Baseball season in Philadelphia may be over, but we Phillies fans got some good news nonetheless, as General Manager Ed Wade was FINALLY fired. Unless Wade's right-hand-man and longtime Phillies insider/yes-man Ruben Amaro, Jr. takes his place, we can probably assume that personnel decisions will be made with some degree of authority, common sense, and confidence for a change, no matter who they hire to replace him. So with that in mind, it's time for me to do a little armchair general managing in preparation for next year, and offer some friendly advice for Wade's eventual replacement.
- Give Billy Wagner whatever he wants. He's the best closer in the game. He's coming off the best year of his career and actually wants less money next year (I'm reasonably sure that's the case but I will have to check that some other time). One of the thorny issues is that Wagner wants a no-trade clause and the Phillies didn't want to give him one. They should. Wagner is never somebody who should be traded by any team even close to being in contention (although the Astros made it work), and if the team is doing so badly that they want to trade him and rebuild, Wagner himself will be the first one to speak up and wave his no-trade clause, like Curt Schilling did awhile back. If the Phillies don't give him what he wants, someone else will. He's even talked about wanting to go to Washington, since he's from Virginia, and although this isn't as much of a possibility since the emergence of Chad Cordero (really, who saw that one coming?), I'd really hate to see Billy Wagner pitching for another NL East team (just think of what John Smoltz put us through all those years out of the bullpen).
- Unload Jim Thome to whoever will take him. Yes, this means the Phillies will probably have to take on some of his salary, but it's worth it. Ryan Howard is the real deal! The biggest reason I'm glad Wade is going is because he would never have traded Thome, no matter how badly hurt he was and no matter how good Ryan Howard plays, for two reasons: first, he was unbelievably stingy, and second, signing Thome was pretty much the only well-received, high-profile move he made the entire time he was here. If he trades Thome, what's his legacy? David Bell? The continuing presence of Mike Lieberthal? Actually, I guess it would be Wagner, but I'm sure Wade would have been more than happy to let him go. Luckily we don't have to worry about that.
All in all, I wouldn't say Wade was a terrible GM (I'm trying to remember if he was around when the Phillies traded for Bobby Abreu, which would upgrade him from "not terrible" to "decent," but I think that was shortly before he got here), just one who constantly found his team one step away from the playoffs, and who was content with that. And that's unacceptable.
Other baseball thoughts: I'm glad to see both the Yankees and Red Sox out of the playoffs. Maybe now we can all get over that overhyped rivalry and realize that there are other teams in baseball. And guess who's on the mound tonight for the Angels: could that really be Paul Byrd? I won't blame Ed Wade for letting that fish get away, because who could have seen him becoming a mainstay in the rotation on a World Series contending team? Weird how those things work out... what's next, Mike Timlin closing for the Red Sox? Nah...
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