The Philadelphia Phillies have not been the most successful franchise. They were the first team in MLB history to reach 10,000 losses, their all-time record is below .500 and as one of the oldest teams in baseball, they only have two World Series titles to their name.
On top of that, the Phillies don’t have too many homegrown All-Stars throughout their history. The recent run of success has been a large exception—in fact, of the team’s five players with retired numbers (six including Jackie Robinson), two of them were acquired in trades: Jim Bunning and Steve Carlton.
Consequently, the Phillies have had plenty of prospect busts. While it would be impossible to name them all, some stick out like sore thumbs.
Here are five of the many Phillies prospects who never lived up to the hype.