Yahoo Sports ranks Phillies last in '26-and-under power rankings'

Yahoo Sports recently ranked the young (age 26 and under) talent for all 30 MLB clubs.

And they ranked the 2025 Phillies' collection of youngsters dead last.

The situation isn't as dire as it seems on the surface. Here is Yahoo's methodology for the rankings:

"Farm system rankings and top prospect lists are classic approaches to accomplishing this objective, and such exercises do help convey which teams boast the brightest futures based on their collections of impact players developing in the minors. But looking strictly at rookie-eligible players is a limited scope. To better project each organization’s outlook, we believe it is critical to also evaluate the young players who are already in the majors and contributing. In turn, we’ve put together these 26-and-under power rankings in an effort to provide a more comprehensive overview of each organization’s talent base."

And here are three reasons why Phillies fans shouldn't stress out about this:

1. The Phillies' collection of players over 26 is impressive. And they're not exactly geezers.

As the Yahoo piece notes, "a trio of impact players in Philly — Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh and Jesus Luzardo — miss our cutoff by a few months." The definition of young is subjective, and while "the Daycare" is certainly a misnomer at this point, these players would have scrambled the whole Phillies analysis if Yahoo used an age cutoff of 27 instead of 26.

© Bill Streicher | 2024 Jul 9

Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and Kyle Schwarber, meanwhile, will play their age-32 seasons this year. Nick Castellanos will be 33. The members of the starting rotation, with the exception of Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola (ages 35 and 32, respectively, and showing no signs of decline), are in their 20s: Cristopher Sanchez (28), Ranger Suarez (29), and the aforementioned Luzardo (27).

And in the high-leverage section of the bullpen, in addition to Orion Kerkering (23), the Phils boast Jose Alvarado (30), Matt Strahm (33), and Jordan Romano (31).

These guys are in their primes, for the most part. And that limits the ability of prospects in the organization to crack the active roster at the moment. Which leads us to...

2. Players with MLB experience are worth twice as much as farm system prospects in Yahoo's scoring system, and the Phillies are stronger in the latter category.

While Johan Rojas and Rafael Marchan earned the Phillies just 2 points in the 10-point "Young MLB hitters" category, SS Aidan Miller, OF Justin Crawford, and OF Gabriel Rincones Jr. earned 2 points in the 5-point "Prospect hitters" category. And these guys--Miller and Crawford in particular---are not far away from the majors. Barring trades, they will likely contribute to the major league Phils long before players like Harper and Turner suffer significant declines.

That dynamic is even more pronounced in the "Young MLB pitchers" and "Prospect pitchers" categories. The former, worth 10 points, contains just Kerkering and Michael Mercado. But among prospects, the Phillies earn a 4/5 Yahoo ranking because of Andrew Painter, Moises Chace, Mick Abel, and Seth Johnson.

© Jonathan Dyer | 2025 Feb 12

The Phillies' strongest score comes in a category that's worth less in these rankings, but may be most important to the team's long-term outlook.

3. There is a path forward for the Phillies without a rebuild.

Here's our big-picture take:

- The Phillies are well-positioned to compete for a championship this season (and probably the next few seasons) with a strong core of veterans close to their primes.

- As those veterans start to hit the age where they're expected to decline, it's not difficult to imagine a new core forming around Painter, Miller, Crawford, and others. And guys like Harper and Turner should still make meaningful contributions to supplement any new core, even when their very best years are behind them.

- There's always free agency, and the Phils should have salary flexibility after the 2025 season.

Could everything go horribly wrong? Of course. The Phillies' veterans could decline faster than expected, the highly-touted prospects could turn out to be busts, there could be disastrous trades, and injuries can ravage the team at any time.

But that's true for every club. Overall, the Phils' organization is in a good spot.

A high percentage of the teams ranked above the Phillies in the Yahoo piece would certainly swap places with the Fightins in a heartbeat.

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