GM Wade helps his former team by dealing closer Lidge to Phils, reality show not too far off

by Mark Downing

The ghost of Ed Wade has made its return to Philadelphia. Lucky for us, he’s friendlier than Casper. The former Phillies and current Astros GM pulled off a head-scratching five-player move on Wednesday that brought reliever Brad Lidge and reserve infielder Eric Bruntlett to Philadelphia.


Phillies new closer Brad Lidge looks like he wants to kill someone here. And that's exactly the type of personality the Phils need to take the next step.

In return, Houston received a box of baseballs, formally named Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary and Matt Costanza. In Lidge, the Phillies gain the services of a proven closer. In Bourn, the Astros receive a player with blazing speed but a suspect bat and inability to play everyday. Geary is a sometimes-shaky reliever with below average stuff and Costanza is a former second round pick who is projected to be a bench player at best.

There have been questions about Lidge ever since he gave up a homer to Albert Pujols in game five of the 2005 NLCS. The following season he posted a disastrous 5.28 ERA and blew six saves. In 2007, he lost his closer role to Dan Wheeler only one week into the season. With trade speculation swirling, Lidge found his mojo again, regaining his job in June, holding opponents to a .218 average and striking out 88 in only 67 innings. Many times, a change of scenery is just what a player needs, and the Phillies hope that this rings true with Lidge. The other affect of the acquisition is the ability to move Brett Myers back into a starting rotation that hampered the Phillies much of last season.

With this being said, one must ask, “Why does Ed Wade have a job?” With the importance of relief pitching ever increasing and the weak arms of the 2007 free agent crop, Wade seems to have severely underestimated the market for a closer. Mariano Rivera, the gem of this year’s relievers will most likely resign for a mint with the Yankees. That leaves Francisco Cordero, who will have teams lining up to overpay him for his career 44-save 2007 campaign. The Phillies seem to have come out the huge winners in this deal, filling a much-needed hole while giving up next to nothing. This gives me an idea…

“GM for a Year” sponsored by 2K Sports. Players from around the country will compete to build a World Series-winning team using the franchise mode of MLB 2K7. After the finalists are thrown into a Winnebago, America votes one off one by one and a reality show is shot. A winner will emerge. This winner will be given the opportunity to be the GM of a small market team such as Baltimore, Pittsburgh or Cincinnati, while the GM they replaced is forced to manage a Burger King in Oklahoma City. And BAM, two more reality shows are born. In the pilot episode, Ed Wade trades his best grill man and future applicants for a Dominican prospect that reportedly assembles 20 burgers a minute.