Bear with me, those of you not interested in sports, as I comment on the move the Reds made today in axing their general manager Wayne Krivsky. First, let's admit that Walt Jockety is a totally different caliber of GM than Krivsky. The writing was on the wall with Jockety already on the payroll: Krivsky needed this team to perform. And they haven't; this team's holes could not be overlooked, and it was the team the Krivsky put together.
Krivsky inherited a farm system that his predecessor Dan O'Brien had made one of the best in baseball. He made some great moves, such as acquiring Brandon Phillips, getting Josh Hamilton for nothing, and locking up Aaron Harang long term. Yet he also made many high-impact, salary sucking moves that plague the team today and will impact it for years to come. Castinelli opened up his wallet to keep players we needed and chose to invest in the wrong ones: Mike Stanton, Bronson Arroyo, Corey Patterson, and Ryan Freel were all locked up for more money than they were worth. And they weren't the only misses. While some people still decry the Austin Kearns/Felipe Lopez trade, I still think minor leaguer Daryl Thompson could sway that trade towards the Reds favor.
At the end of the day, this decision makes sense. But it doesn't solve everything.
I laughed tonight as I watched the Reds on television. In the fourth inning they started interviewing Jockety about his new job. When the conversation started, the Reds trailed 2-1 to the Astros. By the time the inning was over, the score was 9-1.
The starting pitcher was Bronson Arroyo, who is winless this year, who has not pitched well in two years, and is owed $30million through 2011 thanks to Wayne Krivsky.
Welcome to the job, Walt. You have a lot of work ahead of you.