Rounding up Phillies prospect rankings

The Phillies have a good farm system. We all know it at this point.

The combination of trades netting prospects, the draft and Latin American signings has bolstered the Phillies’ minor league status to near the top.

It is now February and while we have not released our prospect list quite yet — don’t worry, it’s coming — most outlets within the industry have dropped their individual team and overall top 100 (101 if we are talking Baseball Prospectus) rankings.

I put together a Google spreadsheet for ease of access to all lists with links included. I will update when Pipeline’s and Fangraphs’ final team lists are dropped later during Spring Training. For the time being, here is that spreadsheet if you wish to use it:

Phillies 2018 Prospect Rankings

11 different Phillies prospects appeared on top 100/101 lists from Baseball America, ESPN’s Keith Law, MLB Pipeline, Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus. Of those 11, only three were constants across the board. So let us take a look at where the 11 Phillies prospects landed in top overall lists from around the industry.

The three constants were easy to guess: RHP Sixto Sanchez, SS J.P. Crawford and 2B Scott Kingery. Those three guys are universally considered the Phillies’ top three prospects, all that varies is the ordering.

Beyond that, as you can see, it was a revolving door for who was deserving of a spot among the top prospects in baseball. RHP Adonis Medina was apart of all lists not put together by Keith Law and generally hovered around the back end of said lists with the exception being a ranking of 46 from Baseball Prospectus. C Jorge Alfaro was ranked on only two of the five lists but slid in as Baseball Prospectus’s 36th-best prospect. 2017 first-rounder OF Adam Haseley was the sixth and final prospect to be featured on at least two lists, coming in at a high spot of 95th for MLB Pipeline.

RHP Franklyn Kilome, SS Arquimedes Gamboa, LHP JoJo Romero, OF Jhailyn Ortiz and OF Mickey Moniak each appeared on one list. Romero came in at a surprisingly high ranking of 59th on Keith Law’s list.

Two of the biggest risers from within the system in rankings were Gamboa and Ortiz, both of whom made their first Top 100 lists. Aside from Kingery and Sanchez, Gamboa and Ortiz will likely be two of the most talked about Phillies prospects in 2018. Gamboa seems to be a likely trade candidate with Crawford having cemented himself, for the time being, as the future at short for the Phils. With a successful first year in full season ball at age 19, Ortiz could shoot up prospect lists next offseason and even this midseason.

As most assumed, 2016 first overall selection Mickey Moniak plunged down every list and dropped out of each Top 100/101 with the exception being MLB Pipeline’s in which he was ranked 88th. He still has remained a consensus top 10 prospect in the Phillies’ system. Pipeline also gave him his highest Phillies ranking at 5th.

Reverting back to the top three prospects in the system, the last I could find of this concrete of a top three was post-2014 draft with Crawford, Maikel Franco and then-recently drafted Aaron Nola. Every list I could find has those guys top three.

Fast forward to now and we have the same situation with Crawford, Sanchez and Kingery. Sanchez is a consensus top two Phillies prospect while Crawford is top two in all lists besides Fangraphs’ and Pipeline’s. Kingery, sitting at third in all other lists, replaces Crawford as the second ranked prospect in the system in the two aforementioned rankings.

All-in-all, I think that the lists made public have been pretty solid. The biggest head-scratcher for me is Keith Law having JoJo Romero (fourth overall) and Ranger Suarez (eighth overall) as the team’s second and third best pitching prospects ahead of Adonis Medina (ninth overall). Perhaps Law got reports on Romero and Suarez from their best individual performances of the season and some so-so reports on Medina.

Other than that, Pipeline and Fangraphs having Kingery over Crawford is the only thing I’d question, but it is a debatable ranking for sure.

Be sure to keep an eye out for TGP’s prospect ranking.