I’m choosing not to look back to this past season anymore.. time to look ahead.
The Pigs saw a lot of players come and go and we should have more than a handful return next spring.
Below are my thought, my thought only. Feel free to add your own in the comments.
Pitchers:
Brian Mazone – Mazone has been here for a while, with a short stint on the left coast, and if the Phillies will have him I think he has a good chance of returning. Probable.
Drew Carpenter – Like Mazone, the Phillies like this guy. Probable.
Joe Savery – Savery is still part of the Phillies unless released. I would imagine if he continues to pursue a position change he will find himself in A or AA ball to start the season. If he’s pitching, he will be in the Lehigh Valley. – Possible
Brandon Duckworth – Duckworth did well this season but I don’t see him returning. – Doubtful
Brian Gordon – Another pitcher who did well but it subject to free agency. – Doubtful
Oscar Villarreal – I don’t think the Phillies want to lose Oscar. – Probable
Ty Taubenheim – He should be in either Reading or Lehigh Valley next year. I’m thinking Reading. – Doubtful
Michael Stutes – Being a prospect, he’ll be around. – Probable
Derrick Loop – This guy is on the current Ironpig’s roster. Anyone ever heard of him? – Doubtful
Michael Schwimer – Like Arnold. He’ll be back – Likely
Scott Mathieson – This is a bittersweet call. Scott is a great guy and would love to have him back in the Lehigh Valley, but also want to see him succeed. If Bruce Sutter can get him online.. he will be in the Phillies bullpen – Possible
Catchers:
John Suomi – Depending on who the Phillies sign in the off season, Suomi will most likely find himself in Reading or sent packing. – Doubtful
Dane Sardinha – Sardinha is subject to free agency so he will probably not be back – Doubtful
Tuffy Gosewisch – I think he’ll be around. He’s been in Reading for a few years and I have the feeling that Brian Schneider’s back up role may be filled by him someday. – Probable
Infielders:
Brian Bocock – Although the beginning of the year saw him batting around .100, Bocock turned it around late. His defense earned him a promotion to the Phillies in September. He is a free agent so the Phillies would need to show a solid interest in him returning – Possible
Cody Ransom – The feeling I got from Ransom was that he didn’t like the Phillies and the Phillies didn’t like him. Lack of a postseason call up when Rollins got hurt most likely will keep Ransom from returning – Very unlikely
Neil Sellers – Another one of those long time. 2010 was his 7th season and I believe he could look at the free agent market. Possible.
Melvin Dorta – He was solid for the Lehigh Valley, but again.. – Doubtful
Ozzie Chavez – Again – Doubtful
Matt Rizzotti – Prospect who should be starting at 1st base for the Ironpigs in 2011. Yes, I said 1st base. – Definate
Andy Tracy – Andy played a good bit of last season with an injury yet still produced. The lack of at least one call up to the Phillies puts a hit on his retirement fund (one appearance in one MLB game counts as a year of service) and word is that Andy will most likely not be back. – Doubtful
Outfielders:
Rich Thompson – I could see Rich returning. He’s from the eastern PA area and the Phillies like having him around – Likely
John Mayberry – Here is one of those that is a tough call. If Mayberry plays well over the winter and proves himself in spring training, he could find himself in Philadelphia to replace either Ibanez or Werth.
Domonic Brown – Unless Brown burns down Charlie Manuel’s office during the off season he should be on the Phillies in 2011. Ibanez will most likely not return and I don’t think the Phillies will cash out to keep Werth.. especially after the big contracts to those who collapsed this post season.
Overall, I would expect more players to return than we have seen in the previous 3 years. The Pigs will catch a bunch of prospects who are guaranteed to be in the system. You never know if offseason trades will impact this but that’s what makes being a fan so interesting.
Thoughts / Opinions?
noisenation.mlblogs.com 
I’m interested in how Rizzotti did during instructional league in FL before AFL started. I know they said he was going to be shown other infield positions to be more of a utility player for the phils… His performance so far out in AZ is certainly earning him his spot in LHV. Which we all know makes me happy, even if I’m living in Reading now 🙂
“I know they said he was going to be shown other infield positions to be more of a utility player for the phils”
Seeing as Rizzotti throws left handed it is impossible that he could/will be anything other than a first baseman.
I read somewhere Savery will be playing first base at AA Reading next year.
It will be interesting to see how the IronPigs front office do this off-season with no AAA All-Star Game or World Series trophy to market.
It will also be interesting this off-season winter to see if the Philadelphia Phillies continue to stock the AAA Lehigh Valley with the usual allotment of stiffs or actually sign some quality veterans in the Andy Tracy mold.
On September 5th the Ironpigs registered their final win of the 2010 season, a 10 inning 2-1 win over the Yankees. Brandon Duckworth threw the first 7 innings and allowed 1 run. The final 3 innings were thrown by Derrick Loop. He allowed just 1 hit, had 4 strikeouts and was the winning pitcher in his only AAA appearance. I remember him because rumor had it that he had one of the best pickoff moves in baseball. The first batter he faced was Kevin Russo and he hit him with a pitch and then immediately picked him off first base.
As for Oscar Villarreal, I think he’ll try to go the route of Rodrigo Lopez and Gustavo Chacin and sign with a team that is willing to give him an opportunity to return to the major leagues. He’s currently playing winter league ball in Mexico on the same team as Brian Mazone. Although the league is only in its second week, Mazone is already 0-2 with an ERA over 10.
I think Vance Worley begins 2011 with the Ironpigs and I’m hoping Harold Garcia is our new second baseman. I also can’t see Sergio Escalona spending another year in Reading. Another team full of 32-35 year old career minor leaguers is the last thing I want to see.
Good stuff! I need to help you get posting 🙂
Nobody is taking raul and his $11 mil—he will be %100 with the phils, probably in a platoon with Ben and Dominic. Imagine if the phils do not platoon with Ben, against a lefty—Utley, Howard, Ibanez, Brown, in the three-six holes. If you think the Phils offense struggled last year, it will be worst in 2011. But who cares–it’s all about the Pigs—and Philly Pretzel wants to sponsor the noise nation this year, with t-shirts, new flag, and of course the grat pretzel discount!!!
I HATE THE OFF SEASON,
bert charlie
It’s been too long since I had a philly pretzel! You guys going to be at the party tonight?
It’s always about balance, of course.
And, considering the Phillies traded away boatloads of prospects for pitchers the past few years, the importance of rounding out the AAA squad with quality veteran free agents manifests itself on an even larger scale.
Other MLB teams seem to be able to manage to consistently find respectability in their veteran players for the International League.
Brian Mazone – I heard Brian mention the word retirement a few times this season towards the end.
His family lives on the West Coast and I know that he would like to hook up with a west coast team if possible so that the travel separation isn’t so great.
That’s why he tried to hook up with the Isotopes except that didn’t work out too well for him.
Unless there is no one else who will give him a job, he’s not coming back.
Savery – He will not start the year in AAA because his pitching days are done.
More than likely he’s the starting ’11 in Reading.
Oscar Villarreal – He was very interested in coming back to the Pigs in ’11 and if he doesn’t it would only be because the Phillies decide not to resign him.
Suomi and Sardinha – Gone and Gone.
Ransom – Gone.
Sellers – Gone.
Tracy- Gone. The Phillies made it clear by promoting Rizzotti and immediately benching Tracy that Matt is the future and that Andy is done with the Pigs.
Mayberry – You are dreaming if you think the Phillies are going to replace Ibanez or Werth full-time with Mayberry.
He cannot hit major league pitching.
Hell he has enough trouble hitting AAA pitching.
Too much defensive loafing and too many strikeouts.
He is a AAA caliber outfielder or maybe a sub at the major league level at best.
“Overall, I would expect more players to return than we have seen in the previous 3 years.”
I completely disagree.
If anything I think the Phillies are going to clean house and go in a different direction at how they handle AA and AAA.
That’s why they canned Huppert and Roadcap at AA.
Short of maybe Schwimer the team has NO prospects on the squad. Just dead weight and more filler than Wonder Bread.
Mayberry is a bit long in the tooth to be considered a prospect. After three years in AAA he’s not any better then when he got here.
While Rizzotti had a great year until he got to AAA he’s not even really a prospect as most major Baseball publications don’t even list him as a top 10 or 15 guy within the Phillies ML system.
He’s also too big to really play anywhere other than first base and with Howard around until 2017 he’s trade bait at best.
Carpenter was awful this year and took a major step in reverse. He might have had a shot at the fifth starter spot when Moyer got hurt except for the fact the he really underperformed and stunk this year.
Past that guys like Mazone, Duckworth, Villareal, Matheison, Suomi, Sardinha, Hoover, Ransom, Sellers, Dorta, Chavez, and Thompson are all old farts that have zero chance at being anything other than AAA filler at best.
Like I said, my guess is that by canning the AA and AAA manager Amaro and company finally have gotten the message that the guys they have signed at the AAA level the last three years have been mostly embarrassing and the that a house cleaning is coming.
I’m taking a guess at saying the Phillies don’t sign Werth or Ibanez for next year. In that case, Mayberry has a chance.. IF he plays well in spring training. Otherwise.. he’ll be one of Huppert’s “Whores”. As if saying that publically didn’t help him lose the job.
Ibanez is under contract for next season at 11.5 million for the Phillies.
Based on his age and lack of production in the second half of ’09, first half of ’10, and in the postseason unless the Phillies are going to trade him to an AL team to be a DH and eat his contract, which the Phillies more or less have a team policy of never doing, they are stuck with him next year.
Unless something amazing happens the Phillies outfield next year is going to be Ibanez, Victorino, and Brown.
Mathison is only in AAA right now because he needs to work with Bruce Sutters on one of his Pitches after that he will be up in Philly and another reason is he had 2 tommy john surgeys
Did you guys see this?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Trick-or-Treat-IronPigs-Mascot-FeRROUS-/180577684146?pt=US_Baseball_Fan_Shop&hash=item2a0b44cab2
$ 89.95 for a bobblehead Ferrous (plus $ 8.95 for shipping)…
…who was it, PT Barnum, who said there is a sucker born every minute?
I must have missed that one.. got a link? 🙂
Let’s see, what do I want to do…
…buy a Ferrous bobblehead for essentially $ 99…
…or purchase 16.4 General Admission tickets for IronPigs games?
Decisions, decisions.