Trade Deadline

The daily routine begins around 3:30 p.m. Juan Pierre plays a short game of catch with Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin before stepping into the batting cage for a prolonged session of bunting practice. Mackanin is his pitcher. Target practice begins with bunts pushed to the right side of the field. A white bucket normally used to store baseballs serves as the desired landing spot. The 34-year outfielder lays down bunt after bunt after bunt while his teammates are still inside the air-conditioned clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park.

Ed Wade's perspective on last week's two ground-shaking trade deadline moves was unique. He was the general manager when the Phillies paid $50,000 for Shane Victorino in the Rule 5 draft in December 2004, a move that proved to be among the most important during the team's run of success that has at the very least stalled in 2012. He was also the general manager who sent Hunter Pence from the Houston Astros to the Phillies at last year's trade deadline, a transaction celebrated in Philadelphia as the piece that would lead to another parade down Broad Street.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was emphatic: Cliff Lee is going nowhere. On a day the Phillies traded righthander Joe Blanton to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named or cash (believed to be a player), reports surfaced that Lee was claimed off waivers. When asked about the reports, Amaro said he was not at liberty to comment. Then he added, "It is irrelevant because he is not going anywhere. " Jon Heyman of CBSsports.com reported that Lee was claimed off waivers, and Jon Morisi of Fox Sports tweeted that the Dodgers were the team that made the claim.

When he wasn't dealt by Tuesday's non-waiver trade deadline, righthander Joe Blanton thought he might be with the Phillies for the rest of the season. So when he heard Friday afternoon that he had been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named or cash, he had a natural reaction. "I was pretty shocked," Blanton said, talking to reporters in the Phillies dugout moments after hearing the news. The trade was made after the Dodgers claimed Blanton off waivers.

WITH THE PASSING of the trade deadline, we come now to the next annual baseball ritual for any underperforming team: the parsing of statements. (To be followed by the promise of better times ahead and the mailing of season-ticket brochures. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.) For several years, the Phillies had been a whatever-it-takes organization. They started with a homegrown base of players and added free agents liberally. They spent money in ways that no Phillies team ever had. But then came the most recent offseason, where they settled more and gambled more than ever during this run. They had a bad offensive team in 2011 and did nothing appreciable to fix it. They gambled on a super-optimistic timetable for Ryan Howard's return from an Achilles' injury.

The Texas Rangers won the Ryan Dempster sweepstakes, acquiring the Chicago Cubs ace for two minor leaguers moments before Tuesday's trade deadline. Kansas City reliever Jonathan Broxton also went from an also-ran to a contender, going to the Cincinnati Reds. Matt Garza and Josh Johnson stayed put for now as the window closed for clubs to make trades without having players pass through waivers. Four days after the AL West rival Los Angeles Angels acquired former Cy Young Award winner Zack Geinke, the Rangers obtained Dempster for infielder Christian Villanueva and pitcher Kyle Hendricks.

BASEBALL'S haves picked up more players from the have-nots at Tuesday's trade deadline, when Ryan Dempster was dealt from the Chicago Cubs to the Texas Rangers and Shane Victorino, Hunter Pence and Jonathan Broxton all wound up on new teams. Four days after the AL West rival Los Angeles Angels acquired former Cy Young Award winner Zack Geinke, the Rangers obtained Dempster for infielder Christian Villanueva and pitcher Kyle Hendricks. Texas also acquired catcher Geovany Soto from the Cubs for righthander Jake Brigham.

THAT THE PHILLIES dominated the national rumor mill on Monday is a good indication that Ruben Amaro Jr. made good use of his last full day before the non-waiver trade deadline. That Cliff Lee was the focus of many of those rumors is a good indication that the marketplace is a tough one. Four months into one of the most disappointing seasons in Phillies history, Amaro and his fellow executives are well aware of the glaring holes they must fill in order to enter 2013 with a chance at World Series contention.

So it was left for Ruben Amaro Jr. to turn off the colorful lanterns and close the pool on what has been the most successful stretch of baseball in Phillies franchise history. He didn't make everyone get out of the water, but not for lack of trying. Amaro unloaded Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence at the non-waiver trade deadline Tuesday, and reportedly tried hard to move a few others, including Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton, and Juan Pierre. Trading away two-thirds of the starting outfield effectively extinguished whatever false hope might have still flickered for the 2012 season and steered the team firmly into a full-scale transition period.

SOMEONE ASKED during an online chat on Monday whether Pat Gillick was still involved in the Phillies' decision making process. And I thought, "Oh yeah, whatever happened to that guy?" Gillick is still listed as a Phillies advisor, but the days of Ruben Amaro Jr. referencing him at major press conferences — like the one announcing the 6-year, $144 million contract extension for Cole Hamels — has passed. During extended question-and-answer sessions after the formal one from the podium that day, not once did any of the principals involved reference the former Phillies general manager.