Ed Wade

• School Temple University

• Born January 31, 1956

Biographical Information

Ed Wade replaced Lee Thomas as General Manager of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1998. The team never made the postseason in his eight seasons with the club. In Philadelphia, he was known for his fondness for acquiring "proven" relievers in trades while paying full price for the privilege. This tendancy was decried by observers from the sabermetric community who consider relief pitchers the most easily replaceable of players. He was dismissed as GM following the 2005 season. He served as a Major League scout for the San Diego Padres until his hiring at the end of the 2007 season as the General Manager of the Houston Astros.

Wade spent four seasons at GM in Houston, but they were not particularly successful. In 2008, he got in a fight with P Shawn Chacon, who attempted to throttle him in the team clubhouse. He changed managers a number of times as the team kept falling in the standings, and given a small budget because owner Drayton McLane was looking to sell the team and did not want to take on any large financial commitments, he was forced to trade away a number of star players, most notably Lance Berkman, Roy Oswalt, Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn, while obtaining only prospects in return. The Astros had the worst record in franchise history in 2011, as the youngsters were unable to replace the production of the departed veterans. On November 27th that year, soon after Jim Crane bought the team from McLane, Wade was fired along with the man who hired him, team president Tal Smith. He was replaced on an interim basis by Assistant GM Dave Gottfried. He then returned to the Phillies organization to work as a scout.

Finding himself with some time on his hands, Wade, who had earned a journalism degree from Temple University after growing up in a small town in northeastern Pennsylvania, returned to one of his earlier loves, writing. In 2012, he self-published a thriller entitled Delayed Honor about Navy SEALS and skydiving (skydiving is another hobby of his, while his son Ryan attended the United States Naval Academy, giving him some personal knowledge of his material). Explaining why he chose to write, he explained: "It beats watching daytime TV".

Preceded by Lee Thomas

Philadelphia Phillies General Manager 1998-2005

Succeeded by Pat Gillick

Preceded by Tim Purpura

Houston Astros General Manager 2007-2011

Succeeded by Dave Gottfried

Related Sites

• Astros bio