Phillies partner Middleton: There’s no question on if we’ve made progress

Philadelphia Phillies partner John Middleton has been a part of the ownership group in Philadelphia since 1994, however it wasn't until the summer of 2015 when he stepped out into the spotlight. When Andy MacPhail was hired as team president, Middleton then burst on to the scene as the figure head of the Phillies ownership group. 

Ask him what he thinks about the Phillies current progress during their rebuild, and he needs only point to one stat, as he told CSN Philadelphia's Jim Salisbury: 

In my opinion, our minor-league record is nothing short of phenomenal. Our six domestic teams had a combined winning percentage of .595. That's not just the best winning percentage in all of baseball, it's the highest winning percentage an organization has had since the Yankees posted a .597 clip in 2007.

The future of the organization is very much in the minor leagues, as many prospects are making noise. At Double-A Reading, outfielder Dylan Cozens was named the Eastern League MVP and first basemen Rhys Hoskins was named Eastern League Rookie of the Year.

In 134 games this season, Cozens hit .276 with 38 doubles, 40 home runs, 125 RBIs, 106 runs scored, stole 21 bases, had a .591 slugging percentage and a .350 on-base percentage. The 22-year-old led all of Minor League Baseball in home runs and RBIs and his 40 home runs and 125 RBIs also set new Reading franchise records.  

Rhys Hoskins acted as the perfect compliment to Cozens in the lineup during his debut season at Reading. Hoskins hit .281 with 38 home runs, 116 RBI's, and a .377 on-base percentage. His home run total and RBI total were both second in the league, only to his Eastern League MVP teammate in Cozens. 

Moving up to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, many players got September call-ups and saw time at the major league level. However, two of the organization's biggest names in shortstop J.P. Crawford and outfielder Nick Williams did not receive call-ups. Crawford, the organization's No. 1 prospect, hit .244 in limited action at Triple-A during his first season with Lehigh Valley. Williams, the organization's No. 3 prospect, hit .258 with 13 home runs. 

Although both did not perform as well as many fans would help liked – Crawford saw his average dip near .200 during the year and Williams struck out over 130 times in nearly 500 at-bats – they benefit from their former manager Dusty Wathan being promoted from Double-A to Triple-A. Wathan has now won the Eastern League Manager of the Year award in back-to-back years, and his managing style once again being implemented to a higher level of the Phillies organization could help get two of his former players back on track. 

While the Phillies wait for the minor leaguers to make their way to the big-leagues, Middleton thinks those on the Phillies major league roster are also making an impact:

I think if you're looking at the Phillies in 2016 and you compare it to 2014 and 2015, I don't think there's any question that we've made progress. [We won 71 games], so that's real improvement. We have young players who are playing with effort, energy and enthusiasm, and I think the fans reacted well to that.

Setting aside your personal opinions of players currently on the Phillies roster, many of them appear to be solid major league ballplayers.

Even though it may feel like Maikel Franco took a step back this past season at the plate, he still launched 25 home runs in a 'down year' according to some. Freddy Galvis (I still don't believe this) hit 20 home runs. Cesar Hernandez flirted with .300 batting average all year long. 

Jerad Eickhoff was the definition of consistent for the rotation all year long, while Jeremy Hellickson got his career back on track and would be more than welcome to rejoin for the Phillies next year, if he accepts the qualifying offer the team is able to extend to him. Other pitchers, such as Aaron Nola and Vince Velasquez, showed why they are revered as part of the future, however both dealt with injuries during the year. 

Lastly, John Middleton touched on other successful rebuilds that have happened around the MLB in the past couple years: 

 This summer, Matt [Klentak] prepared a study looking at the last six successful rebuilds. That included the Royals, Pirates, Mets, Orioles, Cubs and Astros. What the study shows is that it took the Cubs and Astros three years of rebuilding and then the fourth year they made the playoffs. The Orioles and Mets took four years of rebuilding and the fifth year they were in the playoffs. The Pirates were five years of rebuilding and the sixth year they were in the playoffs, and the Royals were six years to get to a winning record, seven years to get to the playoffs. So that kind of gives you a sense for the timeframe or the guidelines. No one has done it faster than three, and the longest was six or seven with the Royals. So that's kind of where I think people should be thinking about.

I'm thinking we're towards the lower end of that.