Houston Astros
On September 20, 2007, Wade was named the General Manager of the Houston Astros, beating out 10 other candidates.
On November 8, 2007, Wade traded relief pitcher Brad Lidge, along with reserve infielder Eric Bruntlett, to the Phillies in exchange for second-year outfielder Michael Bourn, middle reliever Geoff Geary, and third base prospect Mike Costanzo. Lidge had been a highly successful closer for the Astros in 2004 and 2005, but had fallen out of favor after giving up a dramatic home run to Albert Pujols in the 2005 National League Championship Series and struggling the following season. The Phillies and Lidge went on to win the World Series in 2008.
On December 12, 2007, Wade acquired shortstop Miguel Tejada in exchange for Luke Scott, Matt Albers, Costanzo, Dennis Sarfate, and Troy Patton. The trade was controversial, in part because Tejada was mentioned as a possible steroid user in the Mitchell Report, which was released the day after the trade. The day after the Mitchell Report, he traded Chad Qualls, Chris Burke, and Juan Gutierrez to the Arizona Diamondbacks for closer José Valverde.
On June 25, 2008, Wade was engaged in a dispute with Astros reliever Shawn Chacón. After a while, Chacon burst and grabbed Wade by the neck and threw him to the ground. The Astros suspended Chacon indefinitely. This event eventually led to Shawn Chacón being released. He has not played in Major League Baseball since.
In December 2009, Wade and the Astros signed reliever Brandon Lyon and acquired fireballer closer Matt Lindstrom from the Florida Marlins.
On July 29, 2010 Wade traded Roy Oswalt to the Philadelphia Phillies for J.A. Happ and two minor league players, center fielder Anthony Gose, and shortstop Jonathan Villar. Gose was then traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for Brett Wallace.
On July 29, 2011, Wade traded All-Star right fielder Hunter Pence to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jonathan Singleton, Jarred Cosart, Josh Zeid, and a Player to be named later who was Domingo Santana. On July 30, 2011, he traded Star center fielder Michael Bourn to the Braves for pitchers Juan Abreu and Brett Oberholtzer and center fielder Jordan Schafer. The Astros ended the season with a record of 56–106, last in the majors.
On November 28, 2011, Wade was fired by new Astros owner Jim Crane.
Read more about this topic: Ed Wade
Famous quotes containing the word houston:
“In Washington, the first thing people tell you is what their job is. In Los Angeles you learn their star sign. In Houston you’re told how rich they are. And in New York they tell you what their rent is.”
—Simon Hoggart (b. 1946)