Ed Wade redux

Ed Wade must feel as if he's back in Philadelphia with all the criticism he's getting for his recent signings.

His signing of Brandon Lyon - who was part of the infamous 2003 Red Sox closer-by-committee experiment before being trading for Curt Schilling - has been already called the worst contract of the offseason by statheads.

I'm one of those people who doesn't really enjoy Saturday Night Live sketches, because to me, the joke is made in the first 15 seconds and then just repeated over and over for the next several minutes. You drive a Dodge Stratus and you think that makes you important – okay. Not much funnier the 15th time you yell it. Not to me, anyway.

Ed Wade is the GM equivalent of a bad SNL sketch. The first time he overpaid a middle reliever, we figured out that he didn't really know how to build a roster. Now, when he gives Brandon Lyon a 3 year, $15 million deal, we just shrug our shoulders and say, "Yeah, that's Ed Wade for ya."

Seriously, $5 million a year for the next three years for Brandon Lyon. We're not talking about overpaying for a premium bullpen guy. Lyon is a generic middle reliever, the kind of guy who could be replaced by a minor league free agent or a Rule 5 draftee.

Even general managers agree with that assessment:

Two different GMs were aghast to hear the Astros are paying $15 million over three years to reliever Brandon Lyon. Both of them had to have the numbers repeated to them twice, thinking surely they had misheard what will be one of the worst contracts of the winter.

Although, you have to wonder what the reaction would have been if Ruben Amaro had acquired Lyon as he wanted:

"We were in there pretty deep," he said. "Ed [Wade] stole him from us."

Wade also got ripped for signing former Phillie Pedro Feliz:

Addressing the hole at third base is a good idea for Houston, but you don't address a hole by filling it with air. You already have plenty of air; why bother paying money to import premium air from Philadelphia?

Christine thinks Wade is just targeting players other teams want because the Orioles had been interested in Feliz.

I can't disagree with the critics, but urge a moment of caution because even though he was pretty much hated at the end of his tenure in Philadelphia, without his work, Phillies Sunday packages would probably be available all winter.

While Wade was GM, the Phillies drafted Pat Burrell, Brett Myers, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels and, as Wikipedia reminded me, shrewdly hired Charlie Manuel as manager despite the fans' clamoring for Jim Leyland. Do you think 2008 would have happened without those guys?

All I'm saying is, give the guy a chance. He proved his mettle in Philadelphia, even if it took a little longer than the fans (including Christine and me) and the organization wanted to wait.

SoxandPhilsandStros: The following former Red Sox and/or Phillies are on the Astros roster right now - Lyon, Feliz, Gary Majewski, Chris Shelton and Michael Bourn. And, of course, they will be managed by Brad Mills.

Change the channel

Recently, Ed Wade told reporters he didn't watch the 2008 World Series won by a Phillies team that he largely assembled:

I was actually sleeping when they clinched, and when Pat [Gillick] said the nice things about me I was sound asleep and my phone started beeping text messages and I found out the next day what he said about me, which was extremely gratifying.

Interestingly, he also said the team could have won in 2005 if Cole Hamels - who entered the year as a 21-year-old with a grand total of 117 innings in A ball - were available to replace an injured Randy Wolf at the end of the year.

I tell people if Cole hadn't broken his hand at the pool room he probably would have been up at some point during the season when [Randy] Wolf got hurt and things might have been different. I'm happy we did things the right way and sorry that it took so long to get there.

Thanks, Ed. I needed a reminder of why the Phillies never won with you around.

Changing the game: Although Hamels wasn't a game-changer in 2005, he most certainly was in 2008. Just don't those involved in the major leagues who apparently changed the channel in October, or like Ed Wade, were asleep on their couches.

In today's column, Nick Cafardo asked baseball people to list the sport's biggest game changer. After last year's dominant playoffs, I wondered how high young Cole would rank. I kept reading ... and reading ... and reading ... finally ...

Those who received honorable mention: Florida's Hanley Ramirez; Boston's Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz (who would have been high on this list two years ago), and Jonathan Papelbon; Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki; Philadelphia's Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Cole Hamels [...]

What? Baseball is a team sport, but the guy carried his team to World Series glory last year. If Johan Santana, David Wright and Jose Reyes, who rank three, five and eight, are so great, how come they couldn't have changed the Mets from chokers to the playoffs? Perhaps because of this:

Conspicuous by their absences: Yankees Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter, and Mets five-tool star Carlos Beltran, who in the words of one scout "doesn't want to be great." Also unmentioned were Sox pitcher Josh Beckett and Washington's Adam Dunn.

Change the channel - I've seen this before: I'm getting tired of talking about Manny Ramirez, but it seems we finally found his replacement in David Ortiz, if we're talking about whom is the Red Sox star most likely to fight with Kevin Youkilis. Also from today's column:

As for the Sox lineup, all winter David Ortiz has talked about adding another power hitter, making references to the fact that he's not as protected in the lineup. It has almost come off as a slap against Youkilis, the guy who hit behind Ortiz in the lineup most often after Manny Ramírez was traded to the Dodgers.

Asked whether he was worried about the offense, Youkilis said, "No. There's only one guy on the team who feels we need more. I don't know why he thinks that or whether he's brought that up again.

"I guess he feels that way and he's entitled to that. I like our team. I like every hitter in our lineup.

"Three through seven - and even Pedey [Dustin Pedroia] at two - can hit 20 [home runs]. To have 20 or more from 2-7? It's amazing that someone is going to hit seventh.

"You've got J.D. [Drew] and Jason Bay and me. Somebody is going to hit seventh. Tito [Terry Francona] might as well put the names in a bag every day and pick out 4-7.

"We all can hit fourth, we all can hit seventh, and we can all drive in runs. I hit seventh last year. Jason Bay hits 30 and drives in 100. I don't know what the complaint is there, but I love our team. I love our lineup."

Must-see TV: Recently during the World Baseball Classic, I heard Rick Sutcliffe proclaim Jimmy Rollins baseball's best dancer. Today Cafardo drops: "I think Jacoby Ellsbury would win Dancing With The Stars."

Three words: SoxandPhils dance off.

Pre-game jitters

At this time last year, I thought the Red Sox would win the World Series and the Phillies could get there. I'm not feeling as strong this year. I think either squad could get there - and the odds are probably better than 25 percent that one will be in the big dance - but something is wrong inside of me.

I don't think it's the questionable status of the Red Sox's ace Josh Beckett, World Series MVP Mike Lowell, All-Star Game MVP J.D. Drew or venerable Phillie Pat Burrell - especially since both teams have gotten this far with little showing from these players except for Drew and Burrell in the first half.

Maybe it's just that this is the year - with the Rays and Brewers in the playoffs while the Yankees and Mets watch - that truly anything can happen.

It will be easier watching the Red Sox - despite the late-night starts - because of their past success and the fact that they're physically falling apart right now. But never doubt the heart of a champion. They may take five, but look for them to squeak past the Angels.

Last year, the Phillies were the patient hunter stalking its prey all season, but lost all control in the playoffs and looked inexperienced and over-matched against the Colorado Rockies. They stalked the Mets down again this year, and I've got to hope - if for nothing else than Christine's sanity - that they've learned to be patient this year. I don't know how confident I would be if/when they play the Cubs, but I see no reason for them not to end CC Sabathia's storybook season in four.

Other series: Rays over White Sox in five; Cubs over Dodgers in three.

Christine's picks: Brewers vs. Phillies: Phillies, no doubt.

Dodgers vs. Cubs: Cubs. The Phils can handle them. And on a selfish note, there's no way I can deal with 10 p.m. game times right now. But, the playoff schedule for a Dodgers series is more conducive to my schedule ... OK, I have no idea and no preference. The winner will be irrelevant in two weeks anyway.

White Sox vs. Rays: Rays. White Sox are going to be wiped after the past two days. Some might think they'll be riding the wave, but I think they'll be too spent.

Red Sox vs. Angels: The last time I made a prediction involving the Red Sox, I picked them to win the division, even though my gut said to go with the Rays - if for no other reason than I didn't want to pick the Sox or Yankees. But this time, I'm going with the gut - Angels. Sorry, Greg.

Other tidbits: In what is hopefully a prelude to Dustin MVPedroia, Charlie M-anager of the Year-anuel and Ryan "Two-time" Howard, Brad Lidge is Comeback Player of the Year. Congrats, I guess, but I didn't think his 2007 was that bad. The one thing I noticed is that he trimmed 140 points off his opponents slugging percentage. His minuscule .269 was the lowest of his career. Only the .290 he posted in 2004 compares.

Kyle Loshe finally got the big contract he wanted last year - four years, $41 million. Much better than getting ready to pitch in the playoffs, I bet.

And, they used to say the expectation to win in New York is unbearable. That's no longer true. Both New York GMs got big contracts as reward for failing to make the playoffs. Ed Wade could have been very rich in that city.

Tomorrow's action: Let's hope young Cole Hamels can quickly dispatch the Brewers so we can post about our second experience ever at a playoff game before Jon Lester takes the hill in Anaheim.

Random story from last year's playoff game ... after it ended, Christine and our friend wanted to get something from the Majestic Clubhouse Store. I chose to go to the bathroom and got out before they did. My eyes were dry, so I gave them a shot of Visine. Some drunk girl thought I was crying. I couldn't convince her I wasn't. She hugged me. I tried to push her away. Very weird. {There will be no tears tomorrow. And I'll keep the drunk girls away from Greg.}

Wake wins battle of the aged; Cholly mixes things up

In the battle of the 40-somethings, Tim Wakefield outdueled Randy Johnson. It was much closer than the 5-0 final. I actually got to see the ESPN Red Sox broadcast and Wake's knuckleball flutter past the Diamondbacks, giving up only two hits and a walk in seven innings. The Big Unit gave up two runs in six innings before Kevin Cash hit a three-run homer off Juan Cruz.

And, honestly, we weren't thinking about our fantasy team when Craig Hansen loaded the bases in the 9th, setting up a save for Jonathan Papelbon.

Off the field, however, the focus was on the two biggest names on the DL for the Sox: Curt Schilling may not be done, and David Ortiz relived his T-ball days.

In Phillyland, Charlie Manual might want his slumping bats to go back to T-ball to get reacquainted with that strange little white orb that's baffled them lately:

We've got guys not hitting. I mean swinging bad. Swinging at balls in the dirt. Chasing balls over their heads. It looks like they've never seen a baseball. Really. They can go back to square one and think about what they've always done. And that's be aggressive, but at the same time be patient enough to get good balls to hit. That right there is how we're going to come out of it.

His theory tonight: Pick a lineup out of a hat.
1. Jayson Werth, RF
2. Chase Utley, 2B
3. Jimmy Rollins, SS
4. Pat Burrell, LF
5. Ryan Howard, DH
6. Pedro Feliz, 3B
7. Shane Victorino, CF
8. Chris Coste, C
9. Erick Bruntlett, 1B.

So far, it's working. The Phils are leading the A's 2-0 in the 4th. My alarm clock is set to WIP; I'm sure Angelo Cataldi will greet me in the morning with how they blew it.

And, breaking news: Shawn Chacon beat up Ed Wade.