Last night the Philadelphia Phillies GM Ruben Amaro jr. pulled off on exactly the same day (July 29) for the 3rd straight year a deal at the trade deadline that added an All-Start caliber player to their roster.
The Phillies last night received Hunter Pence plus cash considerations from the Houston Astros for Jarred Cosart (minors), Jonathan Singleton (minors), Josh Zeid (minors) and a player to be named later.
Reactions on Sports talk radio vary on this trade from the Astros GM Ed Wade is giving his former employer a sweet deal to the Astros fleeced the Phillies in this deal. It’s too early to tell if this latest trade will benefit the Astros in the long run but if your an Astros fan you have to wonder what Ed Wade is doing since taking over the job as GM for the Houston Astros?
According to Baseball America Ed Wade became the Astros G.M. on September 20, 2007. He has since traded away Brad Lidge, Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence to the Phillies. The Astros under his watch have posted an overall record of 271 wins & 320 losses. They are currently in last place in their division. You think Astros fans might be wondering if Gerry Hunsicker could some how come back to run the organization?
On the other hand you can’t help but credit Amaro jr. with how he has been able to somehow pull off these trades that so far has seen him give up prospects that haven’t exactly been big additions to the teams they have gone to since being traded.
Below is a chart that shows some of the big trades the Phillies have done the last few years. Other than the Lidge trade Ruben Amaro jr. who according to Baseball America became the Phillies G.M. on November 3, 2008 was the G.M. for all the other trades.
Here is a look where those players the Phillies traded away are now:
- Mike Costanzo – He Was traded a month later to the Orioles in part of a package deal for Miguel Tejada. Is currently still bouncing back and forth between AA & AAA.
- Michael Bourn – A lifetime .271/BA averaging 3/HR 34/RBI 84/R per season. He is in his 6th year in MLB.
- Geoff Geary – Has not seen the Majors since 2009 where he posted a 8.10/ERA over 20/IP.
- Jason Knapp – Has not pitched since 2010 where he posted a 2.86/ERA over 28.1/IP combined between Rookie & A ball.
- Carlos Carrasco – He is in his 3rd year IN MLB and in 184.2/IP is 10-15 4.97/ERA for his career.
- Jason Donald – Played 88 games in the Bigs in 2010 hitting .253 and is currently playing back down in AAA.
- Lou Marson – He is currently in his 2nd season in AAA hitting .202/BA
- Michael Taylor - He was then traded to Oakland to finish the 3 team trade. He is currently in his 3rd season of AAA hitting .284/BA 12/HR 47/RBI on the season.
- Travis d’Arnaud – He is currently in AA hitting .318/BA 13/HR 47/RBI 55/R so far on the season.
- Kyle Drabek – Started the season in the majors where he went 4-5 5.70/ERA over 72.2/IP. He is currently back in AAA witha 6.93/ERA over 37.2/IP.
- Anthony Gose – He is currently in AA where he is hitting .253/BA 10/HR 45/RBI 57/R.
- Jonathan Villar – He is currently in AA where he is hitting .234/BA 7/HR 18/RBI 33/R.
- J.A. Happ – He is in his 5th season in MLB. He is 9-16 with a 5.18/ERA over 182.1/IP as a Houston Astro.
- Jarred Cosart, Jonathan Singleton, Josh Zeid and the player to be named later – What future awaits these players?
Brad Lidge, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence for the above players. I hate to admit it but not bad if you ask me. Of course having said all that there is still one thing Amaro has been unable to do. He has yet to win a World Series. You have to wonder what will happen if once again in 2011 he is unable to win a World Series.
I just hope I get to find out.
5 comments
Anonymous
7/31/2011-1:09am at 1:09 am (UTC -4)
It’s no wonder the Phillies system is so highly regarded when they have Houston as their AAAA affiliate.
Anonymous
7/31/2011-2:46am at 2:46 am (UTC -4)
Can we see what the Mets did (in terms of trading for players) during this time?
Mr North Jersey
7/31/2011-3:00am at 3:00 am (UTC -4)
Sure.
http://realdirtymets.com/2010/09/23/where-did-minaya-go-wrong/
Anonymous
7/31/2011-3:59am at 3:59 am (UTC -4)
nice to go back and read the comments and see Grave in the mix.
Anonymous
7/31/2011-2:00pm at 2:00 pm (UTC -4)
I hate the phils. and wade has done much more for the phils as Astro GM than he ever did as Phillie GM.
trading for 19 YO kids with tools but holes and production issues is not something that is going to help your team for many, many years, but he doesnt seem to care if the Stros suck for the rest of the decade .
and the phils have like nothing left at this piont, but they do have one hell of a yankee-like payroll! though they do now have an OF for the next couple of years, in his prime, to replace Ibanez for relatively cheap. Bastards.
maybe it is luck, maybe amaro is a GM savant, but replacing werth for pence (massive upgrade in production, while saving 5 years in age and 15+ mill/year) is a stroke of genius.