Reds' GM choice down to two: Krivsky and Beattie to have 2nd interviews today

[savafan]

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...302080007/1071

BY JOHN FAY | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The Reds' search for a general manager continued today.

"It's not over," said Joe McBride, a spokesman for CEO Bob Castellini. "There are still interviews to be done."

Two sources confirmed that the race is down to Jim Beattie and Wayne Krivsky. Both were to meet with Castellini and his interview committee Wednesday.

Beattie, the former Baltimore GM, is currently working for the Reds as a special adviser to Castellini. He's been in town throughout the search process.

Krivsky, an assistant GM manager with the Minnesota Twins, traveled from his home in Arlington, Texas, to Cincinnati Tuesday night.

Krivsky was the choice of many within the Reds organization in 2003, but Dan O'Brien got the job. O'Brien was fired Jan. 23.

Krivsky has been with the Twins since 1994 and helped make the small-market team competitive.

Beattie was co-GM in Baltimore with Mike Flanagan since December of 2002. He was GM in Montreal from 1995 through 2001.

Beattie, 51, is a former big league pitcher. He was 52-87 in nine big league seasons.

Krivsky, also 51, played college ball at Duke. He worked for the Texas Rangers before joinging the Twins. One of his duties with Minnesota has been to scout the National League.

The Reds originally had a list of nine candidates. The others: Brad Kullman, the Reds interim general manager; Leland Maddox, Reds scout and former scouting director; Johnny Almaraz, Reds director of international scouting; Frank Wren, assistant general manager with Atlanta; Mike Arbuckle, assistant general manager with Philadelphia; David Wilder, Chicago White Sox assistant general manager; and John Mozeliak, St. Louis assistant general manager.

Castellini said on Tuesday that he hoped to have a GM in place by Friday.

[ochre]

So its down to Krivsky and O'Beattie, eh? Sounds familiar.

[KronoRed]

Still hope

[Caveat Emperor]

My two least-favorite candidates in the search: The Bridesmaid-but-never-the-bride and the perpetually unsuccessful guy playing the "bad situations" card who just happens to have the boss's ear.

That euphoria from the DanO firing sure has faded fast.

[Falls City Beer]

I suspect (just suspecting here, no real evidence or anything) that Beattie and Krivsky represent two potential paths for the organization--Beattie being the "build the team through trades/FA" delegate and Krivsky being the "build through the farm, trades" representative. Each will make his pitch to Castellini's "impatience"--how quickly can the Reds be winning ballgames on a regular basis? And each will outline his plan. I hope Cast is smart enough to realize that the answer to that question is: every way and any way.

Which means Kullman should have been his choice. I like that Kullman's gone on record saying he'd basically sell his soul to the devil to get the Reds going right. I believe it. That's the kind of person this organization needs. Total ruthlessness.

[Joseph]

I hope it's Krivsky and that Kullman is given considerable leeway to be more than a numbers guy in the background.

[RedsManRick]

I imagine the Beattie would not stay on board as a consultant if he's not chosen. I would think he'd be averse to a two-headed monster situation yet again.

[Gallen5862]

I am that Krivsky wins the Gm job. Hopefully Kulman stays and maybe keep Beattie in some capacity.

[KronoRed]

I imagine the Beattie would not stay on board as a consultant if he's not chosen. I would think he'd be averse to a two-headed monster situation yet again.

Which makes me think he was given the job from the start and this whole interview process is a PR game

Hope I'm wrong

[Reds Fanatic]

Hopefully Krivsky still has a chance at the job. If they had already made up their mind to give the job to Beattie I don't know why they would fly Krivsky up here from Texas last night.

[lollipopcurve]

I'm guessing Castellini will try to keep them both.

[Doc. Scott]

I suspect (just suspecting here, no real evidence or anything) that Beattie and Krivsky represent two potential paths for the organization--Beattie being the "build the team through trades/FA" delegate and Krivsky being the "build through the farm, trades" representative. Each will make his pitch to Castellini's "impatience"--how quickly can the Reds be winning ballgames on a regular basis? And each will outline his plan. I hope Cast is smart enough to realize that the answer to that question is: every way and any way.

Which means Kullman should have been his choice. I like that Kullman's gone on record saying he'd basically sell his soul to the devil to get the Reds going right. I believe it. That's the kind of person this organization needs. Total ruthlessness.

I don't think Kullman would ultimately be successful as the Reds' GM. Sure, he seems to do well with analysis- I have no doubt most of his moves would stand up to cognoscenti scrutiny- but I think he'd alienate the fanbase and media the minute something went majorly wrong. You'd ask why we should care about that if the moves were right, but I hold up one Paul DePodesta as an example of a guy who did the right things, but ended up unsuccessful because of a combination of bad PR (whether it was his fault or not is immaterial) and bad luck.

Until Marty Brennaman and Hal McCoy are sipping gimlets in Sun City, this organization won't be the right place for the Young Turk. Sure, Jim Bowden stuck around a long time as that guy, but this time the ownership demands stronger accountability.

[traderumor]

Which makes me think he was given the job from the start and this whole interview process is a PR game

Hope I'm wrong

I can't imagine doing second interviews with that scenario.

[Falls City Beer]

I don't think Kullman would ultimately be successful as the Reds' GM. Sure, he seems to do well with analysis- I have no doubt most of his moves would stand up to cognoscenti scrutiny- but I think he'd alienate the fanbase and media the minute something went majorly wrong. You'd ask why we should care about that if the moves were right, but I hold up one Paul DePodesta as an example of a guy who did the right things, but ended up unsuccessful because of a combination of bad PR (whether it was his fault or not is immaterial) and bad luck.

Until Marty Brennaman and Hal McCoy are sipping gimlets in Sun City, this organization won't be the right place for the Young Turk. Sure, Jim Bowden stuck around a long time as that guy, but this time the ownership demands stronger accountability.

Sure, the pea-brained culture police would give him holy hell, I'm sure. But I'm speaking in the abstract: I want results, not a guy with a huge smile, a strong handshake, and a bedside manner that lets go the words "Be patient" trippingly from the tongue.

Honestly, I think anyone who comes here and has a modicum of success is going to end up as target practice for Marty's and Hal's bile jarts. They despise success and intelligence.

[REDREAD]

For those that want Kullman though.. what has he really accomplished while he was here?

It's hard to draw the line between Maddox/Kullman on the Claussen and Harang trades.. But even if you count those as 100% Kullman, it doesn't mean that Kullman can turn the farm around. It doesn't even mean that Kullman can make a trade if he doesn't have a very hot commodity.
For example, just about any GM should be able to get a good return for Dunn and Lopez. We need a GM that could get a good return on our secondary players like Freel, Kearns, etc.

I'm not saying Kullman would stink. I don't know. Just wondering why he has such strong support around here. In all fairness, couldn't one say that Kullman was partially responsible for the mess we are in now? Where was he when DanO was out getting Milton and Ortiz? Why didn't he speak up if he could crunch the numbers and say those guys were bad?

I think it's going to take more than a saber mind to turn this team around. DanO actually made a saber arguement to bring Jimmeniz back (against the advice of some of his advisors). As I said before, Bowden was very big into using computer modeling to predict the future performance of players. It's not like this franchise is stuck in the stone age. They have already tried some saber ideas.

My big hope is that Cast genuinely wants to win, so we'll actually give more than lip service to the farm system, and maybe attract a few decent FAs to make the team tolerable while it rebuilds.. In other words, no more punting 1st round draft picks, drafting on signablity, etc.