The Gavin Floyd Fan Club

This always happens to every one's favorite Phillies blogger, yours truly. Some relatively meaningless event transpires in the world of baseball and because that same event can in someway be linked to potential mismanagement by the Phils' front office, my inbox overflows, people stop by my office, (aka my cubicle) and I'm generally bombarded with 'I told you so' statements regarding the Phillies ineptitude. Yesterday, it was Gavin Floyd. Never in my life did I believe that I would dial up my voice mail, on my office phone no less, to find an urgent voice message left for me asking how could we have let Gavin the Wonderkid go. For those of you not up to speed yet, let's quickly lay things out.

On Tuesday night, now Chicago White Sox pitcher Gavin Christopher Floyd took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins. This came on the heels of Floyd carrying a no-no into the 8th inning versus the Detroit Tigers only weeks before. Floyd managed to record one out in the ninth on Tuesday before surrendering a double to Joe Mauer. And by the way, kudos to Nick Swisher in CF for making a diving attempt on the ball even though he was a good eight feet away from it. This outing upped Floyd's record on the season to 3-1 and lowered his ERA to 2.50, more then respectable numbers.

Now, as you'll all remember, Floyd, now 25, was once a Phillie. He was traded prior to last season along with P Gio Gonzalez to the White Sox in exchange for Freddy Garica. We all know how that acquisition turned out. The Phils paid $10 million for 1 win out of a pitcher who turns out was damaged goods upon arrival.

With this groundwork now laid, let me get to my rant. The Phillies made one mistake in that trade and that was to not ask for the medical records or medically evaluate Garcia on their own. They took the word of Chicago GM Kenny Williams at face value and they paid a steep price for it, $10 million to be exact. That was the mistake, the boo-boo, the screw-up, the brain-cramp, the severe disregard for doing your homework. The error was not in trading Gavin Floyd. It doesn't matter if Floyd throws 15 shutouts in his next 15 starts, if he makes the Hall of Fame or if he nails more women on the Maxim Hot 100 list then Derek Jeter (who apparently is at 6). Here's what people don't get.

The Phillies weren't giving up on Gavin Floyd making it; they were giving up on him making it here. Anyone who ever watched him pitch an inning for the Phils knew that he did not have the makeup to pitch in a city like ours. Say what you will about this argument not holding much water, but the examples are plentiful. Carl Pavano. Jose Contreras. And who can forget our own lovable Andy Ashby? Many players simply don't have the mental make-up to succeed in a town where every pitch is scrutinized and where you're only as good as your last start.

Floyd had his shot here. He was given every opportunity for two seasons in a row to win a job in the rotation entering spring training. In 2005, he couldn't. In 2006, he didn't but he was given the nod anyway, if for no other reason then to see what he had. The results? 5-5 in 15 starts with an ERA over 8 in those 2 years. So the Phillies dealt him. And no one blamed them at the time. Remember, even though he was hurt, Williams wasn't going to give Garcia away for nothing. Doing that would've blown his cover that Garcia was banged up.

Furthermore, it was well documented that when Chase Utley got injured last year, Williams, knowing that he had fleeced the Phils in the trade, offered somewhat of a good faith gesture by dealing us Tad Iguchi for nothing. Iguchi was going to leave Chicago after the season and the Sox had no plans in resigning him nor were they in the race for the playoffs anymore. But still, they shipped Iguchi our way with a wink and a chuckle. Literally. There is a clip of Williams coyly snickering when asked if sending Iguchi to the Phils was an apology. So if it makes you feel better, think about it this way. The Phillies traded Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez for Freddy Garcia and Tad Iguchi and the Phils don't make the post-season last year without Iguchi.

Finally, this isn't the most lopsided trade in the history of baseball. This isn't Jeff Bagwell for Larry Anderson, not Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano, not A.J. Pierzinski for Francisco Liriano, Boof Bonser and Joe Nathan, not Babe Ruth for cash. Floyd is now 11-11 in his career with an ERA of 5.61. He couldn't strike me out. His strikeout to walk ratio is barely over 1-1. Without delving into a plethora of stats that paint the picture of Gavin's mediocrity, the point is just that. He's average. At best. And I'm not one to shed a tear over the loss of something easily replaceable.