On Wednesday the 2020 MLB Draft commences ... this year just five rounds. The Phillies have four picks in the draft ( they forfeited their 2nd round pick by signing RHP Zach Wheeler ). Following the draft we should expect that multiple players will sign amateur free agent contracts, last summer the Phillies signed 13 non drafted amateur free agents ... this year may just exceed that number especially given the fact that the draft has been shortened by 35 rounds 😳.
There are financial limitations on this year’s free agent signees ... can’t get more than $20,000 as a signing bonus but can get future college expenses included in their offers ... will be interesting to see how many un-drafted college underclass men or high school players will accept those type of deals.
Unless you are in possession of the 2020 media guide you likely aren’t aware of the Phillies scouting team, they are a very important element in the success of drafts and free agent signings even in current pandemic conditions where a very heavy reliance on video reviews is prevalent ... thought I’d share the scouting team’s names with ya.
There were quite a few changes this past off season.
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Brian Barber - Director - Amateur Scouting - new this year - came from Yankees
Sal Agostinelli - Director - International Scouting
Johny Almaraz - Special Assistant - Scouting/Player Development
Rob Holliday - Director - Amateur Scouting Administration
Greg Schulz - Assistant Director - Scouting
Darrell Connor - National Scouting Coordinator
David Crowson - National Scouting Coordinator
Alex Agostino - Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Regional Supervisor
Shane Bowers - West Regional Supervisor
Buddy Hernandez - Southeast Regional Supervisor
Brad Holland - Southwest Regional Supervisor
Brian Kohlscheen - Midwest Regional Supervisor
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Amateur Scouting Staff :
Connor Betbeze - Performance Assistant
Chris Duffy - Southern & Central California
Tommy Field - Ok, AR & Northern Texas
Zach Friedman - WA,OR,ID,MT,WY,AK, Western Canada
Mike Garcia - Southern California & Southern NV
Ralph Garr Jr - Southern TX
Victor Gomez - Southern FL & PR
Bryce Harman - Central & Northern FL
Aaron Jerslid - GA,SC
Tim Kissner - IL,IN,MI,WI,MN
Chris Knabenshue - AZ,CO,NM,UT
Kellan McKeon - VA,NC
Tim Moni - TN,KY,WV,OH
Justin Morgenstern - Canada,ME,VT,NH,MA,CT,NY,Northwest NJ
Justin Munson - MO,KS,NE,IA,SD,ND
Demerius Pittman - Southern CA, HI
Mike Stauffer - MS,LA,AL,FL Panhandle
Jason Waugh - Northern CA, Northern NV
Jeff Zona Jr - PA, Upstate NY, DE,MD,DC & Southern NJ
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Independent Contractor Scouts :
Luis Castro - PR
Chris Colwell - Chicago
James Davis - Southern CA
Steve DiPuglia - FL
Tom Downey - NYC
Jim Fleming - OK
Rowland George - DE
Rob Gould - Southern CA
Tom Holliday - OK
John Labonia - IA
Jason Larue - TX
Wilmer Reid - Philadelphia
Manny Rodriguez - TX
Eduardo Rosario - FL
Alex Rosen - NY
Mark Wilson - MN
Steve Potter - Wannabe 😂
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International Scouting Staff :
Derrick Chung - Coordinator
Jesus Mendez - Coordinator
Carlos Salas - Coordinator
Rafael Alvarez - Supervisor - Venezuela
Oneri Fleita - Supervisor - Mexico
Roberto Aquino - Cross-checker - Dominican Republic
Andres Hiraldo - Cross-checker - Dominican Republic
Howard Norsetter - Cross-checker - Pacific Rim
Alvaro Blanco - Columbia
Jesus Blanco - Venezuela
Alex Choi - Korea
Juan Feliciano de Castro - Dominican Republic
Elvis Garcia - Venezuela
Luis Garcia - Dominican Republic
Charlie Gastelum - Mexico
Gene Grimaldi - Antilles
Jose Guzman - Dominican Republic
Jonatan Hernandez - Venezuela
Dargello Lodowica - Curaçao
William Mota - Venezuela
Romulo Oliveros - Venezuela
Bernardo Perez - Dominican Republic
Abdiel Ramos - Panama
Philip Riccobono - Japan
Franklyn Rojas - Venezuela
Claudio Scerrato - Italy
Ebert Velasquez - Venezuela
Youngster Wang - Taiwan
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In addition there’s a pro scouting team whose focus is on scouting other clubs or internally but they sometimes helps in the reviews of amateur players,
Mike Ondo - Director - Pro Scouting
Dean Albany - Special Assignment Scout - new this year - came from Orioles
Craig Colbert - Special Assignment Scout
Howie Freiling - Special Assignment Scout
Dave Hollins - Special Assignment Scout
Charley Kerfeld - Special Assignment Scout
Mike Koplove - Special Assignment Scout
Terry Ryan - Special Assignment Scout
Dan Wright - Special Assignment Scout
Erick Dalton - Professional Coverage Scout
Todd Donovan - Professional Coverage Scout
Jeff Harris - Professional Coverage Scout
Jesse Levis - Professional Coverage Scout
Jon Mercurio - Professional Coverage Scout
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
