Results tagged “edwade”

The Phillies will announce today at noon that 68-year-old Pat Gillick is their new General Manager, replacing former GM Ed Wade, who was fired on Oct. 10.

Editor's note: It's rare that we step out of our collective voice/pants to let someone steal the spotlight. In our history, we've only done it when (a) the Pope did a guest spot in our 30 Days of Easter series, (b) we put up a "Day as Phillyist Editor" for bid and Singularist won, (c) we just felt like wingin' it. Today, we let Tom Durso, the newest member of our team, don the slim-fit pants before diving into the big waistline that is Phillyist.

The Philadelphia Phillies will announce today at 4 p.m. that they have fired General Manager Ed Wade. Since we only get happy when bloggers get fired (or, you know, win Pulitzers), we're pretty so-so about this...

The Philadelphia Phillies entered their weekend series needing a sweep of the Washington Nationals to keep hope alive in their Wild Card chase. They got their sweep, but unfortunately, they needed something else: the Cubs to take three of four from the Houston Astros in Texas. While the Cubs were able to take the first two games from the Astros, they dropped the last two games, sending the Phillies home for the winter.

It's happened a few times this season: Charlie Manuel makes a bad move. Bill Dancy makes an even worse move. An Ed Wade acquisition, like David Bell or Michael Tucker (better yet, David Bell AND Michael Tucker), hits into a key double play.

Phils fans were happy - jubilant, even - for just a little while last night. It started with a two-run Bobby Abreu homer that tied the game at 5. The ball was smashed to center field and many fans probably imagined that the clutch eighth inning homer was drilled right down the through of Howard Eskin. The throat of Howard Eskin being A.J. Finch's catching mitt, obviously.

The Phillies capped off a terrible Labor Day weekend with a heartbreaking loss to the Houston Astros last night, 4-3. The game seemed to get out of hand immediately as an error, as well as two Brett Myers walks, led to four first-inning runs for the Astros. Last week, we agreed with disputed lanky columnist Phil Sheridan that Myers was beginning to look like the team's ace. We started to doubt ourselves after the first inning last night, but Myers came through afterwards, shutting down the Houston bats for the next six innings. Meanwhile, Sheridan don't gotta believe.

David Bell is hitting .251. Bell’s counterpart on the Chicago Cubs, Aramis Ramirez, is hitting .309 with 27 homers. David Bell has 28 homers in the last 3 years. After last night, Chris Mustazza and I are growing frustrated. Bell may be single-handedly bringing down the Phillies season.

Chris Mustazza and Phil Sandick, our regular Phils followers, are back again this week to talk about five issues surrounding our Phillies. This week, the duo examines how likeable this team really is, Ryan Madson's role, and Jim Thome's future in Philadelphia, plus much more.

We'd like to introduce to our newest weekly installment: Chris, Phil and the Fightin' Five. Each week, our resident Phillies writer, Chris Mustazza and Phil Sandick, will talk about five issues currently surrounding our flounderin' Phils. This week, the duo talks about Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins at the All-Star Game, Ed Wade buying and selling, and much more. 1. What should the Phillies do to resolve their first base situation? Chris: I know that Phil will disagree with this, but I have seen enough of Jim Thome this season. The sole reason they are playing him is the amount of money they are paying him, not for his performance - .207 average and 7 homers. It’s unthinkable to let a prospect like Howard rot away in the minor
leagues while the overpaid and under-motivated Jim Thome plods through the season without a care in his guaranteed contract world. So to answer the question, I would platoon Howard and Thome at first,
and, if I did not see significant improvement from Thome, begin to phase him out altogether. I would be willing to wager that you would get exponentially more production from Thome once his starting position was threatened – look at Padilla. Phil: Start Jim Thome when he's healthy and send Ryan Howard back to Scranton Wilkes-Barre. Thome is not at the end of his career, he is just hurt. The steroids rumors are inconsequential. You cannot bench Jim Thome, even if he were hitting .185 and striking out 3 times a night (which he's not, by the way - he has less than 200 AB's and 30 RBI and a .360 on base average). Ryan Howard needs at-bats everyday, even if he's ready to play in the big leagues. Howard is only 25. He will not help the Phillies as a bat off of the bench. Many good hitters are groomed extensively in the minor leagues. The Phillies are not in dire straits. It's not a preposterous suggestion that Thome should be benched but it is out of the question for this season.

Un-freaking-believable. That’s all that can be said about tonight’s heartbreaking loss to the Atlanta Braves. Never before were the Phillies’ relief pitching needs as apparent as they were tonight. Robinson Tejeda had another sterling start, as he led the Phils through 6 shutout innings with only two hits surrendered. This kid is on fire. He hasn’t allowed a run in three of his five starts. No one expected Tejeda to come up this big when he filled the void left by the injured Randy Wolf. It really looked like the Phils were going to take this one. It actually took more effort to lose this game than it would have to win it. The loss can be chalked up to horrific relief pitching. The blame can be divided amongst Rheal Cormier, Ryan Madson, Ugueth Urbina, and Billy Wagner. All of them contributed to the Braves coming back from a 3-0 deficit in the final innings to win 4-3. The Phils’ runs were scored by a 3-run homer from young prospect Ryan Howard. Howard will continue to play for the Phils while Jim Thome is on the DL. So what do the Phils do now? Do thet need to make some trades by the deadline and pick up better starting and relief pitching? Do we really want Ed Wade to pull the trigger on such a decision? Who would the Phils trade – Howard, Wagner, Burrell, Utley? These are all questions that will need to be answered in the near future. Here’s what I think they should do: in true Philadelphia tradition, the Phils need to trade some of their most valuable prospects for a washed-up player who used to be good. The Phils need to offer this player a big-money deal for a long time-period. Also, whoever the Phils trade should promptly become a spectacular player – ala Scott Rolen. Might I suggest Ryan Howard for Mike Piazza at 10 million a year for 7 years?