Sam Donnellon writes today (here) that Pat Gillick is looking exceptionally scapegoaty and fireable since the Phillies are off to such an abominable start. Go ahead and read his article.
The first problem is he blames Pat Gillick for Freddy Garcia's arm troubles. How is that his fault? Garcia has thrown over 200 innings in all but one season, and that was 2000. There was no indication prior to signing him that his arm was about to fall off, which I believe it may have. Gillick went out and got a guy who looked like he would be a solid number 3 starter and innings eater, and then he got hurt. Shit happens. Also, Donnellon refers to Freddy as a "17-game winner." This is a good time to learn a little something- wins don't fucking matter as a pitching statistic. Garcia also had the highest ERA of his career last season, which means all those wins he "earned" were largely the result of having a productive offense in those games.
Okay, Gillick did mess up by not trading Lieber. Of course teams were probably not offering top prospects and hidden reserves of Nazi gold for his high-4's ERA and portly frame, so no big deal. Tom Gordon was fine and dandy last year; just because he started off slow this year doesn't mean he's washed up. They're fucking 7 games in. They're fucking 7 games in. Now I won't say that again, although you should keep that in mind. I lied. They're fucking 7 games in. Okay, done. And yes, they should have traded Aaron Rowand too, because he stinks. Of course he's stunk since day 1 on the Phillies, even with all his scrappiness. Because you know what's better than scrappiness in a baseball player? Hitting ability. But good luck trading him now that he obviously has 400/20 vision in the eye he messed up when he mistook the outfield wall for a fluffy cloud.
Donnellon mentions the trade the Braves made for Mike Gonzales, which was indeed a nice one. But what he fails to mention is this- the Braves have been a great organization for over a decade, so they have pieces to trade. The Phillies have been mismanaged for, let's see, wow, over 100 years, with the exception of the late 70's/early 80's. That's not all Gillick's fault. You know who Gillick probably would have had to give up for Gonzales? Chase Utley. Imagine the reaction from the press if he'd done that. They would have briefly taken their faces out of the free reporter food trough at the stadium and said "Mmna, mmnanna, stupid, mnn, trade, mnnana."
He then concludes with discussion of Charlie Manuel not being around for Game 161 (even though they play 162 games. Can someone explain why he wrote that?). But he doesn't mention Gillick himself getting canned; only his being responsible for Manuel's firing. But the title of the article is "Gillick earns spot on hot seat". So which the hell is it? Is Gillick on the hot seat with Manuel or not? And where exactly is this mythic hot seat? I hear about it all the time, yet most seats these days are cool to the posterior.
You know what the easiest, do-nothing job in Philly is other than mayor? Sportswriter. All you have to do is write angry diatribes against anyone involved with any aspect of any team and people will apparently eat it up. So watch out, Philadelphia Soul dance team- you've been looking lazy, and now you've been warned.
2 comments:
Nice blog man. You're right on many accounts although I do believe Gillick could have done far more to bolster our shitty bullpen. The Aaron Rowand for Scott Linebrink trade would have helped. Linebrink's been solid so far with the exception of a shit bomb he took on the 15th. In desperation he's picking up everyone's sloppy seconds and thirds. The washed up 7+ ERA slime who couldn't cut it playing other part timers in spring training. "Hey, you...do you pitch by any chance? Yeah I know you bag groceries now but you look like you'd be able to throw a ball. How'd you like a contract? A million-five sound good?"
The primary cause for this horrendous start is obviously the pathetic offense. Utley and Howard are a combined .156 with runners in scoring position. Do they get stage fright knowing their team mates are watching them on base? We have some of the most stellar up and coming super stars in baseball right now and they're hitting like Sorano in Major League. For the love of god Jimmy Rollins is the big bat on our team! Its sad all around and eventually old man Manuel will take the hit. The guy needs to light a spark under his own fat ass let alone the players. Hell he can't even challenge a man to a fight without brining the room to laughter. It was pathetic!
Either way I think we're screwed. Once again we've dug a hole we won't be climbing out of any time soon. With the Mets and the Braves doing what they do best - WIN - we're doomed from the start.
Dude, you are wrong, wrong, wrong. Pat Gillick got ZERO for Bobby Abreu, who would have been the hottest name at the winter meetings. He got ZERO for Padilla, who no matter what you think of him was worth more than AAA no name reliever. He said he didn't want to commit too much money to pitchers because they get hurt, so he signed a guy that only gets hurt for 3 years and $25M (Adam Eaton)? Eaton fucking sucks. He signs a guy to start a third that couldn't start for the fucking Brewers (Helms). They needed more offense like the Eagles need more 5-10 linebackers. The point about the Braves is not just Gonzalez. They had a problem, the bullpen and they addressed it with multiple pickups. Gillick did nothing for the two biggest issues they had - no right-handed power and no bullpen. Instead he traded the only minor leaguer worth a shit for a sixth starter that was throwing fucking 80 miles an hour last year!!!! Fuck him, he sucks and the only reason he hasn't canned Chahlie is because then the heat is on him. The only saving grace is that Garcia and Lieber should draw some serious interest at the deadline, then again, I am sure this old fucking retired Canadian is going to give those guys away also. I mean, this Molson drinking old pussy doesn't even have the guts to come to Philly, at least Ed Wade still came to games when they sucked. I mean serioulsy man, Bobby Abreu and a solid starter (Lidle) for nothing? Nothing? I still am in awe.
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