I don't know whose call it was to take a flyer on the well-traveled lefty, but, man, does it smack of Pat. Freddy Garcia, Adam Eaton, Jayson Werth, J.C. Romero, Jamie Moyer - Pat plays the GM game like Fuzzy Zoeller used to play golf, whacking it into the woods one second, rescuing it another, chipping into the hole from the fringe for a birdie. When he's good, he seems like a wizard. When he's bad, he seems like a dunce. But there's no denying the record wherever he's been, or his knack for getting out before the structures he builds collapse from injury and age.
The Phillies are getting close to this. The first baseman in whom they've sunk $125 million for the next five seasons is rehabbing a surgically repaired Achilles' and is coming off his smallest home-run output. The second baseman who many believe is the real face and leader of the team, has, um, issues with his knees. The third baseman can't seem to stay healthy. Most of all, the two big arms at the top of the rotation are digging into their 30s and have thrown a ton of innings already.
But their time is not up. Their time is now, just as it was when they won 102 games last season. And the best evidence of that is Gillick is still on the job, still trying to help the Phillies with the little moves that so often are the difference between getting all the way there and getting oh-so-close.
As the Seattle GM in 2000, Gillick was forced to trade away disgruntled Ken Griffey Jr. Over the next two seasons, he added players like Mark McLemore, Stan Javier and Mike Cameron.
The Mariners made the ALCS two consecutive seasons. They won 116 games in 2001.
