Tony Bps Spina (Phillies)

Hello, my name is Tony and I’m 42 years old, currently living in Philadelphia. I’m going to be covering the Philadelphia Phillies here on Prospects1500.  I have loved baseball since 1980 when the Phillies won their 1st World Series in the cavernous but much-loved Veterans Stadium.   I live a few blocks away from Citizens Bank Park so I’m looking forward to watching the Philadelphia’s prospects grow and mature over the next few years and seeing if I’m right on my projections and predictions for them!

I have been playing Fantasy Baseball since 1991 when I selected Daryl Strawberry with the 1st overall pick thinking the move to Los Angeles would propel him to even greater numbers.   Didn’t quite work out that way, needless to say.   I am currently playing in 20 fantasy leagues – 15 of which are dynasty leagues.  This addiction made me not only want, but also need, to learn about as many minor leaguers as possible and I hope to pass on as much information onto our readers.

Reach out to me on the website or on Twitter at @tonybps1 anytime!

Tony Bps Spina is a lifelong baseball fan hailing from the City of Brotherly Love - Philadelphia! Tony has loved baseball since 1980 and has followed the Phillies through good and bad times. Tony is married with 3 kids and works for a financial institution but has enough free time to play in 20 fantasy baseball leagues with 75% of them being Dynasty Leagues. He lives a few blocks away from Citizens Bank Park and attends many Phillies games per year in addition to their minor league teams in Lehigh Valley and Reading. He can be reached on Twitter at @TonyBps1.




5 Comments

  1. Hi Tony,
    I have a dynasty team that can have up to 50 minor leaguers. The previous owner didn’t value minor leaguers so I’ve got to rebuild my roster, and wanted to ask you about some Phillies prospects (keeping in mind that ours is a deep league and the top 400 or so minor league players are already rostered. I was curious about Darick Hall and Cole Irvin, whom I added, and Cornelius Randolph, Tom Eshelman, Zack Eflin, whom I inherited. Any of these guys keepers? Any other Phillies prospects not currently highly ranked that you think may end up getting a shot in the next year or two?
    thanks,
    jeff

  2. Hi Jeff,
    Appreciate you reading and the question. Sounds like a pretty fun, in-depth league! I would try to get Darick Hall and Cole Irvin. Hall has alot of power and is smacking the ball around so far this season. He’s definitely worth a gamble. Irvin is intriguing. He had Tommy John earlier in his career but came back and pitched well in the minors. Doesn’t strike many batters out and projects to a 4-starter in the majors. I’m not too high on Randolph for fantasy purposes but he’s been much younger than his competition. For an outfielder, he won’t provide much speed or power. If you don’t have to drop him, I would say give him one more year to see if he can develop. I am intrigued by Eshelman. He has pinpoint control and can be an above-average starter if given the opportunity. I’m not too sold on Eflin. He doesn’t miss many bats and walks too many hitters. I can’t say 100% but it seems like the organization isn’t too high on him either. As for lower-ranked prospects, I’m starting to like Arquimedes Gamboa more and more each day. J.D. Hammer should be another target if not owned. Even though he’s a reliever, he has strikeout potential and will help with Saves and/or Holds soon. Hope the advice helps and have fun with the rebuild. If you have any other questions, please message me anytime! I love to talk baseball especially fantasy baseball!

  3. Tony,

    Thanks for the awesome feedback. Great stuff. With a max of 50 minor leaguers, I should be able to hang onto all 5 guys for the year. And I’ll put Gamboa and Hammer on my watch list. I found a really cool (free) website that tracks the performance of all the minor leaguers that you add to your own list. So easy to follow guys.

    Yeah, I think the guys who created my league are pretty clever. We have a $100 cap. I didn’t know what I was doing in the auction (my first year w/a fantasy baseball team) so I was real conservative and as a result have $29 in 2018 cap space. I’m hoping to swap some of that 2018 cap space for prospects/picks. We draft in October. I inherited not only a poor major league roster but also a minor league roster with just two of the Top 200 prospects. I grabbed two more, Bryan Mata & Corey Oswalt, but the rest are pretty well gone. So I’ve got to focus on guys who hopefully will be making the list next year. Since my major league team stinks, i spend all my time reading about minor league guys.

    Are you familiar with most minor leaguers, or just the Phillies? I’d love to get your thoughts on some other guys on my roster, or own your radar.

    Thanks, and Go Phillies!

    Jeff

  4. Ohhh i like them two, also! Great pickups! Can you send me that link to tonybps1@aol.com? I would love to check it out. I actually do read about most milb players, also, but the Phillies are my passion since i live a few blocks from their ballpark. but yea ask away. Have you checked out our Top 50 by each team? They probably know more than me about their team’s prospects but I always love talking baseball and will let you know what I know about any prospects. Another good Phillie to look at would be Spencer Howard. He’s young but he could be a great starter in a few years for you.

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