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.

Oh, the Detroit Lions franchise, mired in controversy and rebellion.  It must be a tough time for the Lions, your "franchise" quarterback has made decisions that might have made Tommy Maddox look like Tom Brady.  Your "franchise" running back has been average but injured for nearly half of the season.  On top of that your 3 "franchise" wide recievers that you have wasted the last 3 first-round picks on, have been hurt or in another world.  Oh yeah, how could I forget that your GM has not yet given the fans a team that might contend in one of the weaker divisions of the league.  But, it's funny that through all of these wide receivers, there is a bright spot and he was not a first-round pick.  Meet Scottie Vines, #10, Wide Reciever for the Detroit Lions.

Scottie who?  Well every player needs a story and here is a quick bio on Scottie Vines.  Vines is entering his 2nd season in the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Wyoming.  Vines, at 6'1, was coming from a small school and at his height, he was at a disadvantage and did not get drafted.  Vines has been the Lions "split-end" reciever for the last few games as former first-round picks Charles Rogers and Mike Williams have been inconsistent and in Rogers case, suspended and seldomly-used (remember David Terrell?).  Last year he was behind Roy Williams, Rogers, Kevin Johnson, Tai Streets and Az-Zahir Hakim on the depth chart and had a total of 3 catches in 2004.  With Streets and Hakim's departure from the Lions, Vines was set for a season where he had a chance in the slot but with the risky drafting of former USC standout Mike Williams, Vines dropped down a notch on the depth chart.  But with injuries to both Williams and Kevin Johnson and a suspension to Rogers, Vines has emerged as one of the more reliable targets in the Motor City. 

Yes, Vines is not a Pro-Bowl reciever or a contender for MVP but given the opportunity, Detroit fans should be proud that he is still fighting.  Word is that the Lions are trying to get back some of Rogers salary and that could figure into a possible release.  Roy Williams is their best reciever and rightfully so but with the lack of depth and Mike Williams also looking questionable, don't be shocked if Vines can get that first TD (he has 32 receptions so far) and a good 3rd-year, the typical coming out of a reciever.

This is my first article, my name is Joe and I am 14, comments appreciated.