Bob Ford: Free-agent patience has paid off for Phils

If there is one overriding lesson Ruben Amaro Jr. took from his three-year apprenticeship under general manager Pat Gillick, it is probably the value of patience.

Gillick is patient to a fare-thee-well, a trait that was often maddening during the free-agent signing season and again at the trade deadline. Indeed, it was maddening right up until mid-September when the Phillies decided to go ahead and win a World Series. He didn't seem quite so bad then.

"Sometimes you can't make a giant step. Sometimes small steps keep adding up and adding up," Gillick said. "You never know what's going to happen that can make your club better."

If the parade always went to the team that makes the most audacious move, there would have been confetti on the rutted dirt roads of Milwaukee this fall. The Brewers rented CC Sabathia for a half a season and, ultimately, what did they have to show for it? Not much, and they no longer have top prospect Matt LaPorta, either. Same goes for the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez. No ticker tape on the Santa Monica Freeway.

In the end, Eric Bruntlett and Joe Blanton can trump CC Sabathia sometimes, and Matt Stairs and Scott Eyre can mean more than Manny Ramirez. Not always, but occasionally. If you are lucky enough, and patient enough.

Those waiting for Amaro, in his new role as the general manager, to unveil a splashy plan for the 2009 season are waiting in vain. There are some guidelines and some general principles, but the Phillies aren't going to scorch the earth with their checkbook as the Yankees will no doubt attempt to do.

It isn't necessarily because the organization is cheap. The payroll which began the 2008 season at $103 million will probably jump to around $120 million for 2009. The hesitancy comes because you don't always get what you pay for in baseball, and there are often bargains for those who wait.

"You keep your eyes and ears open, and look in all areas for something that might fit into your overall program," Gillick said. "Two of the guys that were pretty involved in our club - Chad Durbin and Jayson Werth - were non-tenders. [Greg] Dobbs was a damn waiver. We traded for Stairs, traded for Blanton, guys that were below the radar but that kind of fit in with us."

Gillick's personal radar stayed very close to the ground, and Amaro undoubtedly observed the wisdom in that. He has mostly shrugged when asked what the Phillies will do with their left-field position next season if Pat Burrell is lost to free agency. The Phils had no serious interest in Matt Holliday or Ramirez to fill that potential void and the list of lesser lights - guys like Gabe Kapler, Juan Rivera, Jason Michaels, Kevin Mench - aren't much better than the options they have now.

So, Amaro isn't going to run around, holding his hands to the sides of his head, screaming, "Left field! Left field! Left field!" any more than Gillick would have. The season will open and someone will be standing out there. Promise.

It could be a platoon arrangement that uses Dobbs as the lefthanded component. It could be someone who becomes available Dec. 7 when teams must either tender contracts to other free agents or let them walk. It could be another low-flyer who eludes most radars.

But someone will be out there and, like it or not, Amaro probably doesn't know who that is yet.

Like most baseball men, he says that improving the pitching staff is really what holds his interest at the moment. There are some very attractive starters on the free-agent market - Ryan Dempster, A.J. Burnett, Oliver Perez, Derek Lowe and, naturally, Sabathia, among others.

The Phils could make a play for one of those, but that's unlikely, too. They will try to re-sign Jamie Moyer, wait to see what the arbitration wars do with their payroll, and then go from there. The game plan devised by Gillick involves building brick by brick, not a whole wall at a time.

"You can't get sidetracked," Gillick said. "You can tweak the game plan and your direction, but if you alter it drastically too often, all you're doing is losing time."

Maybe that philosophy throws cold water on the hot stove. Maybe it isn't that exciting. But how was the parade?

That's the bottom line right now. Doing it the way Pat Gillick did it - slowly, methodically, barely betraying a pulse sometimes - got the Phillies one of those neat trophies with all the little flags.

The team has earned the right to try it that way again. All it takes is a little patience . . . theirs and yours.

Don't expect the Phillies to make any major changes. But they can't stand pat.

E3.