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Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Rare Mid-Day Post...

... a couple of things caught my eye that are of note:

David Gassko wrote an interesting article at The Hardball Times ranking the General Managers. The formulas and ideas are interesting, though I am skeptical. They ranked the Red Sox Theo Epstein #1 (sure), Billy Beane #3 (okay), Paul DePodesta third-worst (...not sure I agree...) and the Phillies Ed Wade #5 (huh?). Watching this underachieving team struggle to win 86 games the last two seasons despite having one of the top five payrolls in the majors, I am skeptical.

Nice story from Peter Gammons about the surprising Brewers. About time the establishment stand up and take notice that the Brew crew are pretty good and are just about the only team that can catch the Cards for the NL Central. Always count on Gammons for the cutting edge story.

I have some thoughts on Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins coming up.

# posted by Mike @ 11:06 AM

Comments:

I'll be honest, I don't understand why everyone is so down on Ed Wade. All I ever hear is "no commitment to winning!" Well, this is a guy who:
1) Brought in one of the best hitters in baseball
2) has 2 future HOF-ers in the lineup, including the most underrated superstar in baseball, Abreau
3) shows a shrewd judgement with regards to the free agent pitchers market
4) Has for the most part assembled a team defensively tailored to the park in which it plays.
5) Has made a few mistakes, but no franchise killing mistakes over the last 5 years

The only realy beef I have with Wade is maybe he was too loyal to Bowa, and I'm not sure about the Manuel hire yet. The main beef I have with the organization is the lack of player development (that which makes Scherholtz such a great GM), and I frankly don't understand the process well enough to judge if that's a fair criticism of Wade or not.

Look, the 2003, 2004, and so far the 2005 teams have underpreformed expectations. Is it Wade's fault that they have underacheived? After all, weren't those expectations based on the team that WADE PUT TOGETHER??? What more could you ask of a GM?

Looking objectively at Wade's moves, espicially during the last offseason, I can't see anywhere where he could have improved the team much better than he did, given that the Phils aren't the Yankees.

As for this season, the Phils are the most likely team under 500 to win their division. Faint praise, maybe, but tell me that if Abreau , Burrell and Utley continue to play well, and Thome heals up, that this team couldn't beat anybody. Heck, they proved it by having such a good record the past 2 weeks despite playing on the road against the best teams in baseball. If things come together, they will win the division, no question in my mind.

# posted by

Anonymous : Tuesday, May 31, 2005 11:42:00 AM

ur insane if u tink Thome and Abreu are future HOF'ers. Ill bet my kdis on that one. Let's look at some of Wade's deals...

punto/Silva to Rwins for MIlton: Advantage Twins

Estrada to Braves for Millwood:
Advatage Braves

Easy Ramirez to Reds for Cory Lidle:
Short term advantage Phillies

Brandon Duckwqorth and minorleaguers to Houston for Wagner:
Advantage Phillies

Scott Rolen to Cards for Bud Smith, Polanco and Mike Timlin: advantage Cards

David Bell free agency: advantage Bell's wallet

Jim Thome free agency: short term advantage Phillies, long term not too bright

# posted by