Today’s Phillies More Wade’s Than Gillick’s Handiwork

Maybe the Phillies’ fans owe Ed Wade an apology.

The thought kept echoing in my head throughout the recent Astros-Phillies series, former Phillies’ GM Wade’s return to Philadelphia as GM of the Houston Astros.

Throughout the three-game series, Wade’s influence on the current state of the Phillies could be felt. Eleven Phillies - Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino, Carlos Ruiz, Chris Coste, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Kyle Kendrick, Clay Condrey and Ryan Madson – were all products of the Wade era (with an honorable mention of Jimmy Rollins who Wade signed to a much criticized long-term deal in 2005). And let’s not forget manager Charlie Manuel was his guy, too. Sure, Pat Gillick, the Phillies’ current GM, gets credit for finally ending the Phillies postseason drought in 2007, a feat Wade could not accomplish in his eight years, but Gillick’s job was a lot easier than the daunting task that Wade faced.

When Wade was promoted from assistant GM in 1998, he took over from the Lee Thomas era, an era known for the aberration that was the 1993 season and nine of ten losing seasons. Wade, in his first ever job as GM, never really got a fair shake in Philadelphia. He inherited the J. D. Drew debacle and many pin the blame on Wade for not signing Drew when it was evident on draft day that if the Phillies weren’t willing to open their wallets, they shouldn’t have touched Drew with a ten-foot pole. The talent level of the ’97 edition of the Phillies that Wade had to work with was unspectacular. Other than Curt Schilling and a young Scott Rolen, the team was not considered a contender. But Wade was facing an uphill battle with Phillies’ fans hungry for a win.

The team got worse before it got better under Wade. And he was under fire early and often. He wasn’t a guy in the “Philly mold.” In a town where Lenny Dykstra was more beloved than Mike Schmidt, Wade didn’t fit the hard-nosed image to get a pass with Phillies’ fans. The team hit their low point in 2000, winning just 63 games and trading the team’s biggest talent for nothing near his value. The Schilling to Arizona for Omar Daal, Travis Lee, Vincente Padilla and Nelson Figueroa deal was not a great moment in Philadelphia history and it put Wade in the crosshairs. However, at the time, Schilling had the Phillies painted into a corner. His contract was running out, he asked to be traded to a contender (limiting the options to 5 or 6) and the Phillies were nowhere near contender status which is the only thing that would have kept Schilling happy.

Under fire, Wade fired manager Terry Francona and replaced him with fan favorite Larry Bowa. Even that move failed to win Wade favor with the fans as the team slowly but surely improved. Most of the credit went to Bowa whose fiery presence and politically incorrect approach was a big hit in the blue collar town. Despite finishing 2 games behind the Braves in 2001 and finally having a winning season (their first in 8 years), the fans were still critical of Ed Wade for not getting Bowa more help.

The team faltered in 2002 and there was contention in the clubhouse. There were signs that many of the players were unhappy with Bowa’s “in-your-face” style. Scott Rolen, in a contract year, was the most notable cause for concern. As the team struggled to stay in contention, it was evident that Wade’s gamble to keep Rolen after shopping him in the offseason was not going to pay off and when Rolen made it clear that Philadelphia was not going to remain his home when he became a free agent, Wade moved him. In return for moving Rolen to St. Louis, the Phillies got Placido Polanco, Bud Smith and Mike Timlin. Once again, Wade was severely criticized even though the issue may have played out differently if the Bowa-Rolen relationship had been less strained.

The offseason saw Wade go out and land the biggest free agent on the market – Jim Thome. In addition, he moved prospect Johnny Estrada to Atlanta for Kevin Millwood, a deal that was seen as a steal at the time. The hole created by moving Rolen was filled with David Bell and the Phillies looked like a contender in 2003. They weren’t even considered a contender when they shocked the baseball world during their ’93 World Series run. The team was 79-64 and the front-runner for the Wild Card spot on September 9^th but a 17-12 finish could not keep them ahead of a red-hot Marlins team and Wade became the scapegoat again for not moving one of their talented young prospects (Utley, Gavin Floyd, Howard and Hamels were all names thrown around as possible bait to land the Phillies a player that would get them over the hump). Ironically, one of Wade’s better moves was turned into a misstep after Estrada had an All-Star season in 2004 with the Braves and Millwood faltered.

Wade tried to retool the team again for an ’04 run by going out and getting Billy Wagner from Houston for some of the Phillies young talent (Brandon Duckworth, Taylor Buchholz and Ezequiel Astacio). He scored Eric Milton from Minnesota for Carlos Silva, Nick Punto and a player to be named later. He tried to answer bullpen concerns by signing Tim Worrell and Roberto Hernandez. The Phillies led the N.L. East as late as July 22^nd but the team failed to hold up down the stretch and finished 6 games out of the Wild Card and fired Bowa before the end of the disappointing season.

Now, the gloves were off in the City of Brotherly Love. Wade was again criticized for his failure to move Ryan Howard at the trade deadline to pick up something to give Bowa what he needed to be successful. Then, when Bowa was fired, the fans were even more disgruntled. Their vicious daily attacks of Wade on sports talk radio were put on hold as the Phillies interviewed Jim Leyland as a possible successor to Bowa. When the Phillies failed to land Leyland and instead signed Charlie Manuel, the “Wade must go” talk hit an all-time high.

Again Wade made some minor moves in the offseason by trading for Kenny Lofton, signing Jon Lieber, Cory Lidle, Rheal Cormier and re-signing Polanco and ’98 draft pick Geoff Geary. The team got off to a rough start and things looked grim when Thome went down. They got a nice surprise when Howard stepped into the lineup and sparked the team and soon, the team was contending again. When it was evident that Utley wasn’t budging from the lineup, Wade moved Polanco to the Tigers for bullpen help the Phils desperately needed in Ugueth Urbina. The team was in contention until the last game of the season and were a Cubs’ win away from a playoff with the Astros for the Wild Card spot.

That was the last straw for the Phillies ownership. Missing the playoffs for a 12^th straight season might not have even been what did it. The team’s attendance dropped by almost 600,000 despite the Wild Card race. Team president David Montgomery blamed failure to reach goals set but declared the Wade era a success. The fans disagreed. When Pat Gillick was named the new GM, fans rejoiced. Now, there was someone in town that knew what they were doing.

However, there’s an argument that could be made that the Phillies made the postseason in ’07 in spite of Gillick’s influence thanks to the nucleus built by Wade. His moves have not been spectacular but no one will accuse Gillick of being gun shy to make moves as he was active. Going into 2006, here is a list of moves Gillick made:

November 25, 2005
Traded Jim Thome to the White Sox for Aaron Rowand and two prospects.

November 30, 2005
Signed Abraham Nunez and Julio Santana

December 1, 2005
Signed Sal Fasano

December 6, 2005
Signed Tom Gordon

December 12, 2005
Traded Vincente Padilla to the Rangers for a player to be named later (Ricardo Rodriguez who was released prior to start of season)

January 10, 2006
Signed Matt White

January 13, 2006
Signed Ryan Franklin

January 27, 2006
Traded Jason Michaels to the Indians for Arthur Rhodes

March 28, 2006
Traded Aquilino Lopez to the Padres for two prospects

April 1, 2006
Traded Robinson Tejada and a prospect to the Rangers for David Dellucci

Other than Aaron Rowand and Tom Gordon, the rest of these moves were not majorly impactful. In some cases (see Ryan Franklin and Arthur Rhodes), they probably were more detrimental than helpful. However, Gillick got a pass as he was “cleaning up” Wade’s mess. This time the team was not in contention at the trade deadline and fans rejoiced when Gillick moved Bobby Abreu with Cory Lidle for Matt Smith, C.J. Henry, Carlos Monastrios and Jesus Sanchez. What’s ironic about the Abreu move is that it probably got less in return than the Schilling and Rolen moves yet there has been no criticism of that move. The team made a late run but missed the playoffs again. Now, the criticism was turned toward Charlie Manuel but somehow Gillick escaped relatively unscathed.

But maybe it was Gillick’s moves in 2007 that finally put the Phillies over the top? Was it the signing of Adam Eaton, Jayson Werth, Greg Dobbs, Antonio Alfonseca or J.D. Durbin? Was it the trading of Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez to the White Sox for Freddy Garcia? Or was it the core group of Phils that the much maligned Wade left behind?

It would be foolish to argue that Ed Wade was an amazing success during his first shot as GM in the majors. However, it would be equally foolish to continue to paint Wade as the incompetent hack that Phillies’ fans painted him to be during his tenure. The one thing that Wade did that many fans fail to acknowledge is sign and keep major talent that has made the Phillies a serious contender for years to come. If the Phillies fans had their way, there’s a possibility that someone else other than Wade would have gotten them to the playoffs before 2007. This would have come at a price. And would anyone, in hindsight, be willing to pay the steep price of Brett Myers, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard or Cole Hamels? And since most trade deadline deals fail to land a player for more than the last few months of the season, would the Phillies still be a contender if they made one of those moves?

Now, Wade faces the task of rebuilding a struggling Astros franchise and is experiencing a similar backlash in Houston (including some Phillies’ fan that have gone out of their way to warn the Astros’ faithful of the impending doom that Wade brings with him). Although, taking a second look, the Phillies faithful may want to upgrade the Wade report card… at least erase the big fat F most fans gave him at the end of his run.

Who knows? It might be Wade who gets the last laugh. During his first offseason with the Astros, Wade made a trade with the Phillies that sent closer Brad Lidge and utility infielder Eric Bruntlett to Philadelphia for Michael Bourn and Geoff Geary. While it’s likely the trade will help the Phillies on the short-term, Bourn’s upside is huge and with his ability to turn walks into doubles at the plate and turn gappers into outs in the field, Bourn could be the first of many nice moves that Wade makes to duplicate what he did in Philadelphia - turn a losing team into a winning one.

The Wade Nucleus – Current Phillies And Their Ed Wade Connection

Pat Burrell (First Round Draft Pick ’98)
Ryan Madson (Ninth Round Draft Pick ’98)
Carlos Ruiz (Free Agent Signing ’98)
Brett Myers (First Round Draft Pick ’99)
Chase Utley (First Round Draft Pick ’00)
Ryan Howard (Fifth Round Draft Pick ’01)
Cole Hamels (First Round Draft Pick ’02)
Kyle Kendrick (Seventh Round Draft Pick ’03)
Clay Condrey (Via Trade With Padres ’04)
Chris Coste (Free Agent Signing ’04)
Shane Victorino (Rule 5 Draft Pick ’04)
Jimmy Rollins (Re-Signed To 5-year, $40-Million Contract ’05)
Brad Lidge (Obtained Via Trade Of Former Wade Draft Picks, Geoff Geary (’98) and Michael Bourn (’03) ‘08)