Why I am a Wayne Krivsky fan

[kaldaniels]

I wasn't making any specific point about Lohse. I was comparing what we had at the beginning of 2007 with what we have right now. Kyle Lohse has about a 4.50 ERA this year and will pitch very close to 200 innings. He has to be replaced. It's as simple as that. Justin Germano will throw 150 plus innings this year with an ERA that will come in well under 5.00 corrected for GABP. That's something also that we don't have because Krivsky gave him away for a 41 year old reliever, whom he then gave a ridiculous contract to. My point is just that right now the starting pitching is no better than it was at beginning of 2007, and, with the Livingston injury and Bailey's not making much progress, it's in really bad shape. If the rotation is worse now than in April, who would you get on if not the GM who is paid to improve the ballclub? By the way, Kyle Lohse will get a multiple year contract worth at least 8 million a year this offseason. He's way underappreciated on RZ. He's a proven major league starter who can be penciled in at the beginning of the season for nearly 200 innings. It's a huge mistake not to differentiate between somebody like Lohse and Shearn, Dumatrait, Livingston, EZ and the rest of the list of hopefuls.

Your case against Krivsky, as anyone in here that scrolls up can read, is that the rotation is worse off now than in April. We all will agree on that. I'd like to know what he should have done, being that starting pitching is such a premium.

You did bring up Loshe though to supplement your argument...but it was a move in here 99 percent of the people would agree with.

My question to you was...was what should WK have done.

Just because tranactions (that had to be done) were done and injuries occured between point A and B (5 months) that weakened the staff, we do not need to call for WK's head.

Your argument comes down to the bottom 3 of the rotation.

Loshe - had to be traded (or re-signed) we knew that the day we traded for him.

Milton - this was a pitcher in your better April staff. I would argue WK did a nice job of replacing him with Livingston. You now seem to hold his freak injury as a knock on WK.

Belisle - Still here. Struggling. That's not WK's doing.

Again...starting pitchers are not something that you pluck out of thin air. I'd say a good GM with an average payroll would be able to add/sign 1 rotation quality starter a year. You gave Wayne 5 months to turn the staff around, coupled with a freak injury and a struggling phenom. He deserves more time on this issue.

[AmarilloRed]

Your case against Krivsky, as anyone in here that scrolls up can read, is that the rotation is worse off now than in April. We all will agree on that. I'd like to know what he should have done, being that starting pitching is such a premium.

You did bring up Loshe though to supplement your argument...but it was a move in here 99 percent of the people would agree with.

My question to you was...was what should WK have done.

Just because tranactions (that had to be done) were done and injuries occured between point A and B (5 months) that weakened the staff, we do not need to call for WK's head.

Your argument comes down to the bottom 3 of the rotation.

Loshe - had to be traded (or re-signed) we knew that the day we traded for him.

Milton - this was a pitcher in your better April staff. I would argue WK did a nice job of replacing him with Livingston. You now seem to hold his freak injury as a knock on WK.

Belisle - Still here. Struggling. That's not WK's doing.

Again...starting pitchers are not something that you pluck out of thin air. I'd say a good GM with an average payroll would be able to add/sign 1 rotation quality starter a year. You gave Wayne 5 months to turn the staff around, coupled with a freak injury and a struggling phenom. He deserves more time on this issue.

I will try and answer it, though your question was not addressed to me. He might have tried to sign a starting pitcher in the off-season, instead of keeping the starting pitchers we had at the end of 2006. He seemed satisfied that the ones we had would be good enough to compete in the NL Central. I do hope he will rectify that oversight, and work on signing some FA starters in this off-season, as it will be very important if we hope to be competitive next year.

[kaldaniels]

I will try and answer it, though your question was not addressed to me. He might have tried to sign a starting pitcher in the off-season, instead of keeping the starting pitchers we had at the end of 2006. He seemed satisfied that the ones we had would be good enough to compete in the NL Central. I do hope he will rectify that oversight, and work on signing some FA starters in this off-season, as it will be very important if we hope to be competitive next year.

Cool. However Hokie's statement was...

"Sorry to intrude on the Krivsky love fest. Here's the case, in short, against Wayne Krivsky. The team has no more starting pitching right now than it did at the beginning of this season"

My reply was...what could Wayne have done since April to have the staff in better shape than it is today???

[AmarilloRed]

I see. Your question was about what he could have done since April; I only saw what he could have done to improve the staff. He has made marginal moves to improve the starting pitching since April in picking up Smit and Maloney. They will not help immediately but they could be MLB starters in the future. Another thing he might have done to improve the bullpen is keep players like Marcus McBeth, Brad Salmon, and some of the others who have been in AAA. They could have been performing on the MLB roster instead of sending them down to Louisville. He has an inclination toward keeping older players on the roster, and one day that will hurt him.

[HokieRed]

I'll tell you exactly what he should have done, only it was to be done in 2006, not in 2007. He should not have traded Justin Germano and he should have drafted Tim Lincecum. I assume he did neither of those things because he has not identified starting pitching as the team's greatest weakness (even greater than the wretched bullpen). That he has not taken the problems in the starting pitching seriously enough seems to be further suggested by the fact the rotation is in worse shape now than it was in April. I like the Lohse for Maloney deal a lot. But the fact remains we go into next year with two reliable starting pitchers, one marginal one, and a lot of talented hopefuls. That is, unless he makes a free agent move this winter, which will probably result in paying very highly for a 3rd or 4th starter.

[AmarilloRed]

In any case, it can be said that the relief pitching will be a lot better at the end of 2007 than it was at the end of 2006. Bailey, Cueto, and Maloney may be able to help the starting rotation at some point in 2008; but it is best to not count on them. We really need to try and get some SP free agents in the off-season; the problem is, the market will be really weak and they may not be worth what we pay for them. I would imagine Wayne Krivsky will try and make a trade for SP in the off-season. That may be better than going the FA route.

[GoReds33]

This team is in much better shape than it was with Bowden or Dan-O. Even though I cringe now every time I hear the Reds made a trade, the team is much better. We have an influx of minor league talent. We have more depth, and more role players, and players to add energy to the club.

[HokieRed]

Earl Weaver used to say that momentum is the next day's starting pitcher. The team will be as good as its starting pitching. The organization may be better, we may have more good role players etc., but none of that will mean anything without better starting pitching.