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Sporting News, The, Feb 4, 2005 by Ken Rosenthal

The A's had it all figured out. They would deal righthander Tim Hudson or lefthander Mark Mulder to the Phillies. They would acquire second baseman Chase Utley, righthanded reliever Ryan Madson and one other player. They would make the trade they had wanted all along.

Alas, the Phillies wouldn't bite.

It was a defining moment for Phillies general manager Ed Wade, a moment that either will prove testament to his patience or stand as additional evidence against a G.M. who has stumbled at the July 31 nonwaiver trading deadline the past two years.

Wade is more aggressive than restless Phillies fans would have you believe, but as he enters his eighth season, the pressure on him is mounting. He didn't sign a Jim Thome this offseason, didn't trade for an Eric Milton or a Billy Wagner. His modest moves should improve the team, but maybe not enough for the Phillies to reach the postseason or for him to save his job.

Hudson landed with the Braves, the Phillies' biggest division rivals. Mulder wound up with the Cardinals, the defending National League champions. And, in case you missed it, Pedro Martinez signed with the Mets, another of the Phillies' division rivals.

By comparison, Wade's reconstruction of the Phillies' rotation is a yawner.

Free-agent righthander Cory Lidle is back. Free-agent righthander Jon Lieber replaces Milton, a lefthander who signed with the Reds. Neither Lidle nor Lieber qualifies as an ace, but their ground-ball styles should be well-suited to Citizens Bank Park, which in its inaugural season had the fifth-highest home run rate in the majors.

Those signings--combined with the hiring of new manager Charlie Manuel and the trade for center fielder Kenny Lofton--should help the Phillies contend. But the balance of power in the N.L. has shifted from the Central to the East. Chances are, July 31 again will loom large for Wade.

In 2003, Wade's only deadline acquisition was Mike Williams, a fading reliever. Last year, Wade picked up relievers Felix Rodriguez and Todd Jones on July 30, then added Lidle in a waiver deal in August. But the team needed a center fielder and more dominant starting pitching, not to mention a replacement for manager Larry Bowa.

As it turned out, the Phillies finished in second place, 10 games behind the Braves and six behind the wild-card Astros. With all their injuries, a major trade might not have made a difference, though Wade was in contact with the Astros when it appeared they might dump Carlos Beltran.

Wade isn't afraid to trade young players--he parted with six for Milton and Wagner, then six more (plus outfielder Ricky Ledee) in his deals for Rodriguez, Jones and Lidle. But he won't part with the two gems of his farm system, righthander Gavin Floyd and lefthander Cole Hamels. And Wade is equally adamant about keeping Utley, who hit 13 homers in 267 at-bats, and Madson, who as a rookie led the team with a 2.34 ERA.

"We have to be in a position to get good and stay good," Wade says. "The reason other clubs have such interest in our upper-echelon players is the same reason we like them so much. They're talented players who can fill front-line positions for us."

No doubt, Hudson or Mulder would have been an ideal fit; both rank among the game's leading ground-ball specialists. But Hudson missed nearly six weeks last season because of an oblique strain, and he's a free agent after this season. Mulder, meanwhile, never would have become available if he had pitched as well in the second half of last season as he did in the first.

The Phillies had the game's fifth-highest payroll last season at $92.3 million, but the debt they owe on their new park forces them to operate judiciously. They're currently over budget, thanks to the surprising return of second baseman Placido Polanco, who accepted arbitration and signed for $4.6 million to sit behind Utley. But Wade says the Phillies will be in position to add players at the deadline, and minor league slugger Ryan Howard figures to be their principal chip.

There's such a thing as being too careful when protecting your assets; ask Pat Gillick, who hoarded young pitching as G.M. of the Mariners but failed to win a World Series. Some general managers make like David Spade in his Capital One commercials, saying "no" to every proposition. Wade doesn't fit that mold, but come July 31, he might need to summon a new burst of courage and creativity. No one will want to hear excuses, valid as they might be. To save his job, he might need to say "yes."

(S) Get more analysis from Ken Rosenthal at msn.foxsports.com, keyword: MLB.

Phillies can't afford another spate of injuries

For the Phillies to contend, they will need greater contributions from four players who missed significant time last season because of injuries:

* Lefthanded starting pitcher Randy Wolf. He had a 2.91 ERA last June 2, but after two trips to the disabled list with elbow tendinitis, he finished with only 23 starts, a 5-8 record and a 4.28 ERA.

* Righthanded starting pitcher Vicente Padilla. Coming off back-to-back 14-victory, sub-3.65 ERA seasons, he was sidelined more than two months with elbow tendinitis and finished 7-7 overall.