THE GILLICK EFFECT (Phillies Nov 11)

November 11, 2009 · philliesmania · Jump to comments

It is hard to believe and refreshing at the same time. But the Phillies attitude toward winning is clearly matured. Don’t get me wrong I have always felt that Bill Giles and Dave Montgomery had a sincere desire to win. It appeared that they had the support of the team of other owners also.

But as long as I have been around there has always been that gray area between financial limitations and the ability to make moves. Frankly most teams not called the New York Yankees have fiscal restraints. And honestly just spending money is not the answer. The Yankees, for the most part, do more than just pay a lot of money. they also have good scouting and personnel decision makers.

The Phillies for years have had a budget but also have had people who quite frankly did not know how to spend it wisely. Lee Thomas repeatedly tried to find lightning in a bottle by bringing in has beens or injury reclamation projects. He also overpaid for them. Or he would make super stars out of middle of the road to above average players and over pay them. Which, okay, sometimes you will overpay some for an occasional need. But that should be to fill a hole not try and make that player the big splash .

Take Greg Jeffries for a perfect example of the Lee Thomas effect. Jeffries was a solid MLB player who had some stellar years at the plate. He had 3 .320+ batting average years topping out at .342 as a high with the Cardinals. As he was winding his career down Thomas brought him in because the cream of the crop was making $8 – $10 million and Jeffries could be had for $5 million average. He signed a 4 year $20 million in 1995. He mad $3 mill ‘95, $5.5 mill ‘96 and ‘97, $6 mill in ‘98. This was the Lee Thomas effect. Note: He surprisingly did get a World Series appearance in 1993.

Then Ed Wade. He was another one who tried to save money by presto change-o. He doesn’t know personnel and he was a favorite among other league GM’s to give nothing for less than nothing. And when he had something to trade he got nothing in return. His shining moment of that was the Curt Shilling debacle.

He traded a proven starter on the rise in Shilling, to Arizona for Vincente Padilla, Omar Daal, Travis Lee, and Nelson Figueroa! Need I say more? This was the Wade effect.

Finally the Phillies brought in Pat Gillick. The same Gillick that built Toronto into a 2 time World Series champ and had built some nice Seattle teams. Hey Gillick has made his share of mistakes but what he does consistently is bring an attitude. “Never say never!”

He convinced the Phillies to rethink their minor league approach and scouting so that you can bring young stars up or have something that someone else really wants. Then he taught the Phillies that you can have a budget but you have to work contracts and get value for cost. It’s not bad to pay a guy if he will bring that value. Don’t try and make a $ 5 million player a $10 million player and don’t pay $15 million for a $10 million player. PERSONNEL and TALENT SPOTTING abilitity is a must!

Ironically Reuben Amaro Jr learned under Wade and Gillick. He actually played for a few years during the Lee Thomas reign. According to Amaro Jr Wade taught him the business side of being a GM. Not so much the trades and contracts but the big picture stuff like operations and the like. Gillick taught him all the baseball stuff.

This has been the Gillick effect. Amaro Jr has learned that winning the World Series is the goal not being competitive and hoping a Series run comes out of that. He learned to have reliable people running the farm and scouting. He learned that you figure out a way to get your guy or die trying. And you can still stay within a reasonable budget. He also learned that you make money WINNING!

As a result you saw Amaro get Cliff Lee. You saw him go after Roy Halliday and set a benchmark. Thus you hear that the Phillies are STILL talking to Toronto about Halliday. Amaro is not backing down and is trying to make something work and yet keeping what he thinks the team needs to keep.

Yes the Gillick effect has engulfed Amaro Jr and has caught the attention of the Phillies ownership. They like have 3,000,000 fans come through the gates and want to see the team on TV and listen on the radio. All these things are money makers! And who doesn’t get the bug to win once you experience the warm and fuzzy feeling of winning?