As an update to this post, I found this ridiculous article in USA Today. It actually came out yesterday, but I only got around to reading it this morning.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/playoffs/2007-10-02-angels-redsox-watch_N.htm?csp=Daily%20Briefing

In it, Paul White, like me, concedes just about every advantage to the Red Sox. Lackey has been good, he writes, but “the entire Angels pitching staff was worked over by the Red Sox this season, a 6.04 team ERA in their 10 games.” The Angels don’t have a lot of power, especially with the injuries in their lineup.

Meanwhile, as he notes, the Red Sox do have power. The one issue that Boston has been struggling with, according to him, is a few late-season injuries. (Though it should be noted that I think Francona was being intentionally over-cautious with Youkilis and Ramirez, to rest them for the postseason.)Plus, he writes, Crisp was down with a virus during the last week of the season.

And yet….his prediction? “Angels in 5.” Because the CF had a sore throat? I don’t get it.

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For some historical perspective, the Angels have successfully gone from first to third on singles a ridiculous 531 times since 2003, 48 times more than the next best team in all of baseball (the St. Louis Cardinals), and 63 times more than the best AL team (which is, surprisingly enough, the New York Yankees).

There’s your one edge you were looking for to concede to the Angles.

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I do think some other things that might be worth looking at when evaluating the contribution each team’s speed to their offense would be how often they go from first to third on singles, how often they hit and run, and how successfully they hit and run.

One thing that you are always hearing about the Angles is that they go from first to third on singles more often than any other team, by a large margin. I’m not sure if that is really the case, but if it’s true, that would provide a huge jump in the chance of scoring runs, and would represent a significant speed-based advantage that can not be found just by looking at SB% alone.

If, as you suggest in your column, the Angels trail the Sox in almost every offensive category, yet are about even in runs, thats kind of a mystery, but maybe one that something like a preternatural ability to go from first to third might be able to explain. I haven’t done any research on this obviously, but it would be interesting to do some and see…

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I think I’ve said enough about this, but my point isn’t really: “Wade should have traded Floyd”. My point is just that I don’t think Wade deserves to get credit for “not mortgaging the future”, which is just a euphemism for “not doing anything”. That’s a good way to not end up looking like an idiot, but sometimes it can be the biggest mistake of all. If I was an Astros fan, I’d want a guy with some guts, a guy who’s willing to make a move that could backfire, but might also get you a World Series ring. That’s not Ed Wade.

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I mean, do you honestly think Ed Wade woulda made that Iguchi deal? Which might’ve just saved the Phils season, btw. If we tried to slide Abe Nunez into 2B & the 8 hole everyday, the Phils would be about 6 games out right now.

Hey, say what you want about Ed Wade, but he isn’t the “hustler” type. I wouldn’t exactly call him a go-getter. And Pat Gillick isn’t as much of an upgrade as I’d hoped, but at least he has 4 different teams on his speed dial that makes trades with him. Wade had ZERO.

Wade is, was, and always will be, a loser. I gare-on-tee it.

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Simple fact of the matter is that the point of every non-rebuilding season is to win a World Series. Wade’s teams never won a division or got past the sniffing butt stage with the playoffs. Just developing talent isn’t good enough, you have to put together a winner.

Adding to a legacy of not winning a damn thing, Wade left a barren future (one of the worst farm systems in the league), and all he is in Philly now is Pat Gillick’s excuse to lose. Not good enough.

Eff Wading. We want someone who can swim.

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And I’d also be a little wary of writing Floyd off. He’s still young and he’s been pitching well for the White Sox of late.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

While Floyd (1-4) is winless in his last four starts, the right-hander has put up good numbers, allowing just nine earned runs in that span for a 3.33 ERA.

”I like the way he’s thrown the last three outings, and hopefully he continues to do it,” manager Ozzie Guillen said.

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Trade deadline deals weren’t a crapshoot for the GM’s trading with Ed Wade. How about Curt Schilling for Omar Daal, Vicente Padilla, and Nelson Figueroa. Or Scott Rolen for Placido Polanco and Bud Smith. Those trades seemed to work out pretty well for the D-Backs and Cardinals. I don’t blame Wade for making them, he had to for financial reasons at the time, but the point is dealing prospects for established players often works.

And Wade gets credit for making the Phillies competitive again, but that was basically because he was allowed to raise the payroll. He made some good moves with that money (Thome) and some really bad ones (David Bell, the Lieberthal extension).

Wade wasn’t the worst GM ever, but he certainly wasn’t good.

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Maybe Wade was overly cautious. But it seems like trade dealine deals are such a crapshoot and they are almost never smart longterm decisions. One need only look at the Red Sox acquisition of Eric Gagne for the most recent example of a deadline deal gone horribly wrong.

And sure, Howard was blocked by Thome for a little while. But come on, you loved watching Thome play in Philly. Admit it. If you’re going to block a guy like Howard, at least it was with a stud like Thome.

And finally, if you’re going to forgive Gillick for making you watch J.D. Durbin, then you have to forgive Wade for making you watch Paul Abbot. Fair is fair.

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As for the argument that he didn’t mortgage the future. What about Gavin Floyd? Wade refused to trade him when his stock was sky-high and the kid never turned into anything. There’s probably other prospects that never became major leaguers that Wade could’ve traded and didn’t. The fact is he was overly cautious with the prospects. I will get down on my knees in thanks that he didn’t trade away Utley or Hamels, but maybe if he’d had the guts to pull the trigger on a deal at some point, they would’ve actually made the playoffs one of those years. Imagine packaging Gavin Floyd, once the Phils top prospect, for a major league stud that could have put the team over the hump?

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