Dinner With Pat Gillick

from ben:

This is for Corey and Carson, who run an AWESOME blog:

Dinner with Pat Gillick

A cynic might argue that the company foolish enough to employ me spends lavishly on trinkets to convince its rank and file it cares about us. Guys like me can pick from complimentary sweeties like Phillies tickets, Eagles tickets, Symphony tickets, etc. Name a team or organization in the New York-Philadelphia region and my benevolent employer owns season tickets. What does this mean to the Scrapple audience? You guessed it. Yours truly and the biggest 7-year-old baseball fan in the world had supper on Pat Gillick tonight as the lucky recipient of two passes to Season Ticket Fan Appreciation Night at the Bank.

I promised Pete a fair and balanced report as I tried to resolve the angst generated by what I consider the lamest trade the team has made since I’ve been an adult. I’m counting on Pete to provide a spiffy link to previous posts, but if he doesn’t, lets just say that I think a savvy GM could have procured Phil Hughes and a bright future (as well as salary relief) when he booted Bobby to the Big Apple if he’d shown a little patience and tried to see things not just from his own vantage but from Yankee GM Cashman’s. My goal tonight was to ask Pat Gillick face-to-face why he didn’t get the job done. Pete has argued that the deal wasn’t there to be made. I’ve argued that just because Cashman told the press he wouldn’t have made the trade doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have.

Preliminaries:

Make no mistake, the Phillies care about their fans (at least the blue blood’s who pay serious cash for premium full-season tickets). I was Thurston Howell III tonight. Talk about getting your ass kissed. I’ve never been called “sir” so many times in a single evening. I’m enormously happy I resisted the urge to change into “play” clothes before attending the event.

Thank you Phillies for letting me eat from your bountiful table and drink from your loving cup. My wallet never left my pocket and I walked away with a full belly (mostly ballpark food, but a big cut above what regular guys like me get at the concession stand). My son loves his new Phillies ball cap and Aaron Rowand jersey (even though Aaron can’t hit).

The view from the field is spectacular. We’ve touched all the bases, “fielded” grounders from short and second, crashed into the outfield walls, warmed up in the bullpen, smashed line drives off the same batting tees that Ryan and Chase use between at-bats. We’ve stood in front of Jimmy Rollins locker, sat in the dugout, and pretended to be Bobby Abreu shrieking with fear in front of the chain-link and have pictures to prove it. Strictly in terms of the Father-Son experience, what a night!

Main Event:

Our invitation included an enticement I couldn’t possible resist: a 30-minute Q & A session with Pat Gillick. Remembering how influential a similar event proved to the direction of the 76ers several years ago (remember Johnny Davis), I anticipated this event like first date.

I knew I’d be disappointed as soon as Scott Palmer grabbed a microphone. He felt it would be helpful to serve as proxy for Philadelphia fans by asking the first questions. Egad. He offered up several Arthur Rhodes fastballs that allowed Pat Gillick and Mike Arbuckle to put a positive spin on every move, every press conference utterance, and every damn thing you could possibly imagine. The ensuing love fest was predictable. The organization is in great hands because Pat Gillick is “the best baseball mind” Mike Arbuckle has ever encountered in his storied career as a “baseball man.” The minor league system is a diamond because Mike Arbuckle has groomed 12 members of the Phillies and Botavia led the league in ERA, and was “instrumental” in signing Ryan Howard. Not less than 5 times, Phillies personnel referred to this session as a “speech” until finally calling it a “Q & A session” when guys like me asked “what are you talking about?”

Finally, after 15 minutes of self-serving, self-promotion, Scott Palmer acknowledged that some fans might also have questions. He suggested this was a good idea (really?), but also warned that fans could not ask questions about specific players employed by organizations other than the Phillies (because this would leave the Phillies susceptible to “tampering” violations, a term I imagine he heard recently on ESPN with regard to the Jets in conjunction with that Patriots WR, Branch). Okay.

Naturally, my hand shot up immediately. I thought I’d get the ball rolling and since I was sitting about 5 feet from Pat (having strategically camped by the podium). Guess what? They didn’t pick me. Conveniently, a “fan” already had a microphone. The question? “Given the recent geo-political changes happening in Cuba, and the likelihood that players from the island may be free to play in the US, are the Phillies actively scouting talent and aware of the names that may become available?” On the surface, this seemed like an intelligent question, until Mike Arbuckle (who already had the mike in hand) rattled off a 5 minute (I timed it) dissertation on Cuban baseball and its players. He was so thorough that I couldn’t help wondering if the “fan” was a plant and he had consulted George Bush on what the appropriate answer might be.

Next question. “Are you disappointed by the play of Pat Burrell?” Shockingly, the “fan” who asked this question already had a mike in hand. For the record, Gillick was amazingly candid. He shit all over the Bat, implying that he was a complete p$ssy who couldn’t handle anything but positive reinforcement and couldn’t produce even when he received it. The Bat is gone next year, make no mistake about it.

The canned “fan” questions continued for 15 minutes. Each came from a plant. Guys like me were completely ignored. I asked several Phillies employees what I needed to do to ask a question, but no one had an answer. The entire Q & A session was rehearsed and planned. What a disappointment!

The Skinny:

Lieberthal is gone. “He won’t be back next season.” The Phillies will sign a new catcher in the off-season. They will not start the season with Coste and Ruiz. Book it.

The club will spend $90 million next year on payroll. This is a fact. Gillick was crystal on this. I’m guessing this means more money for Howard and Utley rather than big name free agents.

The Phillies will bring in a new 3B next year. “David Bell and Abraham Nunez provided great defense for us (really?), but they didn’t give us what we needed at the plate.”

Gillick will go after pitching. The young guys progressed faster than expected (Hammels), but we need more.

Gillick is really sorry he suggested the Phillies couldn’t compete for a title next year. He still believes we won’t, but regrets pissing off the high rollers more than you might think.

Impressions:

Pat Gillick is a lounge lizard. Think back to the parties your parent threw when you were a kid. Remember the uncle who sat in the corner sipping Gin as his eyes glazed. I wouldn’t trust this guy with my team. There is no doubt in my mind that he was overmatched by Cashman and has one foot into retirement already. Pray that Amaro is ready to step in soon.

Mike Arbuckle is scared shitless that his job is in jeopardy.

The Phillies don’t like their fans, but they’re scared of them (or at least scared that they may stop spending money buying tickets, drinks and food).

If anyone out there in Scrappleland has any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.

Ben

per ben's request, here are links to the discussion about phil hughes to date:

- june 5, 2006 - ben's initial scouting report and proposal for hughes
- july 31, 2006 - initial reactions to the trade
- august 2, 2006 - second wave of feedback on the trade
- august 20, 2006 - ben's open letter to pat gillick with recommendations for the future
- august 25, 2006 - i decide that i believe hughes was not available based on what i know/presume