 |
|
|
| |
« More On Bonds | Main | A-Rod, Partial Cubs Owner? »
Ed Wade: Houston's New Rocket Man
"Houston, you have a problem" was probably the initial reaction anyone who follows the Phillies, or baseball for that matter, had when they heard that the Houston Astros had hired Ed Wade to be their new general manager.
Wade was fired from that same post in Philadelphia two years ago after failing to compose a team to reach the playoffs -- and brutally suffering for it publicly -- during his eight year tenure in town (1997-2005).
Even a few years out from Wade, the Phillies' last October appearance dates back to the mullets and beards of 1993.
But that's another story. The issue at hand is whether or not Wade is a good hire for the Astros. That's hard to say unless you were one of the lucky fans chosen at random to sit in on the interview process, but it is possible to judge Wade's history with Philadelphia and then consider if his strengths and weaknesses are suitable to the Astros' needs.
If you scan the field at the start of a Phillies home game, you'll see that six of the starting "everyday eight" were acquired under Wade's watch, and they make up the most potent lineup in the National League
- Pat Burrell was drafted, developed, and, for better or worse, signed to a long-term contract.
- Shane Victorino was acquired in the Rule 5 draft.
- Jimmy Rollins, a strong contender for this year's MVP award was developed and signed to a bargain of a long term contract.
- Another MVP candidate and the best second baseman in baseball, Chase Utley, was drafted and developed under Wade and signed to a long term contract under Wade's successor, Pat Gillick.
- First baseman Ryan Howard was drafted and developed well enough under Wade to win a Rookie of the Year award and then an MVP award in the two years since Wade left.
- Rookie starting catcher Carlos Ruiz was signed by Wade as a 19-year old out of Panama.
Wade also drafted the Phillies' three best pitchers: Cole Hamels, Kyle Kendrick, and Brett Myers, and at one time, traded away their worst, Adam Eaton, only for him to be re-acquired under Gillick's regime. Let's not forget, before he was general manager, Wade campaigned hard within the Phillies to trade for Bobby Abreu before anyone knew who he was (Kevin Stocker was the "bait" that eventually landed him). That's quite a nucleus, no doubt about it. [An aside: Critics will point out that one of Wade's assistant GM's, Mike Arbuckle, who's still an assistant in Philadelphia, was responsible for acquiring that nucleus, not Wade. That might be true, but consider these two points: even if Arbuckle did acquire all of that talent, Wade was smart enough to let him do it, and second, when general manager vacancies arise, Arbuckle is almost never a name that comes up, at least not publicly.]
After that nucleus however, the bullet points in Wade's resume are a little harder to come by. In ballyhooed off-season moves, Wade acquired Jim Thome, Billy Wagner, David Bell, Eric Milton, Kevin Millwood and Andy Ashby, none of whom were able to get the nucleus over the hump and into the playoffs. Prior to that he got very little in return for Curt Schilling and Scott Rolen, both players having made it clear they wanted out of Philadelphia. The best piece from both of those deals, Placido Polanco [apologies to all of you who still think that some day Vicente Padilla is going to finally "get it"], was eventually dealt to the Detroit Tigers, where he's flourished, for Ugueth Urbina (currently playing as number 283948 in the Venezuelan Penal League) as a rental in 2005.
Other water that flowed under Wade's bridge were several trades where the Phillies gave up several forgettable minor leaguers (to name a few: Taylor Bucholz, Eaton, Elizardo Ramirez) for several forgettable relievers (to name a few: Todd Jones, Terry Adams, Mike Timlin) and his penchant for handing out no-trade clauses in contracts, an obstacle Gillick has had to deal with on numerous occasions.
The trend is clear: Wade was able to develop a very fine nucleus, one that is scoring runs for the Phillies in bunches, but was unable to add the necessary supporting pieces, even after he was given an adequate budget to do so in the later years of his tenure.
In other words, Houston, he's shown he can get you to the launch pad, but don't hope for the moon.
Tom Goyne is the author of Balls, Sticks, & Stuff ("Phillies, Eagles, golf, and other matters of great importance...") and maintains the Phloggers' Pheeds page, a source for the latest commentary from around the "phlogosphere"..
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d834515b9a69e200e554fa5e0b8834
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Ed Wade: Houston's New Rocket Man:
Comments
Verify your Comment
Previewing your Comment
This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.
Top Stories
Search MLBTR
MLBTR Features
Recent Posts
Rumors By Team
Monthly Archives
Live Chats
Tuesdays at 2 p.m. CST
That was a nice article, I enjoyed that.
Posted by: themfightnwords | September 23, 2007 at 01:37 PM
Ed Wade didn't become GM until December of 1997. Jimmy Rollins was drafted in the June 1996 draft.
Posted by: xaseq | September 23, 2007 at 02:02 PM
Thanks "themfightnwords".
Thanks "xaseq", duly noted and edited above.
Posted by: Balls, Sticks, & Stuff | September 23, 2007 at 02:11 PM
Ugh...those words are getting old! "Houston, we have a problem" is probably the most overused phrase when talking about Houston teams.
Posted by: aggieastro | September 23, 2007 at 02:59 PM
Nice article. There were some really great things that Wade did. I think this will turn out to be a good move for Houston.
Posted by: bjsguess | September 23, 2007 at 03:05 PM
You know, the Thome situation might be a good indication of what type of GM he really is. Wade goes to the extreme; bringing in Manuel, all the media stuff, offering upwards of 20M more than the next best offer, etc all to bring in a guy everyone knew was an injury to happen (which did almost instantly) for a pos they had a better player in the wings for. All that and within 2 years it was a burden...
Posted by: darkstar1661 | September 23, 2007 at 05:05 PM
You know, the Thome situation might be a good indication of what type of GM he really is. Wade goes to the extreme; bringing in Manuel, all the media stuff, offering upwards of 20M more than the next best offer, etc all to bring in a guy everyone knew was an injury to happen (which did almost instantly) for a pos they had a better player in the wings for. All that and within 2 years it was a burden...
Posted by: darkstar1661 | September 23, 2007 at 05:05 PM
"Where'd ya play last year?"
"California Penal."
Now on a more serious note...I can't remember who said it in the first Astros/Wade post, but it was an awesome statement. It was something to the effects of "Wade isn't a good in-season GM".
That statement couldn't be any truer. I don't think that this will end well for Houston unless they've got a successor lined up that actually can add the supporting pieces Wade was never able to.
Posted by: no funny hats | September 23, 2007 at 05:50 PM
BTW, saying something about already having Wade's successor was definitely a tongue-in-cheek statement. I was just further making my point.
Posted by: no funny hats | September 23, 2007 at 05:52 PM
"Pat Burrell was drafted, developed, and, for better or worse, signed to a long-term contract."
You as a person who follows and documents baseball, should feel ashamed for phrasing a sentence that even remotely denotes drafting and signing Burrell as a bad thing.
This is why the city of Philadelphia and its fan base across all sports is laughable.
13mm this year and 14mm in '08. His deal was great for Philly.
Posted by: ArodSucksAtLife | September 23, 2007 at 09:11 PM
"several forgettable relievers"
Mike Timlin.
Stupid Ed Wade trading for http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/timlimi01.shtml
You mean stupid Wade for not resigning him right? The trade was fine, and Timlin has been great.
Posted by: ArodSucksAtLife | September 23, 2007 at 09:16 PM
"ArodSucksAtLife", please, calm down. What I meant by, "for better or worse" in regards to Burrell is that some are fans of his and some people aren't, that's all. Whether or not he has lived up to his contract is debatable. As for Timlin, he's been a good reliever over the years, no doubt, but as far as what he meant to the Phillies, his ERA+ was 100. While that is something they would die for now, in the grand scheme of things, it meant very little looking back, like most of Wade's in-season moves.
Posted by: Balls, Sticks, & Stuff | September 23, 2007 at 09:32 PM
Darkstar, you're way off on that. Thome has been one of the most consistent baseball players of the past 10 years, and he was phenomenal in Philly except for ONE SEASON where he got hurt. The two full seasons he played he was MVP-caliber and he was a huge reason they were in the playoff hunt at all those two years. Furthermore, his signing did exactly what it was meant to do--get people excited and talking about Phillies baseball and butts in the seats for the opening of Citizens Bank Ballpark.
But seriously, you're going to bash signing a guy who made the team relevant and brought in critical revenue because he was injured in the third season of the contract? He's been a pretty damn good player before and since that season, and I think it's pretty unfair to label that move a bust.
Posted by: Pawtucket Pat | September 23, 2007 at 10:21 PM
Jim Thome in Philly:
2003 ~ .266/.385/.573
LgAvg BA after being +.30-.40 the previous 2 years
Lowest OBP of full-time career (to that point) and really the first under .400 he had
Full 1.0 drop in SLG, although a bunch of it was lower single total
2004 ~ .274/.396/.581
Brought BA up a little bit better, OBP a little closer to where you would expect but still not his normal, SLG still not what it used to be but was good. This was a good season (I actually screwed up and thought this was the first with the other the second when I typed previously) Did start having injury problems though. Oh, and Ryans ready! But we don’t have anywhere to play him…
2005 ~ collapse…
Posts .207/.360/.352 while struggling through his 59 games. Howard on the other hand is showing what he will become in his on-again/off-again games. His July to Sept numbers actually show the Phills probably missed only the Playoffs by 1G in the WC and 2 in the division because they kept trying to give Thome his job over the kid.
… and all that for a mere 63.5 Million dollars…
(3 years + money sent to Sox + signing bonus)
Howard was pretty much ready anyway and they still committed that much for 6 years to a player they experienced 2 kinda off years of. Sorry, he might have played well, but that money could and should have been spent else ware ~ esp when you factor how much they ate just to get rid of him…
If his impact on the public was that extreme then maybe I feel a tiny bit different, but I think using a cheaper player for 1 then Howard and actually making the playoffs only a year or two later would have done the same. Or trading for a rental power bat could have provided similar production for one then Howard, ya know…
Posted by: darkstar1661 | September 24, 2007 at 12:04 AM
What I meant by, "for better or worse" in regards to Burrell is that some are fans of his and some people aren't, that's all."
The important part being, anybody who isn't a fan of his is an idiot.
Guaranteed that over his Phillies career he is a better hitter than Ryan Howard is.
Posted by: ArodSucksAtLife | September 24, 2007 at 01:11 AM
"Idiot" might be too harsh a word, I know some pretty smart people, really smart, who aren't all that into him. As for who will be better over their Phillies career, Howard or Burrell, that will be an interesting one to watch. You might just be right.
Posted by: Balls, Sticks, & Stuff | September 24, 2007 at 07:54 AM
ARodSucksatlife,
I have to respectfully disagree with you on this one... Not one chance on this planet that Burrell will ever end up having a better hitter than Ryan Howard.... That's pretty absurd.... I, personally, like Burrell for the player that he is..... I have come to accept him and I do not expect too much from him... Philadelphia fans expect him to be a hitter that he just is never going to be.... He is going to slump for half the season and then hit like hell for the next half... That is what Pat does... People want him to be an ungodly hitter for an entire year.... if he did that then he would hit 95 homers and drive in 349 runs a that season... Long story short, he is one of the streakiest hitters in baseball.... He is no Ryan Howard... Ryan Howard is an unworldly slugger that puts up MVP type numbers in Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez territory... There is no sign that he will stop either... So either Pat has to elevate his game over an entire season or Ryan has to decline.... Neither is going to happen soon so that is a pretty absurd statement to make in my estimation.....
Posted by: allabouthephils | September 24, 2007 at 11:55 AM
' being a better hitter
Posted by: allabouthephils | September 24, 2007 at 11:56 AM
It should be pointed out that this part: "were several trades where the Phillies gave up several forgettable minor leaguers (to name a few: Taylor Bucholz, ...) for several forgettable relievers (to name a few: Todd Jones, Terry Adams, Mike Timlin)"
isnt fully accurate. Bucholz was used to acquire Billy Wagner.
Posted by: statnut | September 24, 2007 at 12:19 PM
allabouthephils,
I like your analysis of the Burrell signing. After his breakout 2002, expectations went through the roof for Burrell. Then his massively disappointing 2003 really killed any fair evaluation of what kind of hitter he is (for Philly fans at least).
He is not a high AVG guy and never will be. Hitting .282 and .281 when he K'd 153 and 160 times in 2002 and 2005 (respectively) were high-water marks for him.
Still, his high OBP is an over-looked asset (like it is for Dunn). Burrell is finishing his 3rd consistent season as a .260/.390/.505 hitter. He'll smack 30 HR, drive in around 100, and be streaky while doing it. Is he worth his salary? Probably not. But he isn't that bad of a signing either.
I like that they have finally started hitting Burrell in the 3rd spot. His high OBP was wasted hitting 5th or 6th. I think next year, they should go Victorino, Utley, Burrell, Howard, Rollins. Rollins' OBP doesn't justify leadoff. But he has enough power to protect Howard, he can still utilize his speed hitting 5th, and the fact that he doesn't K much (compared to Burrell) should help drive in a few extra runs on base hits, sac flies, and groundouts.
On another note, Wagner definitely isn't a "forgettable reliever". An Buchholz isn't that bad either. He's only 25 and has a 2.89 ERA as a reliever this year pitching 1/2 his games in Coors. His overall ERA is killed by his 8 starts witha 5.98
ERA, but he could still turn into a "not completely forgettable reliever." He was worth more then Jennings this year!
Posted by: mymrbig | September 24, 2007 at 02:21 PM