A top major league baseball prospect was involved in a Clearwater drug bust Friday and charged with felony possession of cocaine. Tyson Gillies is a member of the Philadelphia Phillies organization and is considered one of the clubs top prospects. His arrest took place Friday morning in Clearwater.
There was not much information on the St. Petersburg Times website surrounding Gillies cocaine bust. According to Greg Auman’s story, the arrest took place just after 1:00 a.m. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s conducted the arrest and Gillies left jail Friday morning just before 11:00 a.m. on $2,000 bond. His cocaine possession charge was listed as a felony in the report.
Gillies is 21-years-old and was in Clearwater on a rehab assignment participating in the Gulf Coast League. He only participated in two games before an injury ended his season. In his first action with the Phillies’ rookie team in Clearwater, Gillies went 1-for-2 with two runs against Bradenton.
Gillies came to the Phillies in a trade involving Cliff Lee. His injury problems have soured some Philadelphia sportswriters on the trade that sent Lee to Seattle. Gillies was in Reading, Pa. playing for the Phillies affiliate in Double A ball. He batted .238 in 26 games while adding a couple homers and six RBIs. He was injured and came to Clearwater but was only able to play a couple games before reinjuring his hamstring. Gillies is a center fielder and was coming off a big season in California in 2009 with a High Class A club. MinorLeagueBall.com had Gillies rated as the eighth-best prospect in the Phillies system. Now with injuries and a drug arrest, Gillies future could be in serious doubt depending on the outcome of his felony drug charges. There has been no official comment from anyone associated with the Philadelphia Phillies at this point.
