http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastro...portedly-willing-and-expected-to-trade-pence/ Sounds like great news! They will get the most talent for Pence and it will really jump start the rebuilding.
He's definitely screwed up FA. I think he's done a marginal job, at best, with trades. Last year, after the Oswalt debacle, there were reports that other teams were willing to give much more and take on more salary, but Ed had his sights set on the Phillies. Is that true? don't know. But I can't think of any trade that I would say Ed won, while I can think of several i'd say he lost.
So which of those trades did he lose? I'd only say trading for Oscar Villarreal was bad, but losing Josh Anderson over really didn't matter.
Secondly, that article is from May of last year, before the 'stros were in full rebuild mode. The trade to acquire Lindstrom was a good trade, ultimately...but you couldn't have known that in May of last season. Futher, those trades that came last season and the ones that are coming this season are, in my mind, how Wade's tenure here will ultimately be judged.
I wouldn't say that Wade is terrible at trades. I think he's had his hands tied at times because the players he's traded (Lidge, Oswalt, Berkman) that had the most value were playing well below their value and other GM's just didn't want to give in. Opposing GM's knew Wade had to get something done and Wade ended up doing as best he could. That's why a Pence trade would be different. Pence is playing at an all time high and his value reflects it. If Pence is traded I do think Wade will not disappoint. As for signing players and building a team he's an absolute moron.
It's well-documented that Wade is terrible with FA decisions and not so hot at trades on the ML level. That said, for anyone who's paid attention, it's also very well-documented how good Wade is at overseeing the evaluation and accumulation of minor league talent. He is widely credited with building the system that produced the Phillies' WS champion roster. Even the day they clinched the title, their current GM credited Wade (pretty uncommon and classy move: "oh and kudos to my predecessor, who got fired, for building most of this for us"). Furthermore, Bobby Heck came to Houston with widely acknowledged accolades for building a bad Brewers system into a talent machine. So when those hirings were announced, I expected pretty much nothing good at the ML level for a couple years, but I looked forward to building up the farm. So far, so good. Not "awesome", but good.
I like Pence a lot, but it's better that they get a good return on him. Burn it down to the ground. Hopefully, we aren't sending him to Philly for 30 cents on the dollar.
His trades with Phillies weren't great, but he has done very good with the Astros. The great drafting that happened in Philly, I'm not sure has happened here. Wade handed out the 5 biggest signing bonuses in the Phillies history, and 3 of the top 4 for the Astros. It will take more time to evaluate his draft picks.
Really? First of all, you can't judge deals for prospects the following season. Villar is a good prospect. Wallace has had a good, but unspectacular first full season. J.A. Happ's sudden collapse has been painful though.
I mostly agree; I definitely think you deal Pence if the return is upper echelon. But man, oh man... people better brace themselves for some of the most anonymous baseball they've ever seen. You think MMP is empty now? Wait until there's literally not a soul left on the roster that the casual fan recognizes. I realize people don't think it can't get worse... but it can get worse. Much worse if they blow these deals.......... This is, right now, a remarkably key moment in the history of this franchise. It can either be the turning point or the point they sink into a endless pit of irrelevance. That's why the Pence deal *has* to be great. No trade for the sake of trade. Stick to your guns, negotiate against other teams and maximize the haul.
Last year I was happy about it, but Happ's collapse scares me and Wallace is on pace for under 10 HR's and about 50 RBI's at 1B. Villar may prove to be a solid defensive SS in the future, but I guess we'll have to see. Wade hasn't been killed in any trades, but you have to worry about a GM making trades who will likely not have any accountability for them next season when he's gone.
People have started to critic Wade a bit harshly on the Oswalt deal but everyone needs to remember that certain things handcuffed him. Oswalt demands a trade which killed a lot of the Wade's leverage, Oswalt had a no trade clause which made it very difficult to matchup with teams and he was demanding his option year be picked up before approving any trade. Wade didn't do awesome but it was fair and Wallace along with Villar are still really young and capable of growing into thier roles.
