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The disassembling of the prospect group known as the Baby Aces continues, as the Phillies have traded once highly regarded righty hurler Julio Rodriguez to Baltimore for outfielder Ronnie Welty . Rodriguez once dominated Class A ball, but looked far more human with Double-A Reading last season. Drafted in the 8th round of the 2008 amateur draft, the Puerto Rican born pitcher finished with an overall record of 7-3 with a 1.89 ERA and a .175 batting average against in 20 outings with Williamsport and Lakewood in 2010. The following season, Rodriguez was named a Florida State League All-Star, as he finished with a league leading 16 wins, a 2.76 ERA that was second best in the league and a .186 batting average against. Over those two seasons, he averaged a 10.71 K/9 mark. Last year in the Eastern League, Rodriguez wrapped up his 2012 regular season campaign with a 7-7 record, a 4.23 ERA and a .243 batting average against, following a difficult eight-game stretch (6.81 ERA) that go...

In recent years, righty hurler Julio Rodriguez has quietly become one of the Phillies ’ most promising prospects. Without the hype and buzz that has surrounded other well-regarded youngsters within the Phils’ organization, the Puerto Rican born hurler has proven himself worthy of being ranked among the team's prospects with the greatest potential. Selected in the 8th round of the 2008 amateur draft as a 17-year-old, Rodriguez made his professional debut that same year, throwing in seven games with the Gulf Coast League Phillies. However, the 6-foot-4-inch 200-pounder struggled, as he posted a 12.19 ERA and a .383 batting average against. He followed that up with a return to the GCL the following year.  Rodriguez added some strength and made some serious improvements, posting a 1-2 record with a 3.08 ERA and a .197 batting average against in 11 games (eight starts). In 2010, as a 19-year-old, Rodriguez began the season in extended spring training, but joined the...

It's another edition of our weekly off-season league review. Read ahead, as we take a tour around the globe for a look at Phillies talents including Antonio Bastardo , Raul Valdes and plenty of others, who are participating in various winter league action.  Venezuelan League- Second baseman Cesar Hernandez (pictured, left) ended his VWL regular season batting .226 with a home run, 16 RBI and 14 steals in 44 games for Margarita, as his team did not advance to the semi-final round.  The 22-year-old switch-hitter batted a combined .291 with two homers and 57 RBI in 133 games for Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley during the 2012 regular season. Shortstop Edgar Duran , also with Margarita, batted .240 with a home run and nine RBI in 36 games.  In 121 games for Class A Advanced Clearwater in 2012, Duran, 21, sported a .253/.310/.357 line. Shortstop Freddy Galvis wrapped up his regular season with a 10-game hitting streak, during which he posted ...

We're back with another edition of the (usually) weekly off-season league rundown. Read ahead, as we take a tour around the globe for a look at Phillies talents participating in various autumn and winter league action. Venezuelan League- Freddy Galvis (pictured, right) is batting .296 with 11 doubles, two triples, five homers and 28 RBI along with four steals through 57 games. The switch-hitting 23-year-old is riding a nine-game hitting streak, during which he is 13-for-39 (.333 avg). Galvis has been playing shortstop exclusively with Zulia. Catcher Humberto Quintero , 33, has posted a .314 batting average with five doubles, one home run and nine RBI in 23 games for Zulia. The righty hitting Quintero was signed by the Phillies last month after playing in 43 games with the Royals last season. Rule 5 draft choice Ender Inciarte , 22, is batting .234 with five doubles and a triple along with three steals through 44 games for Zulia. The lefty hitting center fielder b...

We're back with another edition of the weekly off-season league rundown.  Check it out, as we take a tour around the globe for a look at Phillies talents participating in various autumn and winter league action. Venezuelan League- With La Guaira, righty-handed hurler J.C. Ramirez (pictured, left) has posted a 2-1 record with a 10.80 ERA through 10 outings while walking seven and striking out six in 6 2/3 innings.  The 24-year-old, who was acquired as part of the 2009 Cliff Lee trade with Seattle, pitched exclusively as a reliever in the Phillies system in 2012, sporting a 3-4 record with a 4.01 ERA and a .230 batting average against in 45 games at Double-A and Triple A. Freddy Galvis is batting .291 with six doubles, two triples and five homers in 40 games with Zulia.  Galvis, a 23-year-old shortstop, batted .226 with three home runs and 24 RBI in 58 games with the big league Phillies in 2012. Second baseman Cesar Hernandez has posted a .286 avera...

It's another edition of our weekly off-season league updates.  Check it out, as we take a tour around the globe for a look at Phillies talents participating in various autumn and winter league action.   Mexican League- Catcher Sebastian Valle (pictured, left) is batting .214 with two doubles, two home runs and seven RBI in 17 games with Los Mochis.  The righty hitting Valle, 22, was an All-Star in the Double-A Eastern League in 2012 prior to earning a promotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Venezuelan League- Darin Ruf wrapped up his time with the La Guaira last week. The 26-year-old Creighton product posted a .258 batting average with 10 HR and 27 RBI in 32 games for the Tiburones. Ruf, a 20th round draft choice from 2009, made his big league debut with the Phillies in September and batted .333 with two doubles, a triple and three home runs in 12 games. Righty reliever Justin Friend has a 3-1 record along with one save and a 5.19 ERA in 20 outi...

It's another edition of our weekly off-season league updates.  Check it out, as we take a tour around the globe for a look at Phillies talents participating in various autumn and winter league action.  Venezuelan League- Outfielder Tyson Gillies (pictured, left) is done playing with the Lara team, after just 13 games, as his contract is up.  The 24-year-old had two separate stints in which he missed time in Venezuela, due to ailments, at least one of which was a hamstring issue, something Gillies has dealt with on a recurring basis since the Phillies acquired him in 2009.  The British Columbia native posted a .294 average with two doubles, one triple and four RBI with the Cardenales. Darin Ruf slugged his Venezuelan League leading 10th home run of the season on Sunday.  Ruf, playing mostly left field, has posted a .943 OPS and his 27 RBI are also tops in the league (tie).  Combined with his minor league leading total of 38 homers and his thre...

Once again it's time for the weekly off-season league updates.  Check it out, as we take a tour around the globe for a look at Phillies talents participating in various autumn and winter action.  Statistics are current, through action played on Saturday.   Venezuelan League- Freddy Galvis (pictured, left) has a .315 average with four doubles, one triple and three homers while driving in nine runs in 24 contests for Zulia.  Despite recent reports that Galvis, who turns 23-years-old this week, could be a possible solution to the Phillies' vacancy problem at third base, the switch-hitter has played shortstop exclusively in the Venezuelan League.  Tyson Gillies returned to action on Saturday, after sitting out due to undisclosed reasons over the past two weeks.  The outfielder, who has dealt with a steady string of injuries since he was acquired from Seattle in 2009, missed nine days earlier in the Venezuelan League season with a hamstring issue....

It's another sometimes-weekly minor league review, where we take a look at the various developmental levels of the Phillies' organization and some noteworthy players from each club. Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs… Who’s hot- Tyler Cloyd (pictured, right) continued his dominance of the year 2012 in his latest start. The 25-year-old righty notched the win against Pawtucket on Thursday, allowing just one earned run in seven innings of work. The victory took Cloyd’s record to 14-1 and his ERA in 1.91 in 22 combined starts at Double-A and Triple-A this season. The Phillies’ 18th round draft pick in 2008 has been making it extremely difficult for the Phillies to not promote him to the big league roster. Recently promoted second baseman Cesar Hernandez headed into action on Saturday posting the following numbers over the previous week- .476 batting average, three doubles, one triple and the RBI. Additionally, Hernandez hit safely in seven consecutive games beginning last Friday. Th...