According to reports from Baseball America and other outlets the minor league systems on the stateside part of the equation will be capped at 190 “offseason” spots and further reduced to 180 during the “season”.
However with the 2021 minor league seasons expected to be delayed due to Covid it’s still to be determined when the “in season” portion of the new limitations kick in and how ... the minor leagues are expected to have staggered starts by level of play and complex level teams aren’t expected to be in “official “ leagues in 2021 ... e.g. the Cardinals and Tigers have already released minor league coaching staff names and refer to their complex staffs as just that or as “extended spring training”. Not sure if roster exceptions are to be made to the number of players that can be assigned to the complex ( since they wouldn’t officially be in a league “season”) or for those on the injured lists that are at the complexes on rehab assignments.
With Spring Training on it’s way I thought I’d take an inventory of the Phillies anticipated stateside minor leaguer depth. I’ll start with the catching position ... keep in mind this doesn’t include Dominican Republic Academy based players, they don’t count towards the cap limit.
Here’s the current stateside minor league roster tally by my count ... I’ve excluded players who are on the 40 man roster although at some point when the “season” starts 14 of those players ( assuming active MLB rosters aren’t expanded for 2021 beyond 26 ) will take slots in the minor leagues and would count against the allotment of in season roster positions.
Adjusted and updated on 1/26/2021 to account for the releases of Henri Lartigue, Jesse Wilkening and Kevin Escalante
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Catchers :
20 players : average age - 21.6 years old
Christian Bethancourt - 29 years old - signed as free agent 1/4/21
Edgar Cabral - 25 years old - played at Clearwater - 2019 - injured most of season
Colby Fitch - 25 years old - played at Clearwater - 2019 - injured most of season
Jack Conley - 24 years old - played at 4 levels - 2019
Nick Matera - 24 years old - played at 5 levels - 2019
Vito Friscia - 24 years old - played in GCL - 2019
Herbert Iser - 23 years old - played at Williamsport/Lakewood - 2019
Rodolfo Duran - 22 years old - played at Clearwater - 2019 - injured most of season
Abrahan Gutierrez - 21 years old - played at Lakewood - 2019
Mitchell Edwards - 21 years old -played at GCL/Williamsport - 2019
Bruce Wang - 21 years old - played in GCL - 2019
Juan Aparicio - 20 years old - played at Williamsport/Lakewood - 2019
Logan O’Hoppe - 20 years old - played at Williamsport - 2019
Micah Yonamine - 20 years old - played in GCL - 2019
Cesar Rodriquez - 20 years old - played in GCL - 2019
Victor Diaz - 19 years old - has yet to play stateside
Edward Barboza - 19 years old - has yet to play stateside
Freddy Francisco - 19 years old - played in GCL - 2019
Andrick Nava - 19 years old - played in GCL - 2019
Chris Burke - 19 years old - has yet to play stateside
Next ... Infielders
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
