Phillies hire Ed Wade (again)
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Phillies hire Ed Wade (again)
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
Ed Wade is back.
The Phillies have hired their former general manager as a special consultant, the team announced Tuesday. Wade will scout at the major- and minor-league levels and assist in salary arbitration.
Wade, 55, was fired as Houston GM this winter. He still had two years remaining on his deal with the Astros.
Often the brunt of criticism, Wade actually built the foundation that is the current Phillies before he was fired in 2005. While GM, his staff drafted Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Cole Hamels, Ryan Madson and Brett Myers.
While with Houston, Wade often dealt with Ruben Amaro Jr., a close friend professionally and personally. (Wade is godfather to one of Amaro's daughters.) The Phillies acquired Brad Lidge, Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence in three separate deals with Houston. Currently, four of Houston's top six prospects, as ranked by Baseball America, are former Phillies.
Because of those deals, fans jokingly referred to Wade as a double-agent.
"That certainly will be insinuated," Wade told 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."
The last trade looks particularly favorable to Houston, as Jonathan Singleton and Jarred Cosart are ranked first and second in the Astros system. Domingo Santana is sixth. Those three players were dealt for Hunter Pence last July.
From The Inquirer archives: Former GM Wade set Phils in motion (March 29, 2010)
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
It's a friendly work environment they have at the Phillies! No wonder it's $10 for a beer.— tom c.- Wade better hope the phillies keep him around till retirement, cause no one else will take him. Even if you argue the houston phils trades were fair, doesnt it look awkward... especially now coming back to the phils?— OnTheBandwagon
- Ed Wade is probably a more knowledgeable baseball man than the fans give him credit for. He certainly was working with a smaller payroll when he was here before and did a respectable job. Houston now has a lot of good young players to help rebuild their franchise with.
Always carried himself with a lot of class regardless of some trying circumstances.— candidly - The good, ole boy network at its best with Ed Wade now back with the Phillies... Notice how quickly Larry Bowa was hired by the Phillies last year... lol— JimmyD
I always thought Ed was a double agent anyway. Welcome back.— lgroniko- Is it Spring Training yet?— Ump Al
- Ed Wade has a good eye for young talent. Good hire. Now go draft infielders.— martycon
- maybe ed can help draft some good young talent--he's got a great track record, as pointed out by the article.— AndyReidsMustache
- Well, what do you know. The Phillies Old Boy network takes care of it's own. No matter that he is worthless....same old, same old...
HE'S BACK.— perot - Ed Wade is a chode.— realzeel
- I didn't like some of Wade's transactions when he was Phils' GM, but you must look at the entire body of work, and overall, I think he did a good job. It's a good move to bring him back into the organization..Welcome back, Ed— Polecat_39
- Awesome scout, lousy GM. Glad he's back on the scouting side with Arbuckle gone.— demise1893
- We are so screwed.— Montco PA Dem
- No surprise, and I for 1 am glad. Wade's a good baseball man, and I suspect down the road the Astros will get similar results the Phillies got as result of Ed's work.— mrdip
- Back in May of 2008 in Philly Mag there was an article titled "The Phantom Five" about the Phillies' ownership. The theme of it is that the Phillies are run more like a social club than a winning team. Even though they won a title that year, a lot of it seems to hold true. Big bucks get doled out to "friends" like Moyer, Rollins, and Howard when other players are better and nobody is bidding against the Phillies. Amaro is the GM because he grew up with the team, first as the infant son of a Phillies utility infielder, then as a bat boy, then he was given a chance to be an everyday player in 1992 by the club. Then they called him up from the minors at age 30 and kept him on the big league roster for three years extending his big league career. Then they gave him front office jobs, working for Wade...and finally GM. Wade's in the club too, so he's welcome back with open arms. It's good ol' boys club first, trying to content second, winning titles third.— jtj06
