Phils Were Close to a Starter, Had A Shot at Manny
The Phillies fell short in their quest for a lefthanded reliever and a righthanded bat, but they came closest to a No. 4-type starter.
Phils Were Close to a Starter, Had A Shot at Manny
Todd Zolecki
The Phillies had about an hour left before today's 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline and thought they were close to a deal.
Lefthanded reliever?
Righthanded bat?
Nope. They felt they came closest in a failed three-team trade that would have landed them a No. 4-type starter that apparently would have bumped one of their current starters from the rotation.
“We got agreement from one club and they were trying to get agreement on players from the other club,” Pat Gillick said.
Gillick said the Phillies had a good feeling they would be able to pull off that trade. He also said they had a good feeling at one point they would be able to acquire Manny Ramirez from the Boston Red Sox. Ramirez instead went to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-team trade that involved the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“Yeah, we were talking about it,” Gillick said of Ramirez discussions. “We were involved. We couldn’t get where they wanted to be. And we couldn’t get where we wanted to be.”
Did the Pirates seek too much from the Phillies?
“We could please other clubs,” Gillick said. “It’s just that we’ve got to please our club a little bit. We think we know what the value of those players are. Not only the players on one side of the fence, but on our side of the fence. You have to really evaluate that and we just thought maybe that was a little too rich of an ask for us.”
Looking at things another way, it would be worse to be a Pittsburgh Pirates fan. The Pirates have become a farm team for the Red Sox and the Yankees. They just gave up Jason Bay - one of the best players in baseball - and got basically nothing in return. It's interesting how the Pirates demanded the state of Pennsylvania build them a new ballpark, but instead of using the profits from the new stadium to improve their team, they just pocket the profits, and the team gets worse and worse.— Metropolitan- Haha hehe haha! Same ol' same ol' - "We tried...we came close...it just didn't work out...just couldn't pull the trigger...they just wanted too much...we were talking...we think we have the talent to compete...we're a small town team...as long as we compete" (and make money and the fans keep coming out). THE BOTTOM LINE - YOU DIDN'T DO YOUR JOB(yet). If I told my boss these excuses I would be fired. I am told to get it done and it gets done. Same ol' same ol'. HA!
- Um thats a pretty poor argument, yes the Flyers made the playoffs near the end of the regular season. I guess you have a pretty short memory since the Phillies literally made the playoffs last year (for the first time in over a decade mind you) on the very last game of the season.— HockeyAdam22
- Are you serious. Manny would have brought us a lot closer to the Cubs. I'm 33 years old and I haven't seen a championship since I was 9. I could give two sh--- about 2009 or 2010. Gillick completely dropped the ball in not putting Manny in the middle of our lineup for two prospects that have a 50-50 chance of never amounting to anything in the majors.— notagain
- WHAT'S UP???? I've posted about 5 or 6 times today, and only ONE made it to the blog!— Norma
- What a crock. Gillick and the Phillies were NEVER going to go after Manny. Everytime we fail to get a player, Gillick then says the Phils tried. Right. Sure. Same Gillick who, days earlier, admitted the Phillies had NO interest in Manny. Phillies continue to have the cheapest management in baseball.— BrianNJ
- ONCE AGAIN THE CHEAP PHILLIES COME CLOSE,BEEN HEARING THAT FOR 30 YEARS,GILLICK GOOOOO,RETIRE PLEASE— soliteryman
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- Reading some of these posts, I wonder if people are really this stupid, or the only people who post are causal fans who don't really follow the game. Did someone refer to Gavin Floyd as a future #1?— Gary Varsho
- I hate how Gillick denies he is interested in Ramirez, then after he is traded, he changes his tune to make himself look better. I understand that he can't tell the media the details of his trade proposals, but how about "no comment". I am sure that the Pirates wanted both Carrasco and Happ. Also, this Happ thing is a mess. They pulled him from his start because they were planning on trading him, and now they are stuck with a guy who has never been a reliever in the bullpen. If they send him back down now, its an admission that they made a mistake calling him up. I think a trained monkey could run this team better.— RichNC
- Starter was Joe Cowley. Don Carmen was unavailable.— mick314
- PG and all classy GM's play it close to the vest, especially after failed attempts at trades.....another #4 would have done us no good....ratting out who the pitcher was or prospects to go were, does nobody any good.....look for Manny in the offseason....maybe a big #1 stud SP to compliment our #2 Cole, too.— Mark1npt
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- How about a world series for prospects? I say thanks to that. Of course, it didn't happen as Davey and the boys sit in their counting house, counting all their money. FYI, I almost bought a Rolls Royce one day...then I got a Yugo.— KMG
