Former BlueClaws In Baseball America's Top 100 Prospect List

Three Phillies and BlueClaws alumni, 3B Maikel Franco, LHP Jesse Biddle, and SS JP Crawford, were ranked among Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects in a list unveiled Wednesday night on MLB Network. 

Franco ranked highest among the Phillies prospects at #17, while Biddle was slotted 71st and Crawford 78th.

There were also two former BlueClaws who are with different organizations, on the list. Travis d'Arnaud, now with the Mets, was ranked 38th. Jonathan Singleton, now with the Astros, was ranked 82nd. 

Franco, 21, spent three weeks with the BlueClaws in 2011 before starring for the team in 2012, where he hit .280 with 14 home runs adn 84 RBIs, the fourth most for a BlueClaw in franchise history. Last year, he split time between Clearwater (.299 with 16 HRs and 52 RBIs) and Reading (.339 with 15 HRs and 51 RBIs). 

Biddle, 22, spent all of 2011 with the BlueClaws after the Phillies took him in the first round of the 2010 draft. With Lakewood, he was voted to the South Atlantic League's Post-Season All-Star Team (Left-Handed Pitcher) after a season in which he went 7-8 with a 2.98 ERA. He pitched for Clearwater (10-6, 3.22) in 2011 and Reading (5-14, 3.64) in 2013. 

Both Franco and Biddle represented the Phillies in last year's MLB Futures Game as part of the All-Star festivities. 

Crawford, who was selected by the Phillies 16th overall in 2013 and just turned 19 in January, is expected to return to the BlueClaws this year. After 39 games in the Gulf Coast League, where he hit .345, he played 14 games with the BlueClaws at the conclusion of the 2013 season. He became the first player in BlueClaws history to play for the team in the same year he was drafted out of high school. 

d'Arnaud was a supplemental first-round pick of the Phillies in 2007 and helped the BlueClaws to the South Atlantic League title in 2009, hitting .255 with 13 home runs and 71 RBIs. After the season, he was traded to the Blue Jays as part of a trade that brought Roy Halladay to Philadelphia. The Mets acquired him in 2012 as part of the trade that sent RA Dickey to Toronto. d'Arnaud made his big league debut with the Mets last year. 

Singleton was drafted by the Phillies in the 8th round of the 2009 draft and joined the BlueClaws in May of 2010, homering in his first at bat. He played the rest of that season with the BlueClaws, leading the team in home runs and helping the team win its 2nd straight SAL title. He was traded as part of a package to the Astros in 2011 for Hunter Pence. 

Click here for a list of 24 former BlueClaws that are in camp this year with the Phillies.

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