The MLB amateur draft sometimes gets lost in the shuffle (it’s in the middle of the season, you’ve never heard otf the guys getting drafted save one here or one there), but in reality it’s such an effective way to build your organization.

A quick glance at their highest ranked prospects over the last few years shows the importance the organization puts on the draft, and that they’ve gotten a lot out of the draft the last few years.

• 2009: Nine of the top ten (save Carlos Carrasco) come out of the draft and three of those nine (plus Carrasco) land the Phillies Cliff Lee…Lou Marson’s trade elevates status of Travis d’Arnaud (another draft pick), plus big years from Anthony Gose and Trevor May from the 2008 draft class.
• 2008: Nine of the top ten (again, save Carrasco) are draft picks. This top ten includes Adrian Cardenas and Josh Outman, traded later this year for Joe Blanton, and Greg Golson, traded after the season for John Mayberry, Jr.
• 2007: Eight of the top ten (save Carrasco and Edgar Garcia) are draft picks. In here is Matt Maloney, traded this year for Kyle Lohse, and Michael Bourn, traded after the season for Brad Lidge.

So the Phillies have put a clear premium on the draft in recent years, compared to international free agency. We figure in the Baseball America list, released later today, there’s a decent chance eight of the top ten are draft picks (save Sebastian Valle and Yohan Flande) are draft picks.

Next, look at Phillies core players that were drafted by the team: Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Madson.

Jayson Werth was a bargain free agent, Shane Victorino was acquired in the Rule Five Draft

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This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 11:24 am and is filed under Around the Farm, Phillies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.