Risky Business

With the arrest of Phillies' prospect Tyson Gilles on cocaine charges in Florida, I cannot help but wonder if Phillies fans back home aren't burying their heads under a towel, a la Curt Schilling.

While Gilles certainly appears guilty (when you get out of a seat in a patrol car and leave behind a bag of white powder that tests positive for cocaine, you're certainly not looking innocent) and will eventually have his day in court, incidents like these only serve to remind fans, players, and management that running a big league organization is risky business.

Take the phenom of the early 1990s, Brien Taylor, drafted by the Yankees in the first round.  Now, I was rooting for him to make it, not because I'm a Yankee fan in secret, but because he spelled his first name the same way I spell mine.  It would have been kinda cool to see a big leaguer with my first name, just as I do root for big leaguers with my last name (even though people who know me would never assume athletic genes in my family).

Anyway, Taylor had great stuff, and had put up some good numbers in the minors.  But ... he got into a bar fight (there's dispute on whether he was involved, or merely trying to break up the fight), and screwed up his shoulder.  After the surgery, he lost his velocity, and some of his command.  He'd become mortal.  And he never pitched an inning in the big leagues.

Such is the risk teams take, daily, on human beings they really don't have 100 percent control over.  Like Taylor.  Like Gilles.  Managers can set all kinds of curfews; players break them.  Managers can have team rules; players try to circumvent them whenever they are able.  Leagues can suspend you for 50 or 100 games for violating a substance policy; players still find ways to get suspended.

Yes, Phillies fans, we gave up Cliff Lee to get this guy, among others.  And that's what makes every trade for prospects "hurt" ... when the established guy has a great year, and your prospects don't develop, or, in this case, practically disqualify themselves from being able to compete and contribute.

And as long as there is baseball, there will always be trades in which established guys are traded for a the same kind of players that make fans say, "Who *are* those guys?".  Where fans need to hold back in their criticism of a general manager is when something like this happens.  Ruben had all the info that the Mariners had on this guy, that MLB Security had on this guy ... and he still winds up being (and I'll admit I'm playing judge and jury here) a coke head.

Proof-positive that running a club is risky business ... makes you wonder if, under the pressure, Ruben doesn't shut his office door and have his secretary hold his calls while he strips down to his underwear and socks, pops on the Ray-Bans, cranks up some Segar, and slides back and forth across the office floor.