philly and both he and the Front Office will likely eventually figure that out. My guess is somewhere around 3 years, $40 million. It could very well end up lower than that in the end if the market for aging LFs really drys up. The Phillies are also rumored to be looking for some cheap bullpen help, so we should expect them to sign some low key veteran relievers to take over the long reliever roles. The key parts of the 'pen are already in place so there won't be any big waves made. The bench is more likely to receive reinforcement internally from prospects like C Lou Marson and SS Jason Donald so I wouldn't expect any major signings in that department either. The Phillies could still stun us with another major Winter trade to fill their LF hole but its a longshot at this point.

Yeah, its a boring off-season so far but we did just win the World Series so I can't complain too much.

Minor League Awards

It's time for the monthly awards again starting with the Phillies minor league system. Its been an up and down month for the Phillies farm system. The IronPigs have turned it around and are now playing like a respectable ball club. Another good month like this last one and they'll likely be out of last place. Several top prospects have stumbled including SP Andrew Carpenter who was just demoted from AA Reading down to A+ Clearwater. SP Antonio Bastardo (AA) has been so-so since his promotion to Reading and he no longer appears to be the uber-prospect he seemed in Clearwater. To anyone who knows his stuff, this is not a surprise. Still, there is hope that he will make something of himself and become a contributor at the Major League level in the next few years. At the AAA level, C Jason Jaramillo has turned it around and he is now sporting a much more respectable .240's batting average after a dreadful start. Due to his age, 28 this year, he appears to be trade bait to a team needing a good backup this summer. That said, its time for the awards:

Monthly Awards:

Minor League Player of the Month - C Lou Marson: Marson may have solidified his spot as the top position prospect in the Phillies organization with a truly awesome performance this month. He batted .394 (37 of 94) for the month with 24 RBIs and 2o runs scored. He picked up 10 extra-base hits (8 2Bs, 2 HR) in the process and walked more than he struck out (20BBs vs. 17 SOs). Most impressively, he posted a .500 OBP for the month along with a 1.043 OPS. He is also finally getting national attention appearing on Baseball Prospectus' Hot Sheet this month. At this point, Marson looks to be the catcher of the future for the Phillies and he could turn into a real star.

Minor League Pitcher of the Month - LHP R.J. Swindle: Despite not having a 90 MPH fastball, Swindle continues to post very impressive numbers at every level of the minors and this month was no exception. In 9 appearances, Swindle pitched 12 1/3 innings giving up 1 earned run for a 0.73 ERA. He has allowed just 6 hits for the month and exhibited his trademark of excellent control with 13 Ks and just 1 BB. Despite his unorthodox stuff, the Phillies are running out of excuses of why not to promote Swindle to the Show.

Honorable Mention:

OF Greg Golson (AA): Golson had another strong month in Reading and it appears his projected power is starting to appear. After hitting just 2 HRs in all of April, he hit 5 for the month of May. He also had another strong month with a .336 avg and 8 SBs. He still needs a lot of work on his plate discipline (35 SOs vs. 5 BBs) however and he is not ready for the Show yet. Still, he is showing some very positive signs.

2B Adrian Cardenas (A+): Cardenas had a strong month back from an early season injury. He went 21 of 65 (.323) at the plate along with 10 extra-base hits (3 2Bs, 3 3Bs, 4 HRs). He also showed great plate discipline (11 BBs vs. 9 SOs) and he appears to be another great position prospect in the Phillies system.

SP Drew Naylor (A): The Phillies top Aussie prospect posted another strong month for the Lakewood BlueClaws (A) going 3-0 with a 3.11 ERA. He struck out 39 in 37 1/3 innings pitched. He also exhibited good control walking just 8 batters on the month. Naylor will likely be promoted to Clearwater shortly after the upcoming amateur draft.

A Star In The Making?

Back in 2004, the Phillies used their 4th round pick (122nd overall) on a quarterback (yes, a QB) out of Coronado High School in Scottsdale, AZ named Lou Marson. Marson was immediately converted into a catcher and his trip throught the minor leagues began. Marson was assigned to the Gulf Coast League that season and immediately did well. He batted .257 in 38 games with the Gulf Coast League Phillies and demonstrated signs of what has become his trademark as a prospect: getting on base. He walked 13 times in 113 ABs giving him a .333 OBP. In 2005 he quickly progressed as a 19 year-old to Short Season Single-A Batavia where he continued to get on base and play above average defense for the MuckDogs. He batted a somewhat low .247 that season in 6o games, but he continued to get on base gathering 27 BBs in 220 ABs. In 2006 he moved up another level to Lakewood (A-) and his progress continued. He increased his BB/AB total for the 3rd straight season despite moving up a level each year and he continued to contribute plus defense behind the plate. The only major criticism of him at this point was his lack of power. While he had been getting on base, he was not hitting the ball over the fence nor was he batting above the .250 range. Despite this criticism, his other attributes assured his promotion to Clearwater in 2007. Marson's 2007 campaign was a wakeup call for both Marson and the Phillies Front Office. Before 2007, Marson was a nice prospect that projected as a utility catcher behind fellow prospect C Jason Jaramillo or as a decent backup in the Majors. After his 07 season, Marson started to look more and more like a star player in the making. He maintained his walk rate while adding 40 points to his batting average. In 111 games he posted a .288 AVG with a .373 OBP. He also kept his strike-out rate down, whiffing only 80 times in 393 ABs. All of a sudden, Marson was showing the potential to be an everyday player in the majors. He was succeeding as a 20 year-old catcher in High A ball. As a 21 year-old this year, he was slotted to be the everyday catcher at AA Reading where the Phillies had high hopes that he would build on his very successful 2007 campaign while jumping another level in the minors. The jump between A+ ball and AA ball is considered the most difficult transition a young prospect can make and it usually separates the wheat from the chaff when it comes to prospects. Marson, however, shot out of the gate in Reading. So far, it looks as though Marson has managed to put everything together this season and he is off to a torrid start.

His line through the first two months is as follows:

G: 43
AB: 148
R: 24
H: 51
2B: 10
HR: 2
RBI: 32
BB: 31
SO: 33
AVG: .345 (1st in the EL)
OBP: .458 (2nd in the EL)
OPS: .912 (7th in the EL)

He has continued to get on base, but his batting average is now in the stratosphere. He's up 60 points from last season despite making the hardest jump in the minors from A to AA. Combined with outstanding defense on his part (39% caught stealing) and you now have a great prospect who's only 21 going on 22. If he can keep up his production this season, he will be a very valuable piece to have in the organization. Considering the age of the current catchers in front of him (Coste is 35, Ruiz is 29) and his ability, he'll likely be in Philly sooner rather than later. Depending on what happens this off-season, Marson could easily have an invitation to camp next Spring followed by a mid-season call-up if he continues to show this much potential. One thing is for certain: C Lou Marson is now on the map.