2012 Philadelphia Phillies Prospect List Comparison

by John Sickels on Nov 7, 2025 3:09 PM EST

Comparing Philadelphia Phillies 2012 Top 10 Prospect Lists

Baseball America's Top 10 Phillies Prospect list has been posted. This version doesn't require a subscription.

I posted my own Phillies list on October 28^th. Let's compare the lists.

1) Sickels: Trevor May, RHP; BA: May
2) Sickels: Jesse Biddle, LHP; BA: Biddle
3) Sickels: Sebastian Valle, C; BA: Valle
4) Sickels: Brody Colvin, RHP; BA: Jon Pettibone, RHP
5) Sickels: Larry Greene, OF; BA: Phillippe Aumont, RHP
6) Sickels: Justin De Fratus, RHP; BA: Freddy Galvis, SS
7) Sickels: Phillippe Aumont, RHP; BA: De Fratus
8) Sickels: Julio Rodriguez, RHP; BA: Colvin
9) Sickels: Michael Schwimer, RHP; BA: Jiwan James, OF
10) Sickels: Maikel Franco, 3B; BA: Franco
15) Sickels: Pettibone
17) Sickels: Galvis
20) Sickels: James

The top three are the same, but after that there are significant differences. BA is high on Jon Pettibone. I can understand it but I have questions about his secondary pitches and low strikeout rate. If I was doing my list over I would slot him ahead of Schwimer, putting Pettibone at 9 and Schwimer at 11 (I would keep Franco at 10) but it is too late now. They like Freddy Galvis a lot but I have serious doubts that he will ever hit enough to be a regular. Same thing with Jiwan James: he's got great tools but he just hasn't hit much and has shown little skill growth.

I am surprised that Greene didn't make their top ten, especially over James. I'm not surprised they downplay Julio Rodriguez, Matt Forman in the chat section points out that scouts have mixed opinions about him and wonder if his stuff will hold up against better competition. I would point out that Rodriguez is actually younger than Pettibone and put up superior numbers at the same level. Pettibone looks more like a pitcher in person due to a more classic body and smoother mechanics, so he gets better scouting reports.

I think this is a typical dichotomy. Baseball America, while certainly considering the sabermetric side of things, will usually lean towards pure tools when in doubt. I tend to be more sabermetric, though I certainly look at the tools in my analysis.

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Read More: Phillippe Aumont (P - PHI), Freddy Galvis (SS - PHI), Michael Schwimer (P - PHI), Justin De Fratus (P - PHI), Philadelphia Phillies

Comments

Greene

I think a lot of people were surprised by BA’s omission of Greene. Like you said, BA would normally gush over Greene’s set of offensive tools. Forman said he wanted to see some in game action before putting Greene in the top 10, but that never stopped them before.

by another know it all on Nov 7, 2025 4:12 PM EST reply actions

Brody Colvin

I’m surprised that Baseball America ‘jumped ship’ (so to speak) so quickly there. I don’t feel like his year was quite as abhorrent as some are making it out to be.

by Matt0330 on Nov 7, 2025 4:27 PM EST reply actions

Brody Colvin

John, I generally agree with your analysis of the differences above, but to be honest, I was a little surprised that you had Colvin that high. This past year, his sabermetric numbers, scouting reports, and health all deteriorated.

Is the difference between your ranking and BA’s ranking just due to a difference in risk assessment of his future? Or did you scout him and see something different?

by blue bulldog on Nov 7, 2025 5:39 PM EST reply actions

colvin

I didn’t see him in person but I think he is a good bet to rebound.

by John Sickels on Nov 8, 2025 12:30 PM EST up reply actions

John,

did Tyler Greene get any consideration for that 10th spot? He’s definitely a project, but his potential might be the highest in the organization.

Adoptive father of 18th round draft pick and future ace, BRANDON ALLEN

by Nnamdi Asomugha on Nov 7, 2025 7:51 PM EST reply actions

greene

I rather like Tyler Greene and I think he’s a big sleeper going forward, maybe not in 12 but in 13 and beyond.

by John Sickels on Nov 8, 2025 12:29 PM EST up reply actions

Again

No difference on anything above B-.

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by rwperu34 on Nov 7, 2025 8:07 PM EST reply actions

Still can't believe the Phillies traded away their entire sytem for Pence.

Not literally, but they gave up arguably their three top prospects, ceiling wise. Most high ceiling prospects have low floors, and Cosart, Santana, and Singleton do. However, I still think the trade was extremely lopsided, as all three of these players can be better than Pence.

None of these guys are considered can’t-miss prospects, but there’s good reason to think they will pan out, at least somewhat. All three had good 2011 seasons.

Singleton continued to hit HRs and draw walks (not to mention hitting for a high average), though he did start to strike out a little too much in the last two weeks. He should start the season in AA, which is remarkable considering he just turned 20.

Cosart’s season was probably a bit disappointing, considering he has one of the better repertoires in the minors. Nevertheless, a 4.12 ERA is nothing to be worried about. He’ll need to drop that ERA in order to keep his B+, A- status as a prospect, though.

Santana is definitely the most intriguing of the three. His floor is incredibly low, but his ceiling is pretty damn high. He finished the year on a rampage at Lexington, hitting .382 with 5 HRs (4 were opposite field), 4 doubles, and 21 RBIs in 17 games. His K/BB rate is concerning, but he’s still young and developing.

All in all, the Astros got a hell of a deal in return for Pence, who’s just a borderline All-Star. If these guys pan out, they’ll be legitimate All-Stars. I may never understand why the Phillies GM gave up this much. But, I’m an Astros fan, so I’m not complaining. Just very confused as to why we got this much for Pence.

"Hakeem couldn't kick your ass cuz you were too
close kissin his!"- Sir Charles to Kenny Smith.

by bone31crusher on Nov 7, 2025 9:25 PM EST reply actions

i dunno

at the time, i actually thought the trade was pretty fair. Cosart and Singleton probably aren’t going to even break the Top 50 in terms of prospects. on the other hand, rumor was at the time the Astros asked for Trevor May and were rebuffed.

by blue bulldog on Nov 7, 2025 10:19 PM EST up reply actions

I think Singleton will be in most top 50s. The production relative to age/level is Freddie Freeman like.

by philiafan14364 on Nov 7, 2025 10:28 PM EST up reply actions

I tend to agree

Pence is a very consistent bat, and he was clearly the best option available on the market. Losing Singleton wasn’t so nice as I think he has a pretty decent floor relative to 1B prospects (although he is admittedly expendable in this system if he can’t play anywhere but 1B), but Cosart and Santana are wild cards. Both are obviously immensely talented, but it’s not hard to see a scenario in which, say, Cosart ends up in middle relief and Santana never makes it at all.

I think it was a solid trade for both sides. It has the potential to be Bartolo Colon to the Expos 2.0, but it could also be a fairly middling return. That kind of gamble is pretty much par for the course in these sorts of circumstances.

by mrkupe on Nov 7, 2025 10:37 PM EST up reply actions

My biggest issue with the trade wasn’t really what they gave up, even though I think they did give up too much. The real issue to me, was the fact that they really, really didn’t need Pence… at all. Especially when you consider the fact that they replaced Brown with him, instead of Raul “negative WAR” Ibanez. There was just sooo much wrong with that trade.

/rantover

by philiafan14364 on Nov 7, 2025 10:49 PM EST up reply actions

this is a fair point

by blue bulldog on Nov 7, 2025 11:12 PM EST up reply actions

that's fair

That’s not a problem with the trade, though, so much as it’s a problem with poor roster management.

I suppose you can make the argument that hoping Ibanez would come alive allowed the Phillies to stash Brown in the minors a bit longer and keep his service time down. Ibanez was a sunk cost, but Brown’s cost to the team in the years to come could have been significantly altered by what the Phillies chose to do.

by mrkupe on Nov 8, 2025 1:00 AM EST up reply actions

It'll definitely be a better deal than Bartolo Colon to the 'spos.

At the very least the Phillies already got 1/3 of a season of .954 OPS out of Pence. But the Phillies also get Pence for 2 more seasons, whereas the Expos only had Colon for 17 starts. Plus, they also have Halladay and Lee locked up for the next 2 seasons (likely to be 3 with Halladay’s vesting option), so it’s not like they need an impact stud to come up from the minors to bolster the rotation any time soon.

I would think the lowest expectations of Pence over the next two years would be average defense in rightfield while having an OPS in the 110-120 range. I think that kind of contribution is worth the gamble they paid. If he remotely sniffs a full season of performance of what he did after the trade, it’s a straight win for the Phillies.

But also consider this: the Phillies window of opportunity is closing in a hurry. Rollins might be gone, Howard, Utley and Polanco are declining rapidly,Carlos Ruiz is going to be 33 at the start of next season, and it’s possible that Cole Hamels is gone after next year. Amaro had already sold out 3, 4 and 5 years down the road with all of the other trades he’s made in the last few years (Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Roy Halladay for example). The trade made the team better right now. They needed that more than they needed three guys to potentially get to the majors 2 years from now and become real contributors 3 or 4 years from now.

by ajake57 on Nov 8, 2025 11:16 PM EST up reply actions

It can easily be argued that the window is closing due to the trades and win now mentality. If the Oswalt and Pence trades hadn’t happened, there would be a potential stud Centerfielder ready to replace Victorino when his contract runs out. Brown would be the every day Right Fielder, with Mayberry or some other stop gap FA in Left. Valle may be able to take over behind the plate in a few years. The team never resigns Howard, or to a shorter term and Singleton takes over in 2014.

Windows don’t close if a team is run correctly by mixing trades, Free Agents and homegrown talent. The Yankees and Red Sox have plenty of that. If the window’s closing it’s due to bad contracts for too many years, but even that I don’t buy.

by Cormican on Nov 9, 2025 3:25 PM EST up reply actions

mayberry

Underrated player who has finally gotten a shot, really. He’s merely serviceable against RHPs, but he crushed left-handed pitching the minors, and that’s carried through to the majors. No reason why this guy shouldn’t have a job as a 1B/COF playing everyday against LHPs and as at least a fill-in otherwise.

by mrkupe on Nov 10, 2025 1:09 AM EST up reply actions

After he got recalled last season he splits were much improved. That could just be a lucky streak, but if it isn’t, he could definitely be an everyday player. And he’s good enough Defensively to play 4 different positions (with brief mentions he may try his hand at 3rd in the Spring).

by Cormican on Nov 10, 2025 10:17 AM EST up reply actions