The Cincinnati Reds have fired general manager Wayne Krivsky and replaced him with former St. Louis Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty . . . Krivsky knew his job was in jeopardy when owner Bob Castellini hired Jocketty as a special consultant in January. The two were friends from Castellini's days in the Cardinals' ownership group.
Given that this was inevitable, the timing is probably for the best. Despite some pre-season optimism, the Reds aren't likely going to contend this year, and it's better to have your long-term guy (Jocketty) making the deadline deals than it is to have your lame duck doing them.
For the record, I don't think Krivsky was as bad a GM as many made him out to be, and continue to take issue with all of the flak he has received over the Kearns-Lopez trade. Short version: yes I realize it failed in its stated purpose of bolstering the bullpen for a playoff run, but if the Reds "lost" this trade, what does it say about the 6-15 Nats and their twin 77 OPS+ studs in Kearns and Lopez? At least the Reds got Daryl Thompson in the deal, and he's currently 2-0 with a 0.76 ERA and a 25-1 K/BB ratio in his first go-around in AA Chattanooga.
Anyway. So long, Mr. Krivsky.
(link via ShysterBall reader Jacob Lee)
4 comments:
As usual, I agree with almost everything in your post, but I've got to jump on the bandwagon regarding the (hideous, terrible, awful) Nats trade. Kearns may not be all that, but he did post OPS+ of 112 in 2006 and 103 in 2007. Also, there's the opportunity cost: does anyone really believe Krivsky received the best haul he could have gotten for two young, cheap, everyday major league position players?
Now the Nats just need to fire Bowden , put in Krivsky as his replacement, and lo, the circle continues.
I have not given up on Bray yet. For that matter I have not given up on the Reds. If the Cubs do not play up to their potential the NL Central is wide open. Why not the Reds, Cueto, Volquez, Arroyo, Harang, some good position players and a couple ( Bailey and Bruce ) studs in the high minors. It is still April.
I also have to disagree with how you are judging the Kearns/Lopez deal. Yes, they haven't been worth much in terms of production, but that is only the point in hindsight. That is often how we look at trades . . . in hindsight. The point though is that each player had a certain value in the present. What the Reds got for Kearns and Lopez was not enough because they were worth more than their resulting performance. Case in point, Jeremy Guthrie was not a great acquisition for the Orioles. No one expected him to become a serviceable starter. In hindsight, it was a great pickup, but at the time . . . it was not particularly impressive.
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