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Alec Bohm, image- Jay Floyd Mike Drago, who covers the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils for the Reading Eagle, is back with his annual prospect survey. Each August, Mike surveys a collection of writers, broadcasters and media types that cover the Phillies minor league levels closely to collect each person's list of ranked Phillies prospects. Using a point system, awarding points based on rank, he will tally out a complete list of all the organization's best developmental talents. Per Mike, third baseman/first baseman Alec Bohm was listed as the top prospect on two-thirds of the submissions. Here is a sample of the list, the top 10, right from the Reading Eagle piece. 1. Alec Bohm: Batted .367 at Lakewood. Scored a .395 on-base percentage at Clearwater. Slugged .500 at Reading. Pretty good for his first full season as a pro. Charlie Manuel gives him high marks for his approach as a hitter and thinks he could hit 40 bombs in the big leagues some day. What's not...

Scott Kingery, image- Jay Floyd Recently Mike Drago of the Reading Eagle conducted a survey of media members that cover and broadcast the Phillies minor league teams , designed to rank the top talents in the organization's developmental system. The participating individuals were asked to rank their personal top 30, which were tabulated on a points system based on each ranking to determine the paper's published list of top prospects. Participating individuals included Lehigh Valley beat reporter Tom Housenick, Tony Graham of the Lakewood BlueClaws, Mike Ventola of the Reading Fightins, Williamsport beat writer Mitch Rupert, Matt Winkleman of Crashburn Alley and several others including me.  Second baseman Scott Kingery, who represented the Phillies in the MLB All-Star Futures Game this summer and has been raking all year in a split season between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, tallied the most overall points.  Ranked best overall by the group, the 23-y...

Recently, Mike Drago of The Reading Eagle conducted a survey of experts, made up of local writers and other media members, designed to rank the top prospects in the Phillies developmental system. The participating individuals, who are all close to the Phillies minor league system, were asked to rank their personal top 20, which were tabulated to determine the paper's published list of top 15 Phillies prospects. Individuals surveyed included Baseball America's Josh Norris, Chris Rotolo of the Asbury Park Press, Mitch Rupert of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette as well as yours truly, Jay Floyd of PhilliesNation.com. The collection of experts determined that last year's first round draft pick, J.P. Crawford , who represented the Phillies in the MLB All-Star Futures Game this year, is the top prospect in the organization. Crawford, 19, is widely expected to be the eventual successor to former National League MVP Jimmy Rollins at shortstop. Last year's Reading Eagle ran...

With the new year upon us, it’s time to kick off our annual countdown of the top 25 prospects in the Phillies organization. In the coming weeks, as a fresh season approaches, I will be unveiling player reviews for each of the top developmental talents that you, as Phillies fans, should be familiar with. Taken into consideration when reviewing these developing talents will be age, minor league performance relative to levels played, value to the organization as well as future potential and possible proximity to the big leagues. These rankings will not include players over 25 years of age or individuals that have spent lengthy and multiple stretches in the big leagues. Some very talented youngsters did not make the cut simply because other individuals ranked higher. Players that drew consideration included righty pitcher Mitch Gueller , lefty hurler Hoby Milner , and catcher Andrew Knapp . Gueller, the Phils' supplementary first round pick in 2012, has failed to crack the r...

Maikel Franco, Image- Jay Floyd Recently, Mike Drago of The Reading Eagle conducted a survey of about ten experts, made up of writers and other media members, designed to rank the top prospects in the Philadelphia developmental system. The participating individuals, who are all close to the Phillies minor league system, were asked to rank their personal top 15, which were tabulated to determine the paper's published list of top prospects. Those that offered their insight for the ratings this time around included Bob Brookover, Tony Graham, Mitch Rupert, Jeff Schuler, Mike Drago himself and yours truly, PhilliesNation's Jay Floyd. The collection of experts found that fast rising third base prospect Maikel Franco , who represented the Phillies organization in the MLB All-Star Futures Game this year, is the club's top minor leaguer.  Franco, who recently began playing first base is primed to make an impact with the big club in the near future and has become t...