All Things Baseball

The Phillies have signed Jon Lieber to a 3 year deal worth, well, too much money.

Let's get this straight:

1. The Phillies just went through a season where their two top younger pitchers, Vicente Padilla and Randy Wolf, had serious arm troubles.
2. Their other pitchers were shaky at best, and they have lost their figurative "ace" in losing Kevin Millwood.
3. Moreover, they lost who appeared to be the staff's favorite teammate, Eric Milton.
4. They were pursuing David Wells, who despite his age and recent injury history was attractive because he was willing to take a 1 year deal, not a longer one.

So what do we end up with??

1. A guy with very recent, serious arm troubles
2. A guy who was shaky last season (4+ ERA, high WHIP). The only time he was great was in the playoffs, but hey, that was Boston-New York we're talking about. You better bring your A-game.
3. A guy who's going to be 35, and who is going to stick with the team for 3 long years.

I honestly have no idea what the front office is thinking with this.

What's the rotation?

Lieber
Wolf
Padilla
Lidle
Myers.

Pretty damn mediocre.

Well, as my friend Steve says: "Thank god it wasn't Derek Lowe or David Wells!".

More on this later.

So, if you're a reader of Phillies blogs, including mine, you'll notice that not much is happening in the Phillies world right now. And I know, not much is happening MLB-wise either, given that weird and pointless deadline for free-agent compensation and other market-related delays. (Mets notwithstanding). But at least for some teams, there are interesting rumors and encouraging developments... Yankees trying to steal Milton (any one else here thinking "Go ahead!"?); A's trying to deal Hudson (any one here thinking "To the Phillies!"?); Red Sox thinking Renteria.

The Phillies?

Well, the Phillies have decided not to sign a 74 year old catcher with health problems, namely Sandy Alomar Jr. The Phillies are looking to re-sign Rheal Cormier (yippee) and Eric Milton (FAT chance). They traded for an old centerfielder who's main asset is his *speed*. And they've basically lost an all-around good player in Placido Polanco... to the A's no less (that should tell you something that the A's are going after him hard), who by the way was basically our only exchange for Scott Rolen.

Odalis Perez? Not on the radar.
Carlos Beltran? In your dreams.
Ryan Howard? Stuck in limbo.

I think it may be time for me to face facts and accept something that most of Philadelphia has already concluded: Ed Wade is a bad GM.

No, not b/c of his free-agent signings. Not because of his lack of significant deals at the trade deadline last season. It's something deeper and more foundational: He is simply NOT a major player when it comes to the MLB world of GM's. He's not Billy Beane. He's not Brian Cashman. He's not even Theo Epstein. And for a city like Philadelphia (major east coast city), that's just not enough. Look at our other teams: Bobby Clarke, Andy Reid, Billy King.... Ed Wade?

It's not just that we need someone who has an iota of excitement and emotion in his demeanor. It's that we need someone who we KNOW is doing all he can to bring that championship home. And we need someone we can trust to actually do the right things. For a long time, I was a supporter of Ed Wade, but I have to admit, I'm not feeling him right now.

We have a boring situation on our hands right now, and that is infinitely worse than a bad one. I mean, there's some exciting things going on in Detroit right now... why not in Philly? Remember, our new stadium was supposed to be the gateway to better and more exciting things! Championships, big names, great teams.... but Ed Wade, the wet blanket, has put that passion out.