Good Riddance Gillick

So Pat Gillick has announced that he will retire after the 2008 season. Presumably, he will declare "victory" should the Phillies managed to get into the post-season next week or next year.

It looks to many like Gillick is just getting out ahead of the scrutiny. Ironically, several friends and I were trading emails last week before the announcement debating whether Gillick should be fired.

Cause when you scratch just below the surface of this team and the GM's extraordinarily questionable moves, it appears that this team might make the playoffs not because of Gillick but in spite of him.

Seriously. Shouldn't Gillick be canned for the simple fact of thinking that Freddy Garcia or Adam Eaton were the preseason solutions to the Phillies pitching problems? I can, almost, understand taking a flyer on Garcia. But they signed Eaton to a 3-year $24 million contract that the Phils will be on the hook for until the year after Gillick leaves. Eaton's getting $8 million per for a 9-9 record and a 6.36 ERA?! He's quite possibly the worst starting pitcher in the National League
and/or all of baseball.

As my brother noted, "Gillick has to be accountable. [Besides the Garcia and Eaton debacles] add in Barajas and Helms as our starters and he's done a terrible job. Fortunately Dobbs and Ruiz have done a great job as has Werth the 2nd half of year. Barajas and Helms have been a HUGE waste of money. And Gillick has gotten lucky, very lucky, w/ Pat the Bat's production after trying to shop him all offseason. Burrell has been very good the past 2-3 months. Not exactly $15 million good, but he has produced like a major leaguer."

In some ways, the pitching injuries may have saved Gillick. Think about it. If Garcia had to pitch the entire year he might have worse numbers than Eaton. And then even more focus/criticism comes on Gillick for bringing in such a stiff.

With Lieber and Garcia hurt, Gillick is kind of protected by scrutiny cause the starting staff that is out there now is not the one that Gillick put together to start the season. that and everyone is just thrilled that Kendrick can go six innings and not get shelled.

The one savvy move I did like (other than keeping Moyer) was holding onto Lieber rather than trading him at the start of the season when he was odd man out of the rotation. That looked like a good move when all the injuries hit. I liked it as protection and I liked it as a trading chip down the road for bullpen help. Of course, with all the walking wounded that didn't pan out as planned.

Still, relying on Gordon (who did no one any favors by keeping his aching shoulder from LAST July a secret, thanks Tom!) and planning on bolstering your bullpen in mid season by making a trade was the plan all along? Ultimately capped by sticking your opening day starter in
the bullpen.

As my friend PK observed, "can anyone name a single thing in the Gillick Era that was a great move? I can't remember when they traded Thome for Rowand, because that was the last great move this organization made.

Bringing in Jamie Moyer was savvy, I'd say, since he's a guaranteed 14 wins or so and a guy who just pretty much will always keep his team in games; yeah, somtimes he gives up 5 runs in 7 innings, but then look at his last 2 starts: 7 innings, 2 runs; 6 innings, 1 run. Of course, this wasn't sheer briliance, just a nice move.

Otherwise, every critical player that's on the team now doing good-to-great things -- Howard, Utley, Rollins, Burrell, Victorino, Hamels, Myers -- was already in the organization.

All the injuries suffered to the rotation are brutal (who'd've thunk we'd miss Lieber this badly?) are not really Gillick's fault. But I tell you what is his fault, for sure: the bullpen. That bullpen was barren at the start of the season we had to take our No. 1 pitcher and put him there.

That's clearly Gillick's fault."

I would add that even the Thome-Rowand deal (and I can't recall if that was a Gillick move or not) but if it was, was one done in desperation as evidence by the

Phils paying SOOOO much of Thome's salary just to get him out of town.