The trade deadline has been something of an enigma for the Phillies in recent years, when they have been buyers instead of sellers. This, it's safe to say, must be jarring for a front office used to concentrating on how many useless spare parts and shoulda-been prospects they can get for the latest star that wants out of Philly. Ultimately, the Phils' trade rumors are mere whispers, the objectives too modest, and the returns generally mediocre.
For reference, let's look at the acquisitions for the 5 of the past 6 seasons when the Phillies were still in playoff contention at the end of July:
2001--Todd Pratt (C), Turk Wendell (RP), and Dennis Cook (RP) from the Mets; Felipe Crespo (INF) from the Giants
The return of Tank was nice, but the bullpen additions (who weren't that good to begin with) were a classic example of Ed Wade-era futility. Wendell's failure down the stretch (7.47 ERA) was one of the greatest individual pennant chase collapses in Phillies history.
2003--Mike Williams (RP) from the Pirates
Williams was an All-Star solely on the basis of his saves for an atrocious Pittsburgh team (but aren't they all?). Coincidentally, his Phillies ERA that year was only slightly higher than his ERA for the '93 team, and the worse the Phils were in the mid-1990s, the better he pitched. This was a stupid move on karma alone.
2004--Felix Rodriguez (RP) from the Giants; Todd Jones (RP) from the Reds; Cory Lidle (SP) on waivers from the Reds
Sensing a theme here? In Philadelphia, c-r-a-p-p-y spells "relief." Rodriguez actually wasn't all that bad, but Jones--pitching for his sixth team in four seasons--didn't live up to the hype. A great example of why you shouldn't trade simply for name recognition (Lidle, to a lesser extent, also illustrated this concept). Too bad that for the Phillies, "learning from example" usually involves something like this.
2005--Matt Kata (INF) from the D-Backs; Michael Tucker (OF) on waivers from the Giants
I had to triple-check to make sure that this was true. In the last year of Ed Wade's tenure, Ol' Puddinghead's solution to get the playoffs monkey off the Phils' back was to stock the roster with speedy, slap-hitting benchwarmers. They had a combined 24 ABs, 5 H, 3 RBI, and 0 HR. Kata posted a negative OPS+, a stat that adjusts individual OPS to a the league average of 100, from an incredible 6 ABs. It's getting tougher to resist the urge to hurl this monitor through a study-room window.
2006--Jamie Moyer (SP) on waivers from the Mariners; Jose Hernandez (INF) on waivers from the Pirates; Jeff Conine (OF) on waivers from the Orioles
Once the Phillies got a GM that wasn't afraid of spreading his peanut butter and his jelly with the same knife, they got a little busier. Gillick's work was even more extensive due to the Bobby Abreu trade, but none of the prospects he got in return was meant to be a quick fix anywhere on the roster. Plus they were prospects from the Yankees, whose minor league system is as naturally fertile as a Phoenix sod farm. Moyer (or as I like to call him, the Iron Turtle) finally gave the team a late-season acquisition that could actually contribute. Conine only brought back bad memories of 2003 while playing a decent outfield. Hernandez was yet another player whose career basically ended with a half-assed Phillies playoff run. What a way to go.
This year's additions continue this proud tradition of massive confusion and desperation-soaked maneuvering. The fact that the Phillies never surrender anything of circumstance is little consolation. It's like watching a blind man trying to solve a Rubik's Cube.
2007's own special wrinkle was the rash of injuries immediately before and after the deadline. Even though he's no Chase Utley, the Tad Iguchi deal was pretty good. Unfortunately for Iguchi, Utley is rehabbing like a man possessed. An early return for Chase raises the tricky question of who to demote from the club, but hopefully it'll be close enough to September and the expansion to the 40-man roster that it won't matter much.
Julio Mateo is not the best Madson replacement, but the Mariners are to Pat Gillick what the Giants were to Ed Wade (which means Brian Sabean must have really liked to pick on retarded kids in school). I swear, Gillick's phone must only be able to dial Seattle, Chicago, Toronto, and Cincinnati. And only the Phillies would have a series in which they lose two members of a four-man outfield in the same game and see their newly acquired starter injured in his first inning of work.
And so it goes, every year, as best-laid plans give way to the likes of J.D. Durbin coming down the chute and low-impact trades that force the regulars to play even harder to keep the ship from sinking.
Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.
