When the Philadelphia Phillies announced that former GM Ed Wade was fired, I among many Phillies fans were estatic.  Who would the new GM be, Theo Epstein, Jim Bowden?  Nope, neither, but we did hire the 68-year old Pat Gillick, a former GM to the Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles and the Seattle Mariners.  Gillick has a proven track record with 2 World Series Championships and 5 Division Titles with the Blue Jays and help guiding the Mariners to a MLB record-tying 116 wins in the 2001 campaign.  But Gillick was given the nickname "Stand Pat" by critics who said that he did not make the moves beneficial to his teams success at the trade deadline.

Now, "Stand Pat" has made some moves ranging from high-brow to under-the-radar.  His biggest move is arguably the Jim Thome trade in which he traded the popular 1st baseman and cash to the reigning champion Chicago White Sox in exchange for CF Aaron Rowand and 2 minor-league players.  Considering where Thome's value was after missing a majority of the 2005 season due to injuries, Gillick deserves to be applauded for this move as the Phillies do fill the gap in center field previously vacated by the Jason Michaels-Kenny Lofton platoon.  Also, Gillick picked up reliever Chris Booker in the Rule 5 draft out of Kansas City, this move is definitely under-the-radar but who knows what Booker could turn out into. 

But the worst move he might have made is one he did not accomplish and that was signing closer Billy Wagner.  Wagner, 34, was coming off a season in which he had 38 saves (7th in the NL) and an All-Star appearance.  Wagner went to divisional rivals, the New York Mets for a 4-year deal worth $47 million.  Gillick did act fast but with a depleted closer's market this year, he signed Tom "Flash" Gordon to a 3-year deal.  Gordon, 38, who has been a set-up man to Yankees closer Mariano Rivera for the last 2 seasons.  Gordon also has a good track record but the Phillies could be seeing another Jose Mesa here.

Gillick recently traded starting pitcher Vincente Padilla to the Texas Rangers for Ricardo Rodriguez.  This trade appears to mark the beginning of reliever Ryan Madson's starting pitching role and leaves a small gap in the bullpen which could be filled by Braden Looper, who the Phillies are actively into.  But the pitching is weak and with a few question marks at the end of the rotation, the Phillies are going to need stellar years from Jon Lieber, Brett Myers and Cory Lidle to remain in the wild card chase.  Also, the bullpen is questionable with the inconsistent Rheal Cormier, the dreadfully inconsistent Geoff Geary and Gordon.  Julio Santana, who the Phillies recently signed, may add depth to this 'pen.  Will Gillick push the Phillies over the hump? 

Comments appreciated.