The Phillies announced that Pat Gillick is the man to replace Ed Wade as the GM for the team. Pat Gillick comes to Philadelphia with a pedigree of winning and for making the teams he heads playoff contenders. In a mere 9 years as a GM, Gillick boasts 3 different teams with playoff appearances, the Orioles, Blue Jays and Mariners.
Even more impressive is the fact that the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series, in '92 and '93 (sigh). He was also at the helm when the Mariners won a record setting 116 regular season games.
What more could Phillies fans ask for than a guy who has proven himself over and over again. Hopefully he still has the fire left to get the Phillies over the hump. Gillick did say "I still have the passion and want the competitve edge." Interestingly enough, he also indirectly praised the job Ed Wade had done saying "I'm very honored to be a part of the Phillies, an outstanding franchise...There is a great foundation." Before Ed Wade, nobody would have mistaken the Phillies as an "outstanding franchise".
Congratulations to David Montgomery for commiting to Gillick before the Dodgers and Red Sox had a chance to snare him. The Dodgers had the chance last year and went with Paul DePodesta, who was promptly fired this year. Think that team is regretting not getting Gillick last year? The Red Sox are still dealing with the fact that Kid Theo is leaving, so they didn't have time to get into the fray.
Now the fun begins for Gillick and Phillies fans, dealing with Wagner and Urbina, figuring out what to do with Ryan Howard's bat and putting together the starting rotation. It should be an interesting off-season in Philly once again.
Random Thoughts
Way to go Gold Glove Bobby Abreu. It's about time you get the recognition you deserve as the cornerstone of the Phillies...The free agent list for the Phillies now includes Wagner, Urbina, Pratt, Terry Adams, Michael Tucker and Ramon Martinez. My vote is to sign Wagner and Urbina, don't even bother with Adams, Tucker and Martinez. Pratt is an interesting situation given his success last year. The Phillies really need to start grooming Lieberthal's replacement, so it would be a good opportunity to bring up Ruiz or Jaramillo to give them some big league experience. On the other hand, Pratt worked well with 17 game winner Jon Lieber, so it would be a shame to ruin that chemistry...Lofton hasn't filed for free-agency yet, so here's to hoping his .400+ OBP stays with the Phillies. That was one heck of a platoon with Jason Michaels, I for one am ready to see that again.
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