It’s always fun to play devil’s advocate, but this isn’t just trying to counterpoint Dave’s article. The Phillies shuffled players around today in a trade with the Astros, and it wasn’t a good move, it was a potentially great move. As Dave pointed out, the Phillies dealt OF Michael Bourn, P Geoff Geary, and AA player Mike Costanzo to the Houston Astros for IF Eric Bruntlett and P Brad Lidge.

First of all, let’s break down what the Phillies gave away in this trade. Geoff Geary has proven time and time again that he can be consistently good and consistently awful. When he’s on, like he was for some of the stretch run, he’s a great piece to the puzzle in the bullpen. However, when he’s off, which was most of the season, his struggles are enormous. The last 2 games he pitched in were September 25th verse Atlanta ( .2 IP, 3 hits, and 2 ER), and September 29th verse Washington (1.0 IP, 2 hits and 1 ER). As for his entire 2007 season, he finished with an underwhelming strikeout to walk ratio; whiffing 38 but walking 25. So, while the Phillies bullpen as a whole struggled all year, Geary was certainly not a fixture to keep it moving in the right direction. No big loss here.

The next guy sent packing is the speedy outfielder Michael Bourn. Well, he’s a late game relief for Pat Burrell, that’s about all you can say. He obviously didn’t put up any offensive numbers (.277 average, 1 HR, 6 RBI), but he did provide speed on the bases. I’m no fan of Chris Roberson, and I do hope the team gets rid of him as well, but Roberson is faster than Bourn and it wouldn’t make much sense to have 2 outfielders on the bench to serve the same purpose with speed. Now, with the absence of Bourn, the out-fielding crew is shorthanded for the time being (Burrell, Roberson, Werth, Victorino). There are a few things to be optimistic about here. The Phillies know we need depth in the outfield, Gillick made a great move to acquire Jayson Werth before last year. I expect them to pick up another low-end type outfielder to fill Bourn’s shoes. However, with Rowand still unsigned and looking for a hefty amount of money, the teams that said they were going after him…have suddenly retracted that thought. Torii Hunter and Andruw Jones are the top 2 center fielders being sought after right now by GM’s around the league. So if Rowand comes back, and the Phillies pick up another low end guy, Bourn’s departure means virtually no harm to the team.

Now comes the big worry: giving up a highly touted bat in young Mike Costanzo. The kid popped 27 HR’s this year in AA and showed a lot of promise. But the word seems to be that he doesn’t play 3B very well at all; that he would excel in hitting and be moved to 1B. Well, we already have a big guy over at 1B who’s had himself a couple nice years here in Philly already. It’s always an uncertainty to deal great farm talent, but this move wouldn’t have happened if Costanzo wasn’t part of the deal. Assuming we don’t get A-Rod for 350 million (ok, assumed) 3B will be patrolled by Greg Dobbs and one of the former Astros we just acquired by the name of…

Eric Bruntlett. Now don’t get me wrong, this guy isn’t a savior at the hot corner if you’re looking for offense (.246, O HR, 14 RBI in 2007), but he’ll be a late game substitution, like Nunez last year. The combination of Dobbs and Bruntlett won’t be anything close to star power at third base, but it will get the job done.

Finally the last piece of the trade, and by far the most intriguing player involved: closer Brad Lidge. We all know the story by now. In 2005 Lidge was absolutely outstanding: a 1.90 ERA in 80 games pitched with 29 saves, and just 30 walks to a whopping 157 strikeouts. Wow. But then it all came crashing down on one pitch. Flash back to the 2005 playoffs and Albert Pujols at-bat in Houston. The chance to close the game out, and Pujols took a fastball from Lidge and sent a monster home run off the train-tracks at the top of Minute Maid Park. Lidge was shaken, and to this day, he’s never been the same. He’s shown brief flashes of regaining his old stuff, but seems to always get buried by one bad game which will spiral him even further downward. This past season he had 104 strikeouts to just 36 walks, but his ERA was well over 5. Not good. But here’s the good stuff…what do the Phillies have to lose? We gave up absolutely nothing in this trade for a former all-star like closer. Lidge needed a change of environment. The Astros tried to sell him at the trading deadline but couldn’t reach any deals. I love the fact that he has the chance to start fresh with the Phillies. If you think he stinks, then don’t expect much. But if he can start to get back on track, even half of the pitcher he used to be, people are going to be calling Gillick a genius for this move.

From this fan’s perspective, I think it’s an outstanding move to give up not a heck of a lot for a chance at a true closer. Let’s hope the rest of the winter goes this well.