The Philadelphia Phillies' farm system has rapidly improved ever since Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was hired in December 2020. The current health of the organization's minor league system has been reflected by the team being named within the top 20 in many preseason power rankings so far this spring.
But with top outfield prospect Justin Crawford not impressing some evaluators, and following a 2024 in which the Phillies traded away many of its top prospects in a handful of deals, the Phillies farm system seems to have stalled out in the eyes of a few baseball writers.
Spring training has certainly not offered much of a glimpse at the future either. That's largely due to the fact that the Phillies' 40-man roster is pretty much set from top-to-bottom heading into Opening Day, a result of the team being more active this offseason on the free agent and trade market fronts. Barring significant injuries to core veteran players over the next couple of weeks, and following top position prospects like Crawford and shortstop Aiden Miller recently being sent to minor league camp to get more at-bats, the upcoming Spring Breakout game could be one of the only chances Phillies fans will have to catch a glimpse of Miller and Crawford in game action together.
It has also become increasingly obvious that the front office changed their minds about letting Crawford battle for a roster spot in camp after the Phillies signed Max Kepler, and further evidenced by the Phillies' recent focus on giving a group of other position prospects such as Matt Kroon, Otto Kemp and Gabriel Rincones Jr. more outfield reps and at-bats in spring training this year.
Phillies’ farm system heading into pivotal season after most recent lukewarm ranking
The Phillies front office hasn't flinched when given the opportunity to trade many of the team's most recent top prospects in deals since last summer, including pitchers George Klassen and Samuel Aldegheri to acquire closer Carlos Estévez from the Angels, infield prospect William Bergolla to acquire reliever Tanner Banks from the White Sox, and shortstop Starlyn Caba and outfielder Emaarion Boyd in December for left-handed starter Jesús Luzardo. These deals, along with obvious signs of regression from pitchers Mick Abel and Griff McGarry, are some of the reasons why the Phillies' farm system fell back one spot to No. 17 in MLB Pipeline's recent update after being ranked at No. 16 last year.
Where does your favorite club land on our 2025 preseason farm system rankings?
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MLB Pipeline's Jonathan Mayo, Sam Dykstra and Jim Callis put together this 30-team preseason power ranking, and the trio of writers is hopeful for Andrew Painter to make his debut this season, while also expecting position prospects like Justin Crawford and Aidan Miller to spend the majority of the 2025 season in the minor leagues.
"Getting a healthy Painter back is huge after he’s topped this list for a couple of years while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery," wrote Callis, Dykstra, and Mayo. "The hope is he graduates this season while helping the Phillies compete. Then the bats can get there in the next year -- at least Miller and Crawford are in line to, with Tait a step behind."
With Painter likely to make his MLB debut after the All-Star break, talk of a six-man rotation later this summer has become the expectation for the hard throwing right-hander. And while he's coming off a dominant showing on the mound in the Arizona Fall League, Painter has yet to pitch in game action this spring and will likely begin the 2025 season working his way up from Low-A with eventual stops in Double-A Reading and possibly Triple-A Lehigh Valley before making his debut by midsummer.
But proving that the Phillies made the right selections in the 2024 MLB Draft will also factor into future evaluations of the Phillies minor league system, especially after the team engaged in a few deals that involved trading from a perceived surplus of prospects.
"Guys from the 2024 Draft like Dante Nori and Griffin Burkholder could bolster this system’s ranking with a strong first full season, and there’s hope former first-rounder Mick Abel could provide a boost if he learns to harness his stuff," concluded Callis, Dykstra, and Mayo.
While Phillies fans will have to wait a little longer to see the top three ranked prospects in the minor league system suit up at the MLB level, the Phillies' system remains in the top 20 out of 30 MLB ball clubs. And with young players like catcher Eduardo Tait and pitcher Moisés Chace each expected to take major developmental steps this season, it's not unreasonable to believe that the Phillies will be ranked higher on these power rankings again by season's end.