In defense, or at least partial-defense, of Ed Wade
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In defense, or at least partial-defense, of Ed Wade
David Murphy
My first experience with Fantasy Sports came in middle school, when some friends and I organized a Fantasy Basketball league. This was way back in the 1990's. My family did not have cable television. We did not get the Internet until I was a junior in high school. I grew up in the Poconos. We were just thankful when the electricity didn't go out. This was back when the NBA was still a semi-enjoyable sport. Every Tuesday after basketball practice, the activity bus would drop me off at Lewis' Supermarket, where I'd run inside and grab a copy of the USA Today, which published the previous week's NBA stats. I'd then tally up the fantasy totals in a spiral bound notebook. Yes, mine was an exciting childhood.
Over the next decade, improvements in Internet technology brought fantasy sports to the masses. This had a number of results, not the least of which was the warping of public perception regarding baseball trades. Because Joe Blow is able to swing a deal for Andrew McCutchen with a couple clicks of a button, he starts to assume that Ruben Amaro Jr. can do the same. The majority of Phillies fans know this is not true. But a healthy faction of them do. At least, this is the theory I have developed during my four years of monitoring the Internet and airwaves during baseball's off season and pre-trade-deadline rumor mills.
In the real world, trades are difficult, an observation Ruben Amaro Jr. repeats approximately 1,432 times every calendar year, presumably because he cannot go to the grocery store to buy a loaf of bread without the cashier suggesting that he should deal Domonic Brown and Vance Worley to the Mets for David Wright.
In fairness, Amaro set the bar ridiculously high in his first big move as a general manager, when he acquired a cheap and controllable ace for an 18-year-old pitcher coming off a shoulder injury, a utility infielder, and a starting pitcher who had slid down the organization's depth chart. But even the Cliff Lee trade required the Phillies to give up some pieces that would help them now.
This popped into my mind a couple of days ago, when many fans reacted to the Astros' firing of Ed Wade by bemoaning the fact that the Phillies would no longer have somebody to steal All-Stars from. See, that perception of Wade is just wrong, and to me is the product of the Internet age's mentality of immediacy.
Let's look at the two trades the Phillies have swung with the Astros over the last two seasons:
1. Hunter Pence for Jonathan Singleton, Jarred Cosart and Domingo Santana
We said this at the time and we'll say it again: the Phillies absolutely needed to acquire a right-handed-hitting outfielder at last July's trade deadline. Imagine if they did not, and they were now faced with an offseason in which they would be forced to bid aggressively on a player like Josh Willingham or Michael Cuddyer or Carlos Beltran. The Phillies did not neccesarily have to go all-in on Pence, but their desire to do so is understandable: he was a solid hitter with good contact numbers, decent on base numbers, and very good power who also happened to be under club control through 2013.
But the Phillies did not rob Wade by any stretch of the imagination. Singleton, a 19-year-old left-handed first baseman who had torn up the lower levels of the minor leagues, was the centerpiece of the deal. And he continued to show why after the trade, hitting .333/.405/.512 with four home runs in 148 plate appearances for the Astros' High-A affiliate. The Phillies absolutely loved Singleton. In three full seasons in the minors, he has hit .294/.393/.456 with 29 home runs, 150 walks and 210 strikeouts in 1,099 plate appearances. At the same time, he also played first base, a position where the Phillies have $125 million committed through at least 2016. So Singleton was expendable. But he also was just 19 years old, meaning he will be just 24 years old in 2016, which is the last guaranteed year of Ryan Howard's contract. Keep in mind that Howard's rookie season came when he was 25 years old.
The most expendable player was probably Cosart, who at 21 years old was in the middle of a solid campaign at High-A Clearwater, where he was 9-8 with a 3.92 ERA in 108 innings. The Phillies' system was chock full of starting pitching prospects, with Trevor May and Jesse Biddle sharing the top of the list with Cosart. If the Phillies lock up Cole Hamels to a long-term extension, Cosart could have been 26 years old before they were in serious need of a top-of-the-rotation arm. Besides, Cosart's strikeout numbers dropped precipitously between low-A, where he posted a 9.7 K/9, and low-A, where he combined to post a 6.3 K/9 in 2011. You never like to part with young pitching, but Cosart's departure was a better option than younger players like May and Biddle.
But the biggest wild card in the deal is the third player in the package. At the time, he was announced as a player to be named later, which may have caused some folks to overlook the fact that the PTBNL ended up being Domingo Santana, an outfielder who was regarded to have as much upside and raw power as any position player in the system. An international signing out of the Domincan Republic, Santana showed some serious power in 2009 when he hit six home runs, six doubles and a triple in 118 at-bats for the rookie-league Gulf Coast Phillies. He struggled in 2010, hitting just .211/.329/.333 with eight home runs in 351 at-bats at Williamsport and low-A Lakewood. But he was young. Real young.
At the time of the trade, Santana was just 18 years old and in the middle of a solid season at Lakewood, where he hit .269/.345/.434 with seven home runs in 350 at-bats. After the deal, he played just 17 games for the Astros' low-A affiliate, but he hit five home runs and four doubles in 68 at-bats, posting a line of .382/.447/.662. Santana is far from a sure thing. In order to become a bona fide blue-chipper, he needs to cut down on his strikeouts (328 in 887 minor league at-bats), and improve his selectivity (he has walked just 99 times in 1,022 plate appearances). But he was a lot more than a throw-in piece to the package that landed Pence. And as a 6-foot-5, 200-pound right-handed hitting outfielder, he has the physical make-up and home-run strength that will make a scouting director dream until the day he gets a chance to prove himself against big league pitching.
2. Roy Oswalt for J.A. Happ, Anthony Gose and Jonathan Villar
Once again, the devil is in the details. At the time of the deal, the majority of attention was paid to the departure of Happ, who in 2009 went 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA, 6.5 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9 while playing a big role in the Phillies' third-straight NL East title run. Happ started just three games for the Phillies in 2010 thanks to an elbow injury that appeared to affect both his velocity and his control. He put up decent numbers in 13 starts for the Astros the rest of that season, going 5-4 with a 3.75 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9. Some scouts viewed him as nothing more than a bottom-of-the-rotation starter who allowed too many fly balls and walked too many batters to become a consistently above-average NL starter. The Astros claimed they saw him as a No. 3, potential No. 2. Happ had a bizarre year in 2011. His strikeout rate jumped to 7.7-per-nine, but his walk rate also rose to 4.8-per-nine, along his his home run rate (1.2-per-nine). After 22 starts in which he went 4-14 with a 6.26 ERA, the Astros sent Happ to the minors for three weeks. After his return, he finished the season with six starts, going 2-1 with a 2.43 ERA, 34 strikeouts, 20 walks and four home runs in 37 innings.
However Happ's career turns out, it should not overshadow the other two players the Phillies parted with in exchange for Oswalt. First and foremost is center fielder Anthony Gose, who last season hit .253/.349/.415 with, 16 home runs and 70 steals in 85 attempts at Double-A New Hampshire (the Astros did not hold on to Gose, flipping him to Toronto for first baseman Brett Wallace). Gose is likely to be ranked among the top 50 prospects in the game once outlets like Baseball American and Baseball Prospectus and ESPN's Keith Law release their lists for the upcoming season. With Shane Victorino set to hit free agency after the 2012 season, Gose would be heading into a huge season, with a potential invite to spring training this season. He is still raw. He has yet to boast the contact and on base numbers you need to see out of a guy who projects as a top-of-the-order hitter. But his stock continues to rise.
Villar is also an intriguing prospect, particularly since he plays short stop, where the Phillies' system features Freddy Galvis and not much else. The 20-year-old switch-hitter hit .259/.353/.414 with 20 steals in 26 attempts in 207 plate appearances for high-A Lancaster before a promotion to Double-A, where he hit just .231/.301/.386 with 10 home runs and 100 strikeouts in 324 at-bats. He was rated the No. 94 prospect by Baseball America prior to 2011 and was recently ranked the No. 4 prospect in the Astros system.
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All things considered, it's hard to argue that Wade did not get good value in either of those two trades. The Phillies were forced to pay a premium for Pence because the Astros appeared to be able to live with his salary for at least the rest of the 2011 season. The Oswalt trade was derided by many, but the biggest knock on them is that they decided to flip Gose for first baseman Brett Wallace, who does not play a premium position and whose development appeared to have tailed off. Maybe the Astros thought they were going to be able to re-sign Michael Bourn to a long-term deal, but Gose is the type of high-upside, premium-position player that a rebuilding organization should covet. Still, when you look at the package of players that the Phillies gave up, as well as the fact that they essentially got one dominant half season and postseason out of Oswalt, as well as the fact that the Astros were dealing a player who had a no-trade clause, thus limiting the market demand for his services, you have to regard the value the Phillies gave up as equitable, at the very least. Keep in mind that the Phillies only traded for Oswalt because they previously traded Cliff Lee for a package of players that is inferior to the one they gave up for Oswalt. Right now, would the Phillies accept a deal if a team offered them Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies and J.C. Ramirez for Gose, Villar and Happ? Gose is well ahead of Gillies in his development and Happ would give the Phillies better depth than Ramirez. If Aumont can live up to the glowing reviews the Phillies gave him after an impressive 2011 season, he could end up balancing things out. But he also doesn't play short stop and right now projects as a reliever.
None of this is to say that the Phillies lost either of these trades, nor that they were unwise to make them. I was hesitant about the Oswalt trade at the time, given his injury history. And I'm still not sure that the Phillies would not have been better off looking to hang on to Gose and Happ while looking to deal lesser prospects for depth in the infield and bullpen.
Truth is, we won't know any of these answers for several years. Chances are, none of the aforementioned players ends up giving the Phillies the production they have received and will receive out of Oswalt and Pence.
But it is also unfair to paint Wade as some sort of bumbling buffoon who allowed his mentor to take advantage of him.
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Here are a couple of posts by the folks over at The Good Phight that look at Wade's dealings with the Phillies, including the 2007 Brad Lidge trade.
I couldn't agree more. I never understood the Ed bashing here in town. He was handcuffed with a low budget for almost his entire time here and yet his decisions were key to the 08 WS championship. And, the criticism of him in Houston is short sighted and sometimes displays a lack of understanding of the game. He'll get another shot because he does what he's asked to do by the organization and keeps his mouth shut and he knows baseball.— JTDF- Isn't it always the case that a low-keyed guy who doesn't toot his own horn never gets the appreciation he deserves? Ed Wade is the classic example. Bring him back now that the team has money to spend and send RAJ to Houston to see if he'll trade the guys he gave them. My guess is RAJ wouldn't think of parting with them twice.— sonnybuoy01
- Wade drafted or acquired Rollins, Ruiz, Utley, Burrell, Hamels, Victorino and Madson. Traded Kevin Stocker for Bobby Abreu. Best of all, when Arizona had Schilling on the block didn't give into the demand for Utley and Madson in exchange. He got Billy Wagner from Houston for basically nothing. He didn't have much in the way of choices when he traded Schilling and Rolen. Did he have some bad signings? Sure. David Bell 3 years, Urbina from Detroit for Polanco (Placido was getting booed in Philly his last year because everyone wanted to see Utley at second. Remember it was HOFer Gililck, not Wade, who signed Eaton at 3 yr $24M, Jenkins for 2 yrs, traded Allstars Gio Gonzalez and Gavin Floyd for an injured $10M Freddy Garcia and his 1-7 record. The core of the 07 and 08 team was Wade's work.— Philliesguy
- Well, I think most fans are aware that the minor league system benefited from decent drafting - keeping in mind that the baseball draft is mostly hit-or-miss, regardless of how good an evaluator you are - and from some good minor league trades. The "Ed bashing", in my view, was the result of two factors: first, the team had a losing record in 4 or his 8 years at the helm. And, second, he never seemed to be able to add a player at or near the deadline who would actually help the team. Our big July acquisition during the Wade years always seemed to be a utility infielder or a bullpen depth guy. Who are the fans going to get angry at, the anonymous ownership group? No, they're going to get angry at the GM, who is the guy who gets paid to be the face of ownership and, with regard to baseball operations, the COO. You can certainly make the case that Wade was a better GM here than he gets credit for, but that's small comfort when the team he ran mostly stunk.— 1980
- Signing David Bell for any kind of serious money, let alone the huge contract he got, was an embarrassment.— 1980
- You are who your record says you are.— dasher
- The opinion that the Phillies "ripped off" Ed Wade comes from casual fans who dont understand the structure of an organization. Those casual fans dont understand that most teams do not have Vance Worley, Antonio Bastardo, and Mike Stutes that perform at high levels as rookies for teams that win 100 games. These will be the same fans that will want Amaro fired in 5 years when Singleton, Costart, Gose, etc. may or may not be All Stars.— FABER
- I hope the Phillies hire Ed Wade back. He is great at player developement. He was the mentor, and Amaro the Mentee, though.— 76er
- I wouldnt mind that. He apparently knows good players and how to draft, and Amaro gets deals done. Sounds like a nice combo.
lee thomas was the gm when abreu was acquired..that being said i think ed did a fairly ok job..although he got fleeced on the schilling deal and the rolen deal.- he didn't have much leverage when rolen was about to be a free agent and the whole world knew he wasn't re-signing here
— oliver north - Boy, check out all the love for EW, now. Sheesh - you'd think he was another in a long line of under-appreciated icons from Philadelphia. Did he make some good moves for which he never received enough credit? Yes. But he also targeted things they didn't need at the deadline (dead-armed relievers, 4th and 5th starters instead of top-of-the-line, bench 'depth'). However, EW's biggest problem/deficiency, in my opinion, was his total lack of spine and leadership. He never had a take-charge attitude, one that would overcome the limited payroll options and win anyway instead of using it as an excuse. Guess what - it's a whole lot easier to trade away top tier major league players (Pence, Oswalt, Rolen, etc.) than it is to trade FOR them. He may have done okay with dealing above average to very good major league players (because a lot of teams want that kind of talent and he can pick the best offer). But it's a whole lot harder to trade FOR top talent, which Wade could never do. Hence, EW is gone from his second GM job.— pfes
- "In defense." WHY BOTHER?— JodyMac
- Curt Schilling and Scott Rolen...his legacy.— Romus
- and don't forget the 2008 World Series. Gillick gave him credit for putting together the bulk of that team (Utley, Howard, Victorino, Burrell, Ruiz, Hamels, Myers, Madson) even though many obtuse Phillies fans don't.
As for Schilling and Rolen, Wade was painted into a corner for both deals. Travis Lee was the #2 pick in the 1996 draft and may have been brought up too soon by the D'Backs. Obviously if there were better offers available for Schilling... (Note: Travis Lee OBP=.337 Jimmy Rollins OBP=.329).
As for the Rolen deal, Wade removed a clubhouse cancer and in return receeived, arguably, a better overall player in Placido Polanco. The trade wasn't the bad thing, not playing hardball with Polanco may ahve been.
Although Wade is often criticized for not pulling the trigger, like when Phillie fans thought they should go after Barry Zito in 2006. The asking price was Bourn, Madson and UTLEY. Not doing the deal arguably overshadows any of the others he "should have made".
Also, Wade was dealing with the pre-Cigar sale phantom five ownership when the Phillies payroll averaged $58M during his tenure as opposed to $111M the following 6 years for Gillick/Amaro.
Say what you want about Wade, but dig a little deeper into the facts before you try to sell him short.
