Consider if you will the two men at the helm of that wonderful organization we refer to as the Philadelphia Phillies. That would be General Manager Pat Gillick and Manager Charlie Manuel.

As the smoke continues to billow up from the Phils less than stellar home stand in which they dropped three of four to their arch-rival, the Mets, this is how Gillick summed up the chances of the Phils being a player in trade talks as everyone keeps an eye on the July 31 deadline.

“Realistically, we might get a piece. We might not come up with a headline, but might come up with a guy off the B list that could help us.”

Am I the only one who grits his teeth upon hearing such words? Gillick made these comments at the same time the Milwaukee Brewers were finishing off a deal that put Cleveland Indians’ ace CC Sabathia alongside Ben Sheetz in their starting rotation.

And we’re trolling for something off the B list?

Gillick’s comments also came before last night’s game, when he could have seen the wisdom of settling for the B list first-hand. The Phils sent Adam Eaton to the mound, and watched as he got shellacked by the Mets. It only seemed like everything Eaton served up was lined into the gaps or down the line for extra bases.

In his less-than-sterling outing, Eaton went less than three innings. In the process he gave up 10 hits and eight runs, six of them earned. I’m surprised he managed to get eight outs.

That brings us to Charlie Manuel, and his decision to leave Eaton out there when it was apparent he had nothing and was basically serving up batting practice to the Mets. For some reason, Manuel allowed Eaton, already down 5-0, to go back out to start the third, whereupon he gave up three more runs before he got the hook.

That’s important because – and you may not realize this if you bailed out when the Phils were down 8-0 in the third – the Phils actually put up a huge rally, only to fall short. They lost 9-8.

If only Manuel had seen fit to go get Eaton earlier, the Phils might be looking at a split in this crucial series. Instead, they managed to pump life into a clearly struggling Mets organization.

The Phils’ lead is now just a half-game over the Marlins and a game and a half over the resurgent Mets.

And one other oddity from the manager’s “Manuel:” Charlie lifted Chase Utley late in the game for Eric Bruntlett. Utley had hit his league-leading 25th homer of the year to get the Phils on the board in the fourth. But he wasn’t there at the end of the game.

B List talk from the general manager, and B List moves from the manager.

Funny, they never accept B List for admission to the park, or for those overpriced concessions, or for the gear that seems to adorn every fan who enters.

We deserve better than the B List. It’s time for Gillick and Mauel to start delivering.