Resurrected Phillies Shift To Buyers From Sellers

On the morning of July 30, the Philadelphia Phillies seemed out of it. They were eight wins behind the Reds in the National League wild card race, and there were eight teams between them and the Reds. The starting pitching was in shambles — Jon Lieber and Randy Wolf were both coming back from injuries, and former middle relief ace Ryan Madson had been wildly inconsistent as a starting pitcher. In light of those sobering facts, that very day Phillies GM Pat Gillick dealt star right fielder Bobby Abreu and journeyman starter Cory Lidle to the Yankees for a package of future-minded maybes. He subsequently discarded veteran third baseman David Bell to the Brewers and reliever Rheal Cormier to the Reds in minor deals, at which point it really seemed Gillick had packed it in for 2006.