One of the brightest moments of Wayne Krivsky's short career as Reds general manager was his heist of second baseman Brandon Phillips from the Indians for a player to be named later. Since the trade, he's provided Cincy with a good bat and a great glove at second base.
That trade was more than three years ago, but with a Cleveland-Cincinnati series looming this weekend, Phillips still has some harsh words for Eric Wedge, his manager in Cleveland and still the Tribe's skipper today. Without being specific, Phillips says that Wedge and the Indians, "Wouldn't let me be me." More of his quote (from the Dayton Daily News) is after the jump
One thing that was made quite clear this week is that the New York Mets do not run the smoothest operation in the world. The decision to fire Willie Randolph took too long, the way they fired him was sloppy and multiple people have been accused of working behind his back to expedite his departure.
The overarching theme was that there were too many cooks in the Mets kitchen and that the Wilpons listened to all of them before making every decision. What better way to begin rectifying that than by bringing in another guy in a white coat. The Mets hired former Reds GM Wayne Krivsky to be a Special Assistant to Omar Minaya. His main responsibility will be major league scouting. He did some nice things with the Reds, especially taking a shot on Josh Hamilton and turning him into Edinson Volquez, but some poor ones as well. It's probably best if he's a step or two removed from pulling the trigger.
Given the way the Mets operate, you might expect that his secondary job would be sharpening knives to drive into Minaya's back. He'd have to battle another assistant GM, Tony Bernazard, for that honor, however. Minaya and Krivsky actually worked together with the Rangers for a long time, so this is more likely a case of the GM bringing in someone who has his back rather than someone who has designs on his job. Not a bad idea when your job security isn't the strongest.
Ryan Freel has become a bit player for the Reds, seeing most of his time as a defensive replacement or pinch hitter. Why is this? Apparently because of a conversation he allegedly had with Dusty Baker in which he said he wasn't comfortable playing every day. Trouble is, Freel doesn't recall ever having this conversation. From John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer:
"It would have stunned a lot of people if they heard what was said about me. Apparently, I said I couldn't play every day to the manager. Apparently, I told him that this offseason. That would have never come out of mouth."
[...] "I talked to Wayne (Krivsky) to tell him I didn't say that," Freel said. "I would never in a million years say that. They gave me a two-year ($7 million) deal. I don't think it was to do this. It's frustrating. I can't explain it. There's a lot going on. It's a shame that I had to address it like this. I didn't want to get the media involved."
Fortunately somebody had the decency to remind Baker that Corey Patterson isn't very good at the game of baseball, but in the meantime Jerry Hairston has been recalled from the minors and taken a lot of the at-bats Freel would normally get, playing anywhere and everywhere on the field. Making matters worse (for Freel, not the Reds) is that Hairston is actually hitting right now (.364 heading into tonight's game), which means Freel will likely continue to be snubbed for the time being.
The fact that Wayne Krivsky got fired wasn't terribly surprising since he's got a pretty spotty track record and a much better GM (Walt Jocketty) was already employed in the Reds' front office. What was a little more surprising was the timing. Why after 21 games? If the Reds were as determined to dump Krivsky as they seem to be, why not do it in the off-season? What about 21 games could tell them something they didn't already know? The only person that can answer that question is Bob Castellini, so let's see what he had to say in today's Cincinnati Enquirer:
"I don't think anybody in the organization is happy with the results on a win-loss basis," Castellini said. "We've had two losing seasons under our new ownership, and we started out this season poorly on a win-loss basis. That's the primary reason why we made the change."
Coughcoughbullcrapcoughcough. Sorry, but you don't blame a GM for a 9-12 start. Seeing that kind of statement from Castellini kind of confirms what everyone suspected: that Castellini's wanted Krivsky out almost since the beginning of his ownership and he's taking the first possible open door to do so.
I don't really have a problem with that, but the article linked above indicates that Krivsky had no idea this was coming. Maybe he's just stupid to not connect the dots with Jocketty's hiring in January, but it seems kind of low to ambush a guy like the Reds did when they really had no plans of keeping him employed in the first place. Then again ... what's the phrase about crying and baseball?
It's hard to say exactly what the last straw was for Krivsky. Was it giving in to Dusty Baker, signing Corey Patterson and demoting Jay Bruce? Was it actually hiring Baker in the first place? Or was this going to happen somewhere down the road eventually and Castellini and Jocketty decided now was as good a time as any? The Reds' 9-12 start isn't great, but it's certainly not unexpected, so it's probably the last one. Every owner wants his own GM in place and Castellini should be no different.
Ultimately, Krivsky's legacy is going to be mixed in Cincinnati. He made some great moves (plucking Brandon Phillips off waivers for a PTBNL, drafting Jay Bruce) and some awful ones (the Austin Kearns trade and his weird obsession with middle relievers in general). In the end though, he'd managed to stockpile a ton of young talent that was ready for the big leagues all at the same time, and that makes his firing seem at least a little unfair, despite all the criticisms surrounding him. He'll certainly be stewing if the Reds make the playoffs next year and Jocketty takes all the credit.
There is an incredible story about scouting talent from Reds Insider (via MLB Trade Rumors) that was released yesterday, where John Fay points out that sometimes there's a distinct difference in how various prospects -- particularly in the increasingly global nature of today's baseball world -- arrive to the majors. To make that point, he contrasts how Cincy pulled Edison Volquez and Johnny Cueto.
To get Volquez, the Reds gave up Josh Hamilton, a high price to pay.
To get Cueto, they spent $3,500 and trusted the instincts of a very good scout.
The Reds were looking to fill out their Dominican Summer League roster in March of 2004. Johnny Almaraz, the then-director of international operations, was in the D.R. supervising the process. His scouts were doing most of the signing. But a friend of his from San Pedro de Macoris kept trying to get Almaraz to look at a little right-hander.
'I told him the only way I could do it was on my way to airport,' Almaraz said. 'I told him if he could get a game together at 7 in the morning, I'd watch the kid throw.'
I mean, that's ridiculous. Not only did they land a kid who seems like a can't miss (although we know how that often goes with Dusty Baker in charge) but they pulled off signing him for a measly three thousand five hundred dollars.
As Fay points out, though, general manager Wayne Krivisky is probably going to regret not getting along with Almaraz; the former scout (and obvious eye for talent) moved onto the Braves in the same position after some disputes with the new GM. Yeah the Reds are a serious sleeper team this year, but Krivisky's penchant for middle relievers that don't pan out, managers that destroy youthful arms and an apparent inability to get along with one of the best scouts in his organization doesn't bode very well for the future.
I am no fan of Dusty Baker. You can click that picture of the sexy guy in sunglasses and the posts that come up as a result will tell you that (or just go here). In fact, there have probably been 100 Gmail chats and MLB 'Haus e-mail threads in the past month that have begun with, "OMG!! CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT DUSTY'S DOING NOW?!?" and I've certainly contributed more than my share of them. Accordingly, my reaction yesterday afternoon at the news of Jay Bruce's demotion was pretty similar to Eamonn's.
Then, I sat back and thought about it for a while. It's really not fair at all to blame Dusty for Bruce's demotion, because GM Wayne Krivsky has the final say. Baker may have influenced Krivksy's decision making, but Krivsky's the one that lowers the axe when it comes to demotions and if Bruce is going to AAA, it's because Krivsky wants him there and not because Dusty Baker does.
Insanely, I have found several ways to honestly justify sending Bruce down in my head. I am not a Reds' fan trying to make myself feel better, but rather a baseball fan trying to make sense of why the Reds would not want what is possibly the league's most exciting young player on their roster. Follow along after the jump and please help me decide if I'm crazy.
When Dusty Baker took the Reds' managerial job, lots of Reds' fans were not pleased with the news. Dusty seems like a bad fit for the Reds because he's known to stick with veteran players for as long as he can and the Reds have a team full of young, promising players. That problem hasn't reared it's head yet, but rumors out of Cincinnati have started flying with the most veteran name of them all: Kenny Lofton.
For what it's worth, Wayne Krivsky is denying the rumors, but he's the GM. It's his job to deny the rumors. With days running out until pitchers and catchers report to camp in Florida and Arizona, Lofton's got to be close to signing somewhere. I suppose he could be retiring, but that seems unlikely.
I suppose the Reds could just be looking to add a left-handed bat in the outfield with Josh Hamilton gone, but signing a guy like Lofton (who's almost 41) just seems like asking for trouble in Cincy when Jay Bruce is ready to play with the big club sometime around the All-Star break (that's a conservative guess). Of course, Bruce isn't even 21 yet and who better to be a father figure for him on the Reds than someone actually old enough to be his father?
Despite the fact that I'm not into rampant speculation, I'm going to speculate anyway because this one may be too obvious to ignore. The Reds today hired former World Champion GM Walt Jocketty to be a special adviser to chief executive officer Bob Castellini. The question hereby becomes: what does this mean to the long-term future of current GM Wayne Krivsky in Cincinnati?
Wayne Krivsky will remain the Reds general manager. Jocketty will advise Castellini on the front office, field and support personnel, scouting and minor league operations. Castellini is a former member of the Cardinals' ownership group. (...)
"I will report to Bob Castellini (and) will be working with Wayne on every aspect of baseball operations. I will assist him and advise him the best way I can. (...)
Krivsky said he considers Jocketty "another set of eyes and ears to evaluate how we're doing things. Another quality baseball person to be a part of the team." (...)
"I see Walt and I agreeing on the vast majority of things because we have the same background."
I'm probably stating the obvious here so feel free to shout "duh" at me, but this can't be good for Krivsky. Jocketty and Krivsky can have the best working relationship in the world, an there's absolutely no reason to believe that they'll have a bad one. And there isn't any reason to think that Jocketty is looking to undercut the incumbent.
But the Reds had better come out of the gates strong because if not, and the Reds look for a fall guy, it's going to be Krivsky. It's not going to be the the newly hired Dusty Baker, and it sure as heck isn't going to be Jocketty, now the ready-made in house option to make Reds fans feel good about something if the Reds start out 15-28 and a change needs to be made.
A source with the Reds said Jocketty would become CEO, with Castellini retaining the title of president. A source in St. Louis said Jocketty has been offered the president's chair.
Jocketty is considering the offer and has told friends he would have a job in baseball within a week. If he comes to Cincinnati, he most likely would be in charge of baseball operations, a position below Castellini and above General Manager Wayne Krivsky.
Castellini, who heads the Reds' ownership group, refused to talk Friday about upcoming moves by the Reds, including the naming of a permanent manager, and said, "I don't mean to be difficult, but we're not talking about any of this. We're in a shutdown period."
Given Krivsky's spotted record as GM of the Reds the past two years, I imagine he's going to go on the hot seat very quickly with Jocketty in the organization and working above him. And if Jocketty does take this job, well, given Tony La Russa's shock at Jocketty's ouster in St. Louis, Dusty Baker probably shouldn't bank on being the only big name candidate for the Reds open managerial position.
One of the brightest moments of Wayne Krivsky's short career as Reds general manager was his heist of second baseman Brandon Phillips from the Indians for a player to be named later. Since the trade, he's provided Cincy with a good bat and a great glove at second base. 
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