Hey look -- a trade!

The Phillies get Lidge. He's certainly not as automatic as he once was -- he blew eight saves last year and is getting the rep as a head case -- but maybe a change of scenery does him well. I think the bigger deal out of this is that it should allow Myers to slide back into the rotation where he should provide more value.

I think the most interesting thing about this trade is the Ed Wade factor. It's amazing how often you see a new GM dealing with his old team. In Washington, Jim Bowden is well on his way to establishing the Reds-East. We've also seen Dayton Moore go out of his way to pick up ex-Braves. I'm sure there are other examples.

If you're an owner and you've hired a GM who was fired elsewhere, you obviously see something good in him. However, don't you also have to acknowledge that, hey, the guy was fired at his last stop, in part because of the players he had. Indeed, aren't you more likely to attribute his failures at his last stop to players who your guy was right to acquire in the first instance, but who ended up not panning out through no fault of your new GM?

Obviously there's a lot more to that (it's more likely that it was the other 20 or 21 players he's not acquiring that were the problem) but I just find it kind of odd how often we see new GMs going after their old players.