The Phillies have been standing pat too long this offseason

December 28, 2005 | By Dennis Bakay | Discuss

It seems like months since the Phillies made the Jim Thome trade, just weeks after Pat Gillick’s canonization into the Phillies organization. Since then, they have made no moves of any significance. Where’s this “top of the rotation guy” you guys were seeking? Where is the catcher you were seeking? Where is the bullpen help you were seeking? We are waiting, and waiting, and waiting. This type of inactivity rings of the Ed Wade regime. Sure, Gillick is the master GM who transformed the Blue Jays from a mediocre team into a two-time World Series champ. He also transformed the Baltimore Orioles into a playoff team. Added to that, he built the Seattle Mariners 117 game winning team in 2001. Now, he has the biggest challenge of his lengthy career.

Ed Wade has created quite a mess for this organization that was run about as well as a brothel in a third-world country for 20 years. There are a plethora of holes in the line-up. The leadoff hitter is inconsistent. There are too many strikeouts as well. There is no ace on the pitching staff; there are just several three and four starters. The catcher is a bigger waste of space than a Macy’s store next to a Mississippi trailer park. Bobby Abreu, who is most qualified to be the leadoff hitter refuses to do so. He also refuses to work hard enough to be a viable defensive player, although receiving the Gold Glove--which proves what a joke that award is. And, most importantly he disappears in the clutch. His $13 million salary (and $15 million salary next year) makes him very difficult to trade. Wade has tied this team down with a litany of bad contracts and no-trade clauses. The following players all have no-trade clauses in their contracts: Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell, Jimmy Rollins, and David Bell (you read that correctly-that is no misprint). His trades were nothing short of atrocious. All the Phillies have to show for Curt Schilling, Scott Rolen, Carlos Silva, and Johnny Estrada is Ricardo Rodriguez, whom they recently acquired in the Vincente Padilla (acquired in the Schilling deal) trade. They failed in their first objective of the Gillick regime by letting Wagner walk. With all of these problems one could be left wondering, “What can Gillick possibly do?”

They should immediately ship Abreu, his poor attitude, and their “incredible” pitching prospects in Gavin Floyd and Cole Hamels to the Chicago Cubs for Mark Prior. It’s worth it. Hamels is injury-riddled, Floyd is unproven, and we know what Abreu will do. Prior is an established ace who will be here for 10 more years, and one who is entering the prime of his career. Is he a risk? Yes. But, the only way to win in sports is to take risks.
The Phillies will accomplish several things in this one move. They will get their ace. Furthermore, they will shake up the chemistry by getting rid of a player with a piss-poor attitude. Most importantly, they will rid their lineup of strikeouts and failures in clutch situations. One would say I make Abreu sound worthless. I think his numbers are hollow and his .220 average after the 7th inning backs that up.

The next move the Phillies can make is getting rid of Lieberthal and his attitude. They should just pay most of his salary and jettison him from the roster. Again, this is a chemistry move. It’s common knowledge that he doesn’t handle pitchers very well or play good defense. There were many rumblings that he didn’t get along with various pitchers on the staff. This is anathema to having a winning team. The pitcher and catcher must be on the same page. This move would essentially be akin to cutting him, which is just fine. So, what catcher should they get? Since the Phillies were asleep while the Orioles signed Ramon Hernandez they need to get the next best free agent catcher out there and his name is Bengie Molina Mike Scioscsia’s general for his 2002 World Series team. For some reason Gillick said he didn’t like any of the free agent catchers while interviewed on the Howard Eskin show. I think it’s completely asinine to make that statement while having probably the worst catcher in major league baseball on your roster. Molina plays great defense, makes his pitchers better, and worked under a great manager and former diamond general himself in Mike Scioscia. Dump Lieberthal and sign Molina. It’s a no-brainer.

Ok, we’ve changed the chemistry of the team, while removing strikeouts from the lineup, and getting an established ace. However, the team lacks a leadoff hitter. They’ve tried it before and it didn’t work. They should turn to Jimmy Rollins again. He showed strides last year during that 36 game hitting streak. Now, he needs to combine that with patience. In September he hit .402 with a .455 OBP, had 11 walks, and 12 stolen bases in 27 games. The walks were certainly not mind-blowing, but were the most he had in any month last season. The bottom line is the OBP and steals were up. That is paramount to being a leadoff hitter. Get on base and advance. Since the Cubs grabbed Juan Pierre during the Marlins’ fire sale, this leaves the Phillies with their best option, as there are no other solid leadoff hitters available. Give the Rollins experiment one more year.

The Phillies also need bullpen help. Where do they turn? They should consider trading David Bell and another player for Danys Baez. They can make Baez the setup man and have Flash Gordon as their closer. This is a great move because Baez can always close in the unfortunate event that Gordon may have arm problems. He is 38 years old and fireball pitchers who log many innings can see their arm go at any time. It won’t equal the juggernaut from last year of Madson, Urbina, and Wagner, but Madson, Baez, and Gordon is not chopped liver.

It’s time for the Phillies to get rid of attitudes and put the pieces together to build a championship contender. Players play, managers manage, and General Managers build. Gillick still has time, but February is just around the corner. He can’t go into this season with the team, as it’s currently constituted. They were an 88-win team last year in a mediocre National League and a highly competitive NL East. Now, they’re lucky if they’re a .500 team in a much improved division (which they didn’t fare well in last season) and National League. Time certainly isn’t on their side if they hope to take a step forward this season.