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This is a template for a GM in a Box (like Bill James’ manager in a box).

I ran this in 2003 for Ed Wade following the 2002 off-season.

Year of Birth:

1957

Years as GM:

Beginning Sixth Season. Hired during 1997-1998 off-season.

Influences:

He has worked in the Phillies organization since 1977,
starting as a PR intern in 1977 and then moving on to an assistant to
the GM in 1989 and then Assistant GM in 1994. Presumably Dallas Green
made quite an impression has he has hired him as a special assistant
to the GM. Likewise, former GM Paul Owens serves as a special
assistant. The Phillies cling to their 1980 World Series championship
like I hang on to old baseball guides, so it shouldn’t be surprising
that the GM and Manager of that magical 1980 season are still on the
payroll. Ruben Amaro, Jr. serves as his current assistant and Mike
Arbuckle is entering his tenth year as the Director of Scouting.

Characteristics as a player:

Never played as a major leaguer.

Management background:

Worked as an assistant GM for eight years
before being promoted to GM. He is not listed as a scout from 1977 to
1989, so it appears he came up through the business end of the
operation.

Record as GM and Finishes:

1998 75-87 3rd

1999 77-85 3rd

2000 65-97 5th

2001 86-76 2nd

2002 80-81 3rd

————–

    383-426

Team’s Age: Batting/Pitching

1998   27.1/29.3

1999   28.2/28.3

2000   28.6/28.7

2001   26.9/28.9

2002   27.5/28.5

As we’ll see, Wade appears to rely on more veteran pitchers (at least
in the pen) and then goes with younger starters and position players.
The 2001 lineup was the youngest in the National League.

The circumstances of his hiring:

On December 9th, 1997, Philadelphia Phillies president David
Montgomery fired Lee Thomas. Ed Wade, Thomas’ assistant, become acting
general manager with full responsibility for running the team’s
baseball operations and was then promoted to GM and VP on March 24th,
1998.
ARI

What were his biggest trades?

Wade has had to make a pair of blockbuster trades during his tenure.
These have involved disgruntled stars who didn’t feel that the
Phillies were spending enough to compete.

Traded Curt Schilling to the Diamondbacks for Omar Daal, Travis Lee,
Vincente Padilla and Nelson Figueroa.

Traded Scott Rolen, Doug Nickle and Cash to the Cardinals for Placido
Polanco, Bud Smith, and Mike Timlin.

In both cases, the players in question were not happy about being
there. It also didn’t appear that the Phillies made much of an effort
to sign either player to a longer deal.

Also, in both cases it appears that Wade lost the trades. Schilling
has pitched 613 innings with a 3.20 ERA and has gone 50-19 since his
trade. Padilla has been pretty good, making an All-Star team, winning
19 games, and pitching 270 IP at a 3.63 ERA. Daal was traded after
the 2001 season, but threw 257 innings at a 4.52 ERA (15-16).
Figueroa threw a nice 89 innings in 2001, and then moved on. And
rather than replacing Rico Brogna, Travis Lee turned into him, hitting
a mediocre .258/.343/.402 in 1400 plate appearances, though he
delighted booing Phillies fans with his nimble play around the sack.
He’ll be anchoring the Devil Rays lineup this year.

Bud Smith has gone down to an injury and Mike Timlin has left via free
agency, so all they have to show for Scott Rolen is a .296/.333/.390
career hitter (Placido Polanco) and a lot of extra cash.

What was his best trade?

I’d probably say Robert Person (38-24, 606 IP, 4.23 ERA, though
the last year cost them $6.2m) for Paul Spoljaric (71 IP and out of
the majors for two years). The fans in the 700 level were able to
trot out a “Person’s People” sign (to go along with “Padilla Flotilla”
and the “Wolf Pack”) after struggling mightily to come up with
anything catchy for Spoljaric.

…back 1 page
Montgomery fired Lee Thomas. Ed Wade, Thomas’ assistant, become acting
general manager with full responsibility for running the team’s
baseball operations and was then promoted to GM and VP on March 24th,
1998.
ARI

What were his biggest trades?

Wade has had to make a pair of blockbuster trades during his tenure.
These have involved disgruntled stars who didn’t feel that the
Phillies were spending enough to compete.

Traded Curt Schilling to the Diamondbacks for Omar Daal, Travis Lee,
Vincente Padilla and Nelson Figueroa.

Traded Scott Rolen, Doug Nickle and Cash to the Cardinals for Placido
Polanco, Bud Smith, and Mike Timlin.

In both cases, the players in question were not happy about being
there. It also didn’t appear that the Phillies made much of an effort
to sign either player to a longer deal.

Also, in both cases it appears that Wade lost the trades. Schilling
has pitched 613 innings with a 3.20 ERA and has gone 50-19 since his
trade. Padilla has been pretty good, making an All-Star team, winning
19 games, and pitching 270 IP at a 3.63 ERA. Daal was traded after
the 2001 season, but threw 257 innings at a 4.52 ERA (15-16).
Figueroa threw a nice 89 innings in 2001, and then moved on. And
rather than replacing Rico Brogna, Travis Lee turned into him, hitting
a mediocre .258/.343/.402 in 1400 plate appearances, though he
delighted booing Phillies fans with his nimble play around the sack.
He’ll be anchoring the Devil Rays lineup this year.

Bud Smith has gone down to an injury and Mike Timlin has left via free
agency, so all they have to show for Scott Rolen is a .296/.333/.390
career hitter (Placido Polanco) and a lot of extra cash.

What was his best trade?

I’d probably say Robert Person (38-24, 606 IP, 4.23 ERA, though
the last year cost them $6.2m) for Paul Spoljaric (71 IP and out of
the majors for two years). The fans in the 700 level were able to
trot out a “Person’s People” sign (to go along with “Padilla Flotilla”
and the “Wolf Pack”) after struggling mightily to come up with
anything catchy for Spoljaric.

You may laugh, but trading Doug Glanville for Mickey Morandini was
in and of itself a good move. Sticking with Glanville as long as he
did was not such a good move.

You probably want to know where Jeremy Giambi is. Given how little
playing time he got, I’m not going to put him here. It is also too
early to say on Millwood.

What was his worst trade?

It’s hard to say, there haven’t been any really atrocious trades.
Based on just 2002, Jose Santiago for Paul Byrd wasn’t a good move,
though the Phillies have a lot of starting pitching on the way.

Andy Ashby for Carlton Loewer, Steve Montgomery and Adam Eaton
didn’t really work out for anyone. But then again neither did Andy
Ashby for Jimmy Osting and Bruce Chen.

Did he try to solve problems with minor leaguers from his roster or
major leaguers from other rosters?

If you look at the position players, they do seem to bring guys up
from the minors to patch holes or work as backups. Guys like Eric
Valent, David Doster, Kevin Sefcik, Johnny Estrada, Kevin Jordan. The
2002 Phillies have five homegrown positional starters, the 1998
Phillies had two.

On the pitching side, Wade has used more homegrown starters (Wolf,
Duckworth, Myers), and foreign grown relievers (Mesa, Cormier,
Plesac). Six of the top ten in starts in his tenure are local and
three of the top ten in relief appearances are locally grown.

Did any prospects he traded away exceed expectations?

Nope, Bobby Estalella and Wendell Magee might have some value, but
they are essentially replacement level.

Did he accurately gauge the ability of his club to compete when making moves?

Not really, the 2000 team flamed out badly after he acquired Andy
Ashby as the big off-season pickup. He quickly cut bait and got Bruce
Chen, a leading prospect at the time.

The 2001 team won 86 games, but Wade added only minor parts (Rickey
Ledee, John Mabry) during the off-season and the team backslid to 80
wins. To some degree his hands were tied as they wanted to play
Rollins and Anderson up the middle, and the big contract he gave to
Doug Glanville made him unmovable like an obese dwarven warrior
wearing chainmail and plate armor.

Did he acquire players undervalued by their current franchise?

Mr. Jeremy Giambi, who of course, was moved along for what John Mabry
was probably worth.

Does he draft college or high school talent?

Scouting director Mike Arbuckle has been on the job nearly ten
years, so I’m uncertain as to how much impact Wade has on this area of
the team. Regardless, Baseball America has consistently viewed the
Phillies minor league system as strong.

If you look at the last five drafts here are how the top three rounds break down.

HS Pitchers: 6 (Brett Myers)

HS Position: 3

College Pitchers:

College Position: 4 (Pat Burrell, Eric Valent)

They’ve also lot picks for signing Jose Mesa (Lazaro Abreu), Rheal
Cormier (Kelly Shoppach), and Mike Jackson (Derek Thompson).

Has he acquired any significant foreign talent?

The Phillies have been working on expanding their foreign
signings. Carlos Silva provided 84 very good innings. The lower you
look in their system the more foreign born prospects you see.

What are the largest contracts he has given out?

The Phillies are clearly anticipating a big revenue jump from the
new stadium. They have always been accused (with good reason) of
being a cheap franchise. They’ve emptied the bank this offseason.

Bobby Abreu - 2002 off-season - 5 years/$64m

Jim Thome - 2003 off-season - 6 years/$85m

Mike Lieberthal - 2002 - 3 years/$22m

Randy Wolf - 2003 off-season - 4 years/$22.5m

Pat Burrell - 2003 off-season - 6 years/$50m

David Bell - 2003 off-season - 4 years/$17m

Jose Mesa - 2002 - 1 year/$4.75m

Has he found any significant help on the waiver wire, through the
Rule V draft, or with minor league free agents?

This year’s Non-roster-invitee list doesn’t appear to have any Ken
Phelps All-Stars on it. Likewise, the 40-man roster is mostly
big-time free agent acquisitions or Phillies’ farmhands.

In 1998, Paul Byrd was claimed off waivers. In 2000, Brian Hunter
(the slow one) was claimed off waivers, again from Atlanta. They
released Tony Fiore and Billy McMillon, who are useful. Steve Sparks
was briefly in their system as well. This year, they lost 3B Travis
Chapman in the Rule V draft (to the Tigers) who hit .301/.388/.473 in
AA, which may be hard to take after three years of David Bell.

Is he an innovator in any way?

Not that I can see.