Wade rejoins Phillies organization

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."