Pat Gillick made some bold moves as the Toronto Blue Jays’ GM, acquiring the likes of David Cone and Rickey Henderson on the way to back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993.

Two decades later the Phillies president watched from afar as Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos made another round of bold deadline moves, adding six players, including David Price and Troy Tulowitzki.

“I think the trades he [Anthopoulos] made were better than any of the trades that we made at the deadline,” Gillick told Baseball Central hosts Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker Tuesday. “To get two quality players like he did with Price and Tulowitzki, and then he got [LaTroy] Hawkins thrown in on the deal and it helps his bullpen, it was probably a better deal than we made when I was in Toronto at the deadline.

“I think he really excited everybody. It had to excite the players, it had to excite the fans. It was a shot in the arm. It was a great move.”

Despite a 17-10 run to start the second half of the season, the Phillies sport a 46-72 record. The club sent staff ace Cole Hamels to the Texas Rangers for a package of prospects as their rebuilding process continued.

“We’re about where we thought we’d be,” Gillick said. “We’ve got the worst record in baseball, but we anticipated that we were going to be sub-.500, and that probably our win total, if we were fortunate, would be in the 60s. But we’re very, very happy with the progress of our younger players. And we’ve got some good kids in the minor leagues.

“I think at this point we’re probably two years away [until] we’re going to be more competitive.”

Chase Utley’s name has surfaced in recent trade rumours, but Gillick highlighted the second baseman’s role on the team and suggested he’ll be staying put.

“There’s been a lot of conversation about Chase leaving Philadelphia,” said Gillick. “It appears he’s going to be a Phillie until the end of the season, at least. Chase, even though he’s been out a long period of time this season with injuries, he’s kind of the face of our club at the moment, from a veteran standpoint.”