No thanks to Steve Finley

Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make. Here's one Ed Wade got right.

A year ago, the name on everyone’s lips was Steve Finley, the 39-year-old center fielder who hit 36 home runs between Arizona and Los Angeles. The soon-to-be free agent was considered by some the most attainable marquee position player on the market that could fill a need area for the Phillies.

I remember posting Finley updates myself – whether or not he was open to playing on the east coast, whether the Phillies were in contact with him, etc. Finley was courted by several other teams, including the Giants, Padres and Tigers, all pursuing him harder than the Phils.

Eventually, he signed a two-year deal with Anaheim worth between $15 and $20 million.

Well, the Angels are in the ALCS, no thanks to Steve. So far, the pile of money has gone toward an oft-injured .222 hitter, who hit 12 home runs and lost his starting position in late August. He has one year remaining on the contract and already stated he has no intention of retiring.

So far in the postseason, Finley is 2-14 with no extra base hits and didn’t play in yesterday’s win.

Good FA pitcher passes: Eric Milton, Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright. Players they could have had but did not pursue, and stank anyway: Paul Wilson, Russ Ortiz, Jose Lima, Al Leiter. Maybe could have helped, maybe not: David Wells, Brad Radke, Matt Clement, Derek Lowe. Missed opportunity on the cheap: Esteban Loaiza. Good short-term value, but fans would have had a fit: Paul Byrd, Kevin Millwood.

Comments

[Tom Goodman]

The list at the end is pure Beerleaguer: fun, insightful, on the money. I especially loved the "...but fans would have had a fit."

[That Dude]

Although Byrd and MIllwood would technically have good short-term value I don't thikn they would've fit in withthe Phillies. Millwood already proved he cant pitch at the Bank (not many can) and...well on 2nd thought, Byrd wouldnt've been bad. What I still go back to is the Silva/Punto for MIlton trade. No one talks about it, but that was a killer....although witht he Phils I'm not sure Silva couldve become what he is now.

[ae]

byrd didn't pitch *that* well, considering he was in one of the better pitchers' parks this season - 27 out of 30 for runs, 29 out of 30 for HR according to ESPN. aside from floyd, i don't know that he pitched substantially better than any of our starters...

[kuff6]

I've been as anti-Ed Wade as anyone, but looking at it objectively, wasn't this his best year? I absolutely hated the Lofton trade, but that could not have possibly worked out better. Lieber worked out great. Lidle worked out pretty well. As B'Leaguer pointed out, he made a number of astute "No thanks yous" (I esp. like his not getting fooled by Milton's 15 wins with horrible underlying numbers). Holding onto Howard and Utley was the right decision. Realizing quickly that Worrell and Cormier were stinking up the joint, and acquiring the best reliever to change teams all year by flipping Polanco for Urbina (which then also opened up 2B for Utley).

Granted, I didn't want Wade to stay, but I am forced to admit he did a pretty good job this year.

[Michael Settle]

Try This blog

[Tom Goodman]

Kuffe: Ah, Polanco. I never tired of saying what a poor decision it was to send him packing. Why just the other day I looked up his statistics and discovered that and the end of his split season (Phila. and Detroit) he reached an even .300 life time batting average. How would HE look at third? Not enough power, you say? Well, I'd take his glove, his ability to hit behind the runner, and his overall quality any day of the week. True, he was upset about splitting time with Utley, but what dedicated player wouldn't be upset at not playing? He even went to the outfield when the team asked him to. A lifetime .300 hitter who can field. He's the one that got away for the recent past.

[Tom Goodman]

Wow, talk about typos and sloppy editing in my comments. Sorry for all of the above not the least of which was the introduction: kuff6!!!!

[dajafi]

Yes, some good passes... but I always think about the terrible offers Wade reportedly did make to free agents or free-agents-to-be, which thankfully for us the players rejected. This list is from memory, but anyone with a Lexis/Nexis subscription could probably dig these up:

Andy Ashby, three years/$24 million, during 2000 season

Aaron Sele, four years/$32 million after 2001 season (this would just be ending!)

Scott Rolen, seven years/$110 million after 2001 season (would have meant no Thome, for a guy who might struggle with injury for the rest of his career)

Offers to Byrd, Glavine, Moyer after 2002 season--all rejected, or else no Millwood trade (which was a fine, universally applauded move at the time)

And that doesn't even include all the Ryan Howard offers--Kris Benson (2004), Ted Lilly (early this summer), lord knows who else.

Wade's judgment was much worse than his actual record, which was obviously none too good.

[J. Weitzel]

Good points, dajafi, and keep up the great work on Good Phight. You're writing some excellent stuff over there.