Far From A Surprise

Leave it to semi retired columnist, Bill Conlin (whom my buddy Mister Nascar sighted having dinner at the Creole Cafe in Washington Township Friday evening), to finally reveal how personnel decisions have been being made by the Phils. Here are the sad details from his column today:

The look of today's Phillies is starting to suspiciously resemble the unwinding organization of the 1980s. The ballclub has moved from the upholstered sewer that was the Vet. But now, as then, the farm system is thinner than jailhouse gravy. Now as then, there is a solid nucleus in place, but the roster depth is teacup shallow and the modern salary ethic prevents good old Charlie Manuel from fielding his best lineup. A penny for his real thoughts when the decision was made that Tom Gordon at 38 would be a healthier closer than Billy Wagner at 34. I don't know about you, but I can watch Placido Polanco tearing up the American League daily on the MLB TV package. To see Ugueth Urbina in a Venezuelan prison, however, I need a visa, plane ticket and bribe money.

Meanwhile, the ka-ching factor has never been higher. The big bucks generated by the Money Pit that fans and non-fans of the city and state helped them build require a big committee.

It appears that Dave Montgomery, the lineal successor of autobiographer and limited partner Bill Giles, now presides over a Gang of Eight. That's inflation for you.

According to various people close to the ballclub, the inner circle around Monty consists of (in a rough guesstimate of importance) GM Pat Gillick, special assistant to the GM Charley Kerfeld (Pat's offseason hire), director of major league scouting Gordon Lakey (worked for Pat in Toronto, but hired by Phils in 1998), assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr. (Gillick's heir apparent), assistant GM Mike Arbuckle (two more assistant GMs and Gillick will be an Ace), and manager Charlie Manuel ("Hey, Charlie, I'm getting you Jayson Werth, Greg Dobbs and Antonio Alfonseca. Excited?") Last, and possibly least, according to some conjecturers, is longtime organization conscience Dallas Green. He's become the guy in every country club 19th hole who is always the loudest and most opinionated, but is tolerated because he plays scratch golf and has the trophies to prove it. His radio shot at Manuel's managing last season could have lowered his stock. Or, just maybe, Dallas has grown weary of telling them to stop signing 5-10, 175-pound position players just because they meet stopwatch standards.

This is a big, diverse committee, I guarantee, and Monty only breaks ties where big money is concerned. Unfortunately, big money is concerned in just about every phase of the operation.

This article totally confirms things for me. I really, really, really despise this franchise. How can they freakin' operate this way? What successful sporting franchise has this many players involved in making a decision? Are you telling me that eight people signed off on this bullpen, bench, last year's preseason Delucci/Tejada trade and this offseason's signings of Eaton, Helms and Barajas? If so, they should all be fired. I would love to sit in a meeting and see the group dynamics at play and find out how they talk themselves into certain decisions. I have a strong feeling that their logic would reveal to be totally laughable.

Mark my words, this team will never, ever win anything of importance with this ownership group.