Today's Columbus Dispatch on Krivsky

[BuckeyeRedleg]

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/spor...231-G1-03.html

Aggressive Reds GM

Cincinnati Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky took a moment in mid-December to look at the team’s 40-man roster and even he was surprised to see the number of new names.

Twenty of the players listed were not in the organization when the team’s new owner, Bob Castellini, hired Krivsky on Feb. 8 to alter the direction of the franchise.

Looking back, Krivsky can scarcely remember the first weeks on the job.

"It’s kind of unusual to get a job that late," he said. "I had a week before the start of spring training, and Adam Dunn’s arbitration hearing was coming up. I had a lot on my plate. I don’t expect that kind of turnover this year with a full year on the job."

Still, a whirlwind of change has followed his arrival with 45 players coming through the door. Some deals have drawn universal praise —think pitcher Bronson Arroyo and second baseman Brandon Phillips.

Others haven’t — the trade of shortstop Felipe Lopez and right fielder Austin Kearns to the Washington Nationals in July continues to raise hackles.

"I knew it was going to be a controversial trade," Krivsky said. "The state of our bullpen needed to be addressed or we were going to be in trouble. And something that is overlooked is that the trade opened a spot (in right field) for Ryan Freel to play. Where else was he going to play? "

The Reds filed a grievance with Major League Baseball because pitcher Gary Majewski arrived from the Nationals with a sore right shoulder. That remains in limbo. But he is healthy now, Krivsky said, and expected to be an integral part of the ’07 bullpen.

The organizational overhaul is ongoing, with youngsters such as pitcher Homer Bailey and outfielders Jay Bruce and Drew Stubbs rising through the minor-league system.

"It takes time," Krivsky said. "The goal is to have a couple of guys ready to help the major-league club every year. You want to start a steady stream of guys. The Minnesota Twins, where I came from, are the model for that.

"We want to get a little younger at every level. You don’t want older guys impeding the progress of younger players. We want to be considered the kind of organization that contends every year."

— Jim Massie

jmassie@dispatch.com

[edabbs44]

Others haven’t — the trade of shortstop Felipe Lopez and right fielder Austin Kearns to the Washington Nationals in July continues to raise hackles.

"I knew it was going to be a controversial trade," Krivsky said. "The state of our bullpen needed to be addressed or we were going to be in trouble. And something that is overlooked is that the trade opened a spot (in right field) for Ryan Freel to play. Where else was he going to play? "

Alright, WK is now a liar. After "the trade", he said it was Deno's time. Way to change your story.

The eight-player deal that sent RF Austin Kearns to Washington represents an opportunity for Chris Denorfia, who was called up from Triple-A Louisville to fill the roster spot. Denorfia will get a chance to be the primary right fielder. "It's his time," GM Wayne Krivsky said. "We think he's ready."

Each day, I dislike WK more and more.

[Tom Servo]

Cincinnati Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky took a moment in mid-December to look at the team's 40-man roster and even he was surprised to see the number of new names.

"Chad Moeller!? What the hell was I smoking?"

[Dracodave]

"Chad Moeller!? What the hell was I smoking?"

You know this leads me to believe that

• The recent resignations have forced Krivisky to really go "Wow I did mess up big time."
• try to save some face with using Freel as the every day player.
• He needs to get younger cause we're starting to resemble the Giants here
• Is Bob now pressuring him to get younger and get a better team cause everyone else is shelling out cash?
• That Krivisky probably has no idea what he's doing anymore. And who are the people on the roster that he doesn't like? Half the people there are people he's signed or traded for that probably wont help next year

[Sean_CaseyRules]

I came from, are the model for that.

"We want to get a little younger at every level. You don’t want older guys impeding the progress of younger players. We want to be considered the kind of organization that contends every year."
jmassie@dispatch.com

What's with conine then?

[mth123]

What's with conine then?

Easy. There was stated need for a RH 1B and Conine was an obvious odd man out in Philly when Werth signed. WK picks-up guys no one else wants to fill his needs because its easier than actual creativity. Good thing a few of them worked out last year.

[Patrick Bateman]

What's with conine then?

None of the "old guys" that Krivsky signed are impeding the progress of younger players. It's not like the minor league system is bursting with young talent just waiting to crack the major league line-up.

The Reds have basically zero major league ready guys. The band-aids picked up in the off-season will serve the purpose of playing for a season or two until some of the prospects are ready. We need the prospects first though.

[jojo]

Alright, WK is now a liar. After "the trade", he said it was Deno's time. Way to change your story.



Each day, I dislike WK more and more.

c'mon......he also said a bonus of the trade was Clayton's defense and that the trade definitively demonstrated that the Reds were willing to take on payroll..... Liar, liar, pants on fire. The trade was more about addressing payroll issues for this off season than addressing defense or roster issues....

This was a preemptive salary dump sold to fans as a win now/improve-the-defense move and masquerading to baseball pundits as one of the dumbest trades of the season....

Without even debating the wisdom of dumping Lopez (smart) and Kearns (dumb) or how effectively they are using the *payroll flexibility* gained, lets just call a spade a spade. What bugs me the most is the dishonest spin,,,, if you're pissing on my head, I'd prefer an honest explanation rather than an attempt to convince me its raining....

Here's the commitments to payroll in '07 resulting from this trade:

Nats: Lopez+Kearns in '07: $8-9M (guesstimate-both are arb eligible and will get a raise.... it's undetermined what the Nats will try to do with contracts)

Reds: Bray+Maj in '07: around $800K

Gone: Clayton and Harris (very likely).

[mth123]

c'mon......he also said a bonus of the trade was Clayton's defense and that the trade definitively demonstrated that the Reds were willing to take on payroll..... Liar, liar, pants on fire. The trade was more about addressing payroll issues for this off season than addressing defense or roster issues....

This was a preemptive salary dump sold to fans as a win now/improve-the-defense move and masquerading to baseball pundits as one of the dumbest trades of the season....

Without even debating the wisdom of dumping Lopez (smart) and Kearns (dumb), lets just call a spade a spade. What bugs me the most is the dishonest spin,,,, if you're pissing on my head, I'd prefer an honest explanation rather than an attempt to convince me its raining....

Here's the commitments to payroll in '07 resulting from this trade:

Nats: Lopez+Kearns in '07: $8-9M (guesstimate-both are arb eligible and will get a raise.... it's undetermined what the Nats will try to do with contracts)

Reds: Bray+Maj in '07: around $800K

Gone: Clayton and Harris (very likely).

I agree. And the bullpen, which the trade was to fix, is exactly where most of the savings was spent (on Weathers and Stanton). So the trade was for 4 mediocre pen arms who all are nothing more than 7th inning relievers right now.

[Tom Servo]

I don't buy that it was a really a salary dump. If anything, I think it showed what Wayne really thought of Kearns and FeLo and their percieved value.

[mth123]

I don't buy that it was a really a salary dump. If anything, I think it showed what Wayne really thought of Kearns and FeLo and their percieved value.

I think the fact that these guys were going to be going to arbitration was a large factor in why they were the chosen trade bait in the first place.

[edabbs44]

I don't buy that it was a really a salary dump. If anything, I think it showed what Wayne really thought of Kearns and FeLo and their percieved value.

Even if he didn't think highly of them, it didn't mean he had to give them away. It was laughable when he said that the trade showed where the market was for relief pitching.

[Unassisted]

Alright, WK is now a liar. After "the trade", he said it was Deno's time. Way to change your story.

Deno's underperformance and Freel's overshadowing of Deno should get the blame for that bit of revisionist history.

I'm hopeful that Bray's and Majewski's contributions to the 2007 Reds will go a long way toward making the Kearns and Lopez delegations of RedsZone eat some of their criticism of the trade.

[RedsManRick]

Brad Salmon, say hello to Mike Stanton.

And talk about revisionist history. Deno got 25 AB in July and 15 in August. When he started getting regular time in September (54 AB), he put up a .352/.407/.463. Chris never got a real full shot and he outperformed Freel when he did.

[edabbs44]

Deno's underperformance and Freel's overshadowing of Deno should get the blame for that bit of revisionist history.

I'm hopeful that Bray's and Majewski's contributions to the 2007 Reds will go a long way toward making the Kearns and Lopez delegations of RedsZone eat some of their criticism of the trade.

Freel had an outstanding July, but here's the numbers in August and Sept/Oct. I'm not sure of Freel's performance in July after the trade, but he had a great month as a whole.

Freel August (109 ABs): .220/.325/.275
Freel Sept/Oct (53 ABs): .208/.311/.302

Denorfia August (15 ABs): .067/.176/.067
Denorfia Sept/Oct (54 ABs): .352/.407/.463

The best part is that, after Wayne gave him the kiss of death ("It's his time"), Deno had a combined 40 ABs in July and August. Hardly an audition. But if he is bragging that the trade opened up a spot for Freel, then he needs his head examined.