McTaggart's article paints a picture of Ed Wade as a man with a metal detector, scouring the landfills of baseball teams, looking for something shiny.
And he found them, in Alberto Arias and Jeff Fulchino, Wilton Lopez and Jason Bourgeois!
Wade:
"I thought Fulchino was the second most valuable pitcher last year behind Wandy. He filled every possible role you could ask him to fill other than closer -- he worked in back-to-back games, threw multiple innings, the sixth inning, eighth inning, with men on base and bases empty. He covered it all. We'd be lost without him, and the same thing is true with Arias until his knee barked at him last year. Those were big innings, valuable innings. You have to figure out a way to cover them, because fewer and fewer starters get to the seventh inning."
So how does Ed Wade do it?
Wade makes his sure his staff, particularly assistant general manager David Gottfried and director of baseball research/pro scouting Charlie Norton, pays close attention to the daily waiver bulletin and is prepared to act accordingly if they come across a name that could fill a need.
Fulchino:
"I came here in Spring Training, and they didn't know me other than scouting reports and seeing me a couple of times in Major League games. I had thrown 15 innings at the Major League level with the Royals, so I came in here ready to go and hoping to impress them and get a shot at making the team. I didn't make the team, but I had a good Spring Training and I was the first guy they called up. It took a couple of times, but I showed them I belong here."
See? Running a major league team IS a lot like running your fantasy team! Ahh, I jest. But Ed Wade has hit on these waiver wire pickups more than he has missed. Still wondering why his perception is so skewed...
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
