Phillies win MiLBY for best farm system

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Philadelphia Phillies prospects stand for the National Anthem prior to the first of two Future's games prior to the 2016 season. (Frank Klose/Philliedelphia)

By: Matthew Shinkle, Sports Talk Philly writer

The common complaint during the final days of the Ruben Amaro Jr. era was that the team was getting older, with much reluctance to address the future of the team, in terms of younger players. The minor league teams of the Philadelphia Phillies organization felt very much depleted due to trades that saw the Phillies send away prospects in return for players already in the major leagues. The win-now mode was still in affect. 

However, within the past about two years, the minor league teams for the Phillies have turned around completely.

This week, it was announced that the Phillies won the MILBY award for having the Best Farm System. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees won the fan vote competition.

Since having a combined winning percentage of .435 in their minor leagues in 2014, from Rookie ball to Triple-A, reversing that trend has recently became a major priority. Philadelphia director of player development Joe Jordan says the amount of talent they now have within the organization is spectacular:


"In 2014, we had the worst winning percentage in Minor League Baseball," said Jordan. "Since then things have turned around quite a bit. During that time, we had Maikel Franco and [Andrew] Pullin and [J.P.] Crawford and a lot of other guys in our system, but we didn't have the volume, we didn't have the numbers."


Now with a minor league winning percentage at .581 for the past year, it's easy to tell that the organization appears to be headed towards the upward swing at the moment.

For example, the Reading Phillies ended the season with the best record in the Eastern League and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs clinched the wild card spot in the International League, finishing the season 27 games over .500. 

Jordan says that an emphasis on drafting well and winning trades has paired well with a strong coaching staff:


 "If you really look at the system — this is how it's supposed to work — we got talent from the Draft and talent from international signings and talent from trades," Jordan said. "We have a lot of scouts in every venue of player evaluation in the world. We get talent from everywhere, and that's good — player procurement is what you want. We've had people make a lot of good decisions, and we've gotten a lot of good recommendations, and we have a great group of teachers working with our players."


 Big trades within the past two years have now helped to add that volume that Jordan stated the team once lacked. Players like J.P. Crawford and Maikel Franco are considered home grown talent, having been drafted and signed as young kids that have been through the organization. Having traded names such as Ken GilesJonathan PapelbonCole HamelsJimmy Rollins, among others, there's a plethora of other talents within the organization to look forward to. 

Many prospects for the Phillies projected to have high ceilings in the MLB played their first couple games this past season as September call-ups. Phillies fans have been acquainted with high-ranking prospects such as Jake Thompson, Jorge Alfaro and Roman Quinn.

This upcoming season, be sure to look out for more prized prospects making their Major League debut in 2017, with players such as Nick WilliamsJ.P. Crawford and Dylan Cozens appearing to be on the cusp on dawning a Phillies uniform sometime in the near future. 

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