report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

[SPTO]

Pat Gillick rejected the Dodgers' offer to be GM and is apparently going to be named GM of the Phillies. I think this will be a very smart move on the Phillies part. Gillick is a guy that relies heavily on scouting, likes 5 tool type players and will invest in foreign markets. (most likely he'll start concentrating on the dominican again)

Gillick will do well as he'll have some money to spend. People in Philly will not be bored with Gillick as GM as he's a bit of a wheeler and dealer. He likes to make deadline trades to put his teams over the top.

[TheLetterZ]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

I would've liked to have seen Epstein or Hunsicker in here, but there's nothing wrong with Gillick either. Quality hire.

[Sully]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

I'll take him.

[GBrushTWood]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

Yikes... "Stand" Pat Gillick? This is the same guy who tried to argue that there should be no trades allowed between teams after opening day of the season. This is not a very impressive hire.

On the bright side, it eliminates the possibility of Stand Pat being Larry Lucchino's flunky.

[SPTO]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

Yikes... "Stand" Pat Gillick? This is the same guy who tried to argue that there should be no trades allowed between teams after opening day of the season. This is not a very impressive hire.

Are you still living in the 80s? Pat Gillick has tried to make moves for the most part since '89. The main reason why he was "stand pat" for 10 years of his career was because he was building up an expansion team.

He's one of the better minds in the game if you ask me.

[GBrushTWood]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

Are you still living in the 80s? Pat Gillick has tried to make moves for the most part since '89. The main reason why he was "stand pat" for 10 years of his career was because he was building up an expansion team.

He's one of the better minds in the game if you ask me.

I recall reading these comments back in the 2003 season, when he was in Seattle.

[Programmed2Kill]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

I wanted Hunsicker, but I'll take Gillick. At least they didn't hire some no-name with no track record.

[Skerik]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

Terrible signing. Gillick's 68 years old, which means he's not going to be here any longer than three years or so. And then guess what happens? Montgomery's golden child, Ruben Amaro Jr, gets the job. So all Gillick is doing is keeping Amaro's seat warm for him.

This reminds me a lot of the Phillies last managerial search. Parade a bunch of established candidates through the door (Jim Leyland, anyone?) and then sign the guy you intended to sign all along. Hunsicker or Antonelli would have both been much better signings than Gillick, but only Gillick allows Montgomery to stick with his plans to eventually turn over the reigns to Amaro. But he can't do that immediately, for fear of a total fan revolt.

I'm really nearing the breaking point with this team. Until the ownership sells, there's just no hope. I'm livid at this signing.

[SPTO]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

Terrible signing. Gillick's 68 years old, which means he's not going to be here any longer than three years or so. And then guess what happens? Montgomery's golden child, Ruben Amaro Jr, gets the job. So all Gillick is doing is keeping Amaro's seat warm for him.

You don't know Gillick very well. The only reason he left Toronto in, eh '94 was because he wanted to retire as he had "things to do". Everybody that knew Gillick said he wouldn't last a year of "retirement" and voila that's exactly what happened. Gillick has baseball in his blood. The man can't stay away from the game. I'm sure that Gillick thinks of this as a long term deal rather then a "transition". If that's what Phillies ownership is thinking then they've got another thing coming as Pat Gillick is no one's stooge.

[Skerik]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

You don't know Gillick very well. The only reason he left Toronto in, eh '94 was because he wanted to retire as he had "things to do". Everybody that knew Gillick said he wouldn't last a year of "retirement" and voila that's exactly what happened. Gillick has baseball in his blood. The man can't stay away from the game. I'm sure that Gillick thinks of this as a long term deal rather then a "transition". If that's what Phillies ownership is thinking then they've got another thing coming as Pat Gillick is no one's stooge.

Long term? The dude is 68. Clearly he was hired because Montgomery wants a short-term name to distance Amaro from Wade, after which Montgomery will promote his assistant GM prodigy (whom nobody else wants as their GM for some reason) to the front office. Gillick is light years ahead of Wade as a baseball mind, but this team needs a long term change in mindset and direction, and Gillick isn't going to provide that. He came in here, told Montgomery he's done a great job and that the Phillies can win with minor tweaking, and he's old enough to be used as a stopgap seat-warmer for Amaro. That's why he got the job.

The only good news is that he won't be able to raze our minor leagues to rubble like he did during his tenures in Toronto, Baltimore and Seattle because our minor leagues are already rubble.

[Skerik]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

Hey wow, a 3-year contract. Surprise, surprise.

[keRplunK]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

Gillick never made one meaningful deadline trade in his entire tenure as a the Seattle Mariner GM. Not one.

He is responsible for the greatest regular season in the history of baseball, and he had success with the Blue Jays. He is a solid GM, but generally signs a few guys that have 1 to 2 years left in them, they do decent enough.....they start to get old and retires and leaves the team in shambles.

[SPTO]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

Hey wow, a 3-year contract. Surprise, surprise.

Have you seen teams give new hires at GM more then 3 years?

Anywho here's something that shows Gillick's dedication to the game. He's good friends with the host of PRIME TIME SPORTS on the FAN 590 here in Toronto. Well at 4 PM (around 3 1/2 hrs after his press conference) he calls the show and lo and behold Gillick has borrowed an office and phone and had been working since the press conference!

I can't think of many GMs who would start working so soon after being announced GM. Gillick is also a little crazy, he recently became a Canadian citizen but plans on living in Philly during most of the summer months so he's gonna be paying full taxes in both countries!

[Skerik]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

Working on what? He said he likes the job Manuel did and he's keeping him around. He said it's "not unhealthy" to have Thome and Howard here, despite the fact that they provide the same offense at the same position. And he said in the press conference that his goal is to do the things necessary for us to win 5 more games. Not win the division, not win a World Series....five more games. I'll bet the Braves are quaking in their cleats at that news....

And as for the 3-year deal, that's pretty standard I'll agree. But I'm telling you, it's incredibly obvious to everyone here that Montgomery's first choice was Amaro and Gillick is just a 3-year stopgap to put some distance between Amaro and Wade. When asked yesterday if that was the plan, Amaro's quote was, "Whether I'm being groomed or not, that's not the issue." That, my friends, is not a denial.

Also, I don't want to see another year of tweaking the existing nucleus. I'm sorry, but they've proven that they're not capable of winning over the past few seasons. We FINALLY have some good young players at the major league level. Continue to develop them, trade what marketable commodities you have for some good prospects, and hope to contend in a few years after your young players have developed and you get guys like Bell and Lieberthal off the payroll.

All Gillick's here to do is tweak the existing nucleus. Wade could have stayed and done that. I want a total mindset change across the whole organization. And Gillick's not here to provide that.

[SPTO]

Re: report: Pat Gillick named GM of the Phiiladelphia Philles

I don't know what he was "working" on but suffice it to say he was using someone else's office and phone so he must've been doing SOMETHING. I agree somewhat with the "5 more games" statement but I think that's Gillick being optimistic that the team can win enough games to at least get a wild card.

You live in Philly so you obviously know more then I do about the way ownership is handling this hire but I still think that Gillick will do some good things no matter how long or short his tenure is.

BTW Gillick did the same thing with having a vet and a young guy playing the same position for a season in Toronto with McGriff and Olerud in 1990. Of course there was more flexibility with the DH tho.

Anywho i'll be pulling for Philly this season. Glad we can be civil about this