Ed Wade

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Ed Wade (b. January 31, 1956) is a former General Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies.

[edit] Positions with Phillies

Wade started in the Phillies organization in 1990 as the Player Personnel Administrator. He played this role as well as Assistant General Manager for eight years, until his promotion to general manager and vice president in December 1997.

He was general manager of the Phillies from December 1997 until his firing on October 10, 2005.

[edit] Phillies GM

During his tenure as general manager of the Phillies, the team never made a playoff appearance. During his first years as Phillies GM, he and the owners were criticized for being cheap. Before the 2003 season, the team began spending much more money on player salaries, starting with the signing of Jim Thome. The signing was well received in Philadelphia.

Wade was often criticized in two general areas when it came to personnel moves. First, he seemed averse to signing or keeping players who had fiery personalities, no matter how well they performed. Ace pitcher Curt Schilling is a well-known example of a player who performed superbly, year in and year out, yet because of his well-publicized clubhouse demeanor and comments critical of team strategy, Wade eventually traded him despite the objections of the coaching staff and fans alike. It seemed inordinately important to Wade to not have his authority challenged, yet in an era where good pitching is highly valued, and great pitching almost impossible to come by, Schilling has since been instrumental in winning two World Series rings, while the Phillies have continued to perform poorly. Second, Wade tended to sign marginal or unproven players to huge contracts. Wade commonly gave veterans who were towards the end of their careers long term deals worth a lot of money (examples would include Mike Lieberthal and David Bell), as well as signing young or below average players to contracts larger then their worth (the most glaring example here would be Pat Burrell). His re-signings of the oft-injured Lieberthal, and Burrell, whose hitting with runners in scoring position and defensive play in left-field was worrisome from the start, clearly lead to Wade's eventual demise. Last, even the players who were worth signing to lucrative contracts tended to get that and no-trade clauses, which eventually proved to be a major headache when it became clear that quick mid-season roster moves would have been desirable, in order to jolt an under achieving team back to life (players Bobby Abreu and Thome are examples here).

Wade hired two managers during his tenure. He inherited Terry Francona when he was promoted, whom he fired after the 2000 season. Wade hired former Phillies shortstop Larry Bowa, who led the Phillies to their first winning season since 1993 in 2001, falling just two games short of the postseason. However, some players were intimidated by Bowa's fiery personality, which led to Wade fire him with two games remaining in 2004.

Wade searched publicly for Bowa's replacement, with the choices including Charlie Manuel and Jim Leyland. Fans pushed for Leyland because of his baseball knowledge and success with the Florida Marlins in 1997. However, possibly looking for someone with a personality opposite Bowa's, and perhaps someone who would be less likely to challenge his decisions privately, Wade hired Manuel. Manuel, a very likable person who was close to then star first-basemen Jim Thome, was well received by the team, which by now had been cast almost totally to Ed Wade's specifications (which is to say, laid back in the extreme), but the fans never quite took to him. Due to his poor in-game decisions, fans and sports media personalities alike began calling for his firing almost immediately, and this reflected poorly on Wade.

The failure of the 2005 team to make the post-season was the final straw, and Wade's career as the Phillies' GM ended.