Phillies made strides in the minors, too

Earlier this decade, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Cole Hamels were minor-leaguers in the Phillies' system. They developed into major-leaguers and eventually formed part of the core that helped the Phillies win the 2008 World Series.

Rollins, Utley, Howard and Hamels exemplify why a minor-league system exists - to ultimately help the big-league club win games.

But a minor-league system isn't successful only when it sends productive players to the majors. Sometimes a minor-league system does its job when it helps a club acquire established big-league talent in trades.

That's why it can be argued that the Phillies' 2009 minor-league season became a success on July 29, the day the team sent four young players to Cleveland for Cliff Lee, the 2008 American League Cy Young winner.

In addition to the payment needed to get Lee, there were other successes in the Phillies' minor-league system this year. Let's take a look at some of them.

Winning seasons. Wins aren't everything in the minors, but player development is enhanced when done in a winning environment. Double-A Reading (75-67) and single-A Lakewood (78-58) made their league playoffs. Lakewood is in the South Atlantic League finals, with a two-games-to-none lead heading into last night's Game 3. The Phils' rookie-level clubs in Williamsport and the Gulf Coast League also had winning seasons.

Top players. The Phils valued the four players (pitchers Carlos Carrasco and Jason Knapp, catcher Lou Marson and infielder Jason Donald) they surrendered for Lee, but only Knapp was considered a blue-chipper. The Phils were able to hang on to their elite prospects, and all of them enhanced their worth this season. They are 21-year-old righthander Kyle Drabek, 23-year-old outfielder Michael Taylor, 21-year-old outfielder Domonic Brown, and 19-year-old outfielder Anthony Gose. All project as big-league difference-makers.

Drabek, with his mid-90s fastball, hard-dropping curveball and improved change-up, went 12-3 with a 3.19 ERA at Reading and single-A Clearwater. He struck out 150 and walked 50 while allowing 141 hits in 158 innings. The Phils envision him working his way into their rotation at some point next season.