Pat Gillick (adopting Pee Wee Herman voice): I meant to do that.

It's certainly accurate to say, as Jeff does, that "It made sense for Gillick to consider the sell-off when he did, and it made sense (in 20-20 hindsight) for him to try to shell out some dollars three weeks later for a bit of a run at the wild card."

But the decision to punt on '06 at the trading deadline was a very close call.

On Sunday, July 30, the Phils were only 5 GB the Reds (the Reds!) for the Wild Card, and the teams between them weren't exactly Murderer's Row. They were only 1/2 GB the Dodgers, and interestingly Ned Colletti read the situation in the opposite way: he basically said "this WC race is wide open, and I'm going for it!" Gillick gave up.

So I'd submit that it would also have been accurate to say "Gillick was hired to win now. He wanted to win now. It would have made sense, therefore, for him to emulate Colletti and not only keep Abreu et al, but add some talent for a whacky Wild Card race he was plainly in the middle of. Inexpicably, however, he dumped talent and salary--but at least was man enough to admit error and replace it a few weeks later when the team's status as a contender became plain even to him."

So I agree with Jeff that there's a "flexibility story" to be told about Gillick's '06. But I think a more interesting and equally reasonable story needs some consideration: that a wise old GM made a huge mistake in reading his team's competitive position at a crucial time, but recovered nimbly enough to avert disaster. An open question is whether the Phils would've gotten into the playoffs instead of just short of them with Colletti at their helm instead of Gillick.