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Wade rejoins Phillies organization

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40 comments

Wade rejoins Phillies organization

POSTED: Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 10:23 AM
Ed Wade was fired by the Astros in November. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

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Former Phillies and Astros general manager Ed Wade has re-joined the Phillies as a special consultant to the baseball operations department, the team said.

"Ed had a very positive impact on the success we had in 2008 and his experience and knowledge will be a solid addition to what I feel is as good a baseball operations staff as there is in the game," general maanger Ruben Amaro Jr. said in a statement.

In his new role with the Phillies, Wade will assist in salary arbitration consultation, while also scouting at both the major and minor league levels.

Wade, 55, served as general manager for parts of 13 years for both the Phillies (1998-2005) and the Houston Astros (2007-11), where his teams combined for a record of 942-1,010 (.483).

Wade was fired after the 2005 season by the Phillies and was succeeded by Pat Gillick. Wade spent a year with the Padres in scouting before joining the Houston. He was fired this season with 2 yers left on his contract when new ownership took over.

In his final five seasons as Phillies GM, the team went 426-383 (.527), the sixth-best record in the National League in that span, ahead of teams such as the Chicago Cubs, New York Mets, Colorado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds, among others.

During his time as GM in Philadelphia, Wade acquired players such as Jim Thome, Shane Victorino and Billy Wagner through free agency, the Rule 5 draft and trade, respectively, while the June amateur drafts under him produced Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Cole Hamels, Ryan Madson and Brett Myers, all of whom were contributors on the 2008 World Series championship team.

While in Houston, Wade's deals helped the Phillies acquire Brad Lidge, Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence from the Astros.

Many have suggested or joked that all those deals between the Phillies and the Astros were because of Wade's past or his hopes of a future with the Phillies.

“That certainly will be insinuated,” Wade said lightheartedly to the Houston Chronicle. “I’m prepared for the remarks that I only traded with the Phillies so Ruben would give me a job if I got fired.”

Wade said Amaro contacted him as soon as he was fired.

“Ruben contacted me as soon as I was let go and asked me if I would have some interest,” Wade said. “I said ‘let’s put this in neutral for a while’ but we talked a couple more times since then.”



40 comments
Comments  (40)
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:35 AM, 12/20/2011
    Ed also helped the Phillies obtain Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence.
    dasher
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:37 AM, 12/20/2011
    Good guy, has some skills on the talent evaluation/development side, assuming he played a role in the current core of the club (arguable, i know). But as long as he isn't the successor to rueben amaro, then i have no issue with this. my biggest complaint is that the phils have lost their best, and most frequent, trade suitor!
    CosmoK
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:52 AM, 12/20/2011
    Wade had the sense to hire Arbuckle. Then he got to Houston and created a second talent pool for the Phillies. Thanks for 2008 Ed.
    hunglikeaton
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:08 AM, 12/20/2011
    Ed never really left....who you kiddin
    philly thug
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:21 AM, 12/20/2011
    The trip in the Wayback Machine is almost complete.
    s
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:32 AM, 12/20/2011
    Ed actually made great deals for Oswalt and Pence..
    FABER
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:39 AM, 12/20/2011
    Cant Rueben give another team a high recommendation of Ed Wade as a GM. Never know when you will need to have him available to make a trade with.
    If he was a GM somewhere, I am sure he would take Lance Nix for an all star. Or maybe Dontrell Willis for a #1 starter.
    Come on Ed, dont settle for a scout. We need you as a GM
    Pat c
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:55 AM, 12/20/2011
    wait, i thought wade was working with the phillie's houston affiliate?
    nyphilliephan
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:02 PM, 12/20/2011
    Now Randy Miller has his fighting partner back. He was more valuable when he wasn't with the Phillies.
    alihajishank
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:08 PM, 12/20/2011
    Randy Miller covers the Flyers, not the Phils, now...
    LeeJPC
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:02 PM, 12/20/2011
    Dasher, in your haste to be the first poster you might have read the article first.
    PhillySubsMac
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:09 PM, 12/20/2011
    Ed Wade is about as good an evaluator of talent as Andy Reid.
    4thand10
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:11 PM, 12/20/2011
    The boob is back.
    Bob1
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:14 PM, 12/20/2011
    Send Wade to the Marlins or the Braves. They always seem to have good young talent, and we could use a double agent down there.
    p-diddy
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:23 PM, 12/20/2011
    "The Great Gazoo" has returned.
    PhightinPhil
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:56 PM, 12/20/2011
    this is horrible news. the phillies will not make the playoffs now. ed wade is a jinx plain and simple. not good. looks like we are going to have to start a "fire ed wade" movement again.
    slanted and enchanted
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:41 PM, 12/20/2011
    OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
    drjimmy
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:49 PM, 12/20/2011
    the astros got bourn for lidge so it wasn't exactly a "sweetheart" deal.
    chadp1234
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:56 PM, 12/20/2011
    so whats this abot Bill Colin being down ith the sandusky club?
    rayne215
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:14 PM, 12/20/2011
    Let's remember Wade was here when the Phillies were a "small market" team with an anemic budget. You'll notice Terry Francona got smarter when he landed in Boston.
    Bruce in NM
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:50 PM, 12/20/2011
    Can Brett be far behind ?
    NewMick314
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:17 PM, 12/20/2011
    As much as I don't agree with working for your prior subordinate, having Wade back to evaluate talent is a good move. He certainly was a part of the braintrust that produced quite a few gold nuggets for us on the current squad. And, let this be the proof of the pudding that the Phillies organizationb is one of, if not the most loyal there is in basbeall. The players know it, the coaches know it, the brass knows it. You come to work and do a good job, try hard and show the club some loyalty and they'll show it back to you in spades. Kinda like a lot of our industry used to be in this country.....also makes you wonder what LaMarr really did wrong to p*ss off Amaro so much that he was let go.......Conlin, get on it!
    Mark1npt
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:33 PM, 12/20/2011
    Wow, talk about an unfortunate choice of words...don't think you'd want him getting on anything at the moment.
    fizzbin
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:58 PM, 12/20/2011
    D A M N ! ! !....p-diddy beat me to the draw.
    TBear
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:06 PM, 12/20/2011
    "Ed Wade is about as good an evaluator of talent as Andy Reid" - Thome, Victorino, Wagner, Utley, Howard, Burrell, Hamels, Madson -

    Okay, if you say so, genius. Whereas, the Land Whale thinks signing a couple "superstars" will make him coach of the dream team.


    Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies/Wade-rejoins-Phillies-organization.html#ixzz1h7BxkHSM
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    COskier
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:16 PM, 12/20/2011
    I was hoping he'd go somewhere else and hook us up.
    burholme
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:30 PM, 12/20/2011
    Further proof that Wade was a sleeper agent the whole time
    mjb
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:58 PM, 12/20/2011
    One of the strangest looking guys evaaaa.
    JJReid
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:50 PM, 12/20/2011
    Wade left the Phils to Gillick with the core players to win a WS and a deep and talented farm system; the Rube took over a WS-championship team with a great farm system from Gillick, struck out 3 times in hail mary attempts to win again while decimating the farm system, resulting in an overpaid team that is the oldest in baseball without all its best prospects and a less-promising future than the Nationals or Marlins .. yet dumb fans criticize Wade and applaud the Rube who can't even spend $170 million with half a brain
    warbiscuit
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:21 PM, 12/20/2011
    Anyone know why the comments section on Conlin's columns are closed? I'm able to comment on any other sports article...hmmm...
    fizzbin
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:48 PM, 12/20/2011
    Conlin applied for a job in the Phllies' farm system working with the youngest recruits.
    orange rhino
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:59 PM, 12/20/2011
    If the Rube in Dec. 09 wouldnt have signed Blanton to a $24 mil extension then found out that Blanton was deemed worthless by every other g.m and untradeable, so as to necessitate his discarding Cliff Lee for peanuts to Seattle in a panic move to cut budget when trading for Halladay, then he wouldnt have had to trade 3 prosepcts for Oswalt in mid-2010, and if in winter 2010 when everyone saw that Phils needed a right-handed of to replace Werth, had the Rube simply signed a righty outfielder free agent like any half intellgent g.m would have done, then he wouldn;t have had to trade 3 top propects in mid-2011 for Pence --so who's the 'dope' here --the Rube makes terrible errors of omission and commisson in the winter and then trades away his best prospects in mid-season to try to cover himself....now Phils only wish they could get Singleton and Villar and Gose and D'arnaud and Taylor and all the rest back as the current team is aging fast and the Phils farm system has lost a dozen of its recent best prospects and has noting to show for it but 3
    October fizzles becase the rube doenst know how to build a well-balanced team capable of winning in post-season
    warbiscuit
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:17 PM, 12/20/2011
    Ed Wade helped destroy the Astros like Bill conlin destroyed the childhoods of some innocent children. Bill Conlin is not only fat but he is a rapist.
    feudal_nobility09
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:20 PM, 12/20/2011
    always thought there was something off about conlin with his self-righteous pontificating babble and weirdness (and he was more often than not simply wrong in whatever he opined about)-- hard to criticize g.m.s for plain stupidity when some of the opinion makers in the media may be plain evil
    warbiscuit
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:39 PM, 12/20/2011
    Where can we send him next? Who has a good, young 3B with a little pop?
    Curse of Billy Penn
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:21 AM, 12/21/2011
    Nothing about Conlin? Interesting. Where is Bob Ford? Shouldn't he be advocating for the demise of philly.com and the DN?
    Penfold18
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:27 AM, 12/21/2011
    with dogbiscuitthedope hanging on my every word and changing his name to be able to "boo" me, and his 6 brilliant responses to my every word (with such insights like "moron", "loser" but apparently running out of perjoratives), I feel like Reggie Miller against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden :).... my advice though --get a life
    warbiscuit


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