Doc sez Krivsky FIRED!

[redsmetz]

Originally Posted by REDREAD

Ok, he had about 2.5 offseasons to make the changes he wanted.
He was actually quite active in that first partial offseason.
If I remember right, he picked up Arroyo, Ross, Hat, Cody Ross, and maybe others? That's a pretty active offseason. Aguably, it was his best offseason.

I would suggest again, that he had only two offseasons - once Spring Training starts, the offseason is over - it's the new season. From the list back on Page Ten, here's what Krivsky did from his hiring until the regular season opened.

* 2-12-06: Scott Hatteberg signed to a one-year, $750K deal.
* 2-13-06: Adam Dunn signed to two-year, $18.5MM extension.
* 3-20-06: Acquired Bronson Arroyo for Wily Mo Pena.
* 3-21-06: Acquired David Ross for Bobby Basham.

Now again, I lay that completely at the feet of MLB - they did a genuine disservice to the Reds by dragging their feet until the new year to finalize an ownership change that was in front of them for months before the sale was approved.

I'm not suggesting that it would have made a difference either way, but one can hardly call being hired a week before Spring Training having any part of an off-season to do anything. It's amazing what he was able to accomplish right out of the chute.

I agree with those that say the Reds are in a better position overall because of the work Krivsky did. It wasn't perfect, but having come in with such a short start to a new season, he's moved us dramatically from where we were.

Could he ultimately have reached his goal? We'll never know. I've seen a lot of valid points about his failures throughout this discussion (which has been one of RZ's best, IMO). I just hope this isn't a situation of having moved up so many steps and being set back many more than that. Like others, I'm tired of such a disfunctional team and organization.

[Matt700wlw]

I'm not so much shocked that they got rid of him, hiring Jocketty was pretty much the writing on the wall that a change would be coming if the team on the field didn't live up to expectations...I'm DEFINITELY shocked that they did it this early.

Shows Bob isn't messing around....

[OldRightHander]

If you're on the Reds' email list, you get the news after everyone's been talking about it for a while. This just arrived in my email.

Reds Name Walt Jocketty President of Baseball Operations and General Manager

Cincinnati Reds President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Castellini announced Wednesday that special advisor Walt Jocketty has been named President of Baseball Operations and General Manager, replacing Wayne Krivsky.

Jocketty was hired January 11 as special advisor to advise and assist Castellini in every facet of baseball operations, including matters related to the front office, Major League field and support personnel, scouting and minor league and international operations along with training and medical services.

A 33-year veteran of professional baseball, including the previous 13 with St. Louis as general manager, Jocketty's Cardinals teams went to the playoffs seven times. He won the National League Central Division six times and the 2001 NL Wild Card while earning two National League championships and the 2006 World Series title. The Cardinals have produced winning seasons in seven of the last eight years.

While general manager in St. Louis, Jocketty was named Major League Baseball's Executive of the Year by The Sporting News in 2000 and 2004 and by Baseball America in 2000. In 2004, he also received the Rube Foster Legacy Award from the Negro Hall of Fame as National League Executive of the Year.

A press conference will be held at 4:00 p.m. ET live on reds.com.

[Caseyfan21]

So what's the deal with Jocketty?

I assume he is now full time GM, nothing interim. How long is he signed for? Is he just GM for the rest of this year or is he expected to stay multiple years? I haven't seen answers to these questions and I assume it will be answered during the press conference.

All indications I see is that Walt is in it for the long haul now...

[Highlifeman21]

Originally Posted by redsfan30

The timing of this move is awful....just awful. Unless there were MAJOR problems in the front office that he was directly responsible for.....

My initial response is this is a bad move....

That's ironic, b/c my initial response is this is a great move.

This isn't a shuffling of the deck chairs on the Titanic move, this is a move by an owner not happy with the team his GM had put on the field.

The status quo wasn't remotely working.

No more status quo.

[Matt700wlw]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

I'm not very pleased with this. You can say goodbye to our strong farm system. After all these years of having nothing in the farm, Wayne was able to build it up into a top notch system. Damn.

Should we dig up your quotes from past threads where you said when Krivsky is no longer the GM it will be a good thing?

[OldXOhio]

Originally Posted by Highlifeman21

That's ironic, b/c my initial response is this is a great move.

This isn't a shuffling of the deck chairs on the Titanic move, this is a move by an owner not happy with the team his GM had put on the field.

The status quo wasn't remotely working.

No more status quo.

Does Cast know enough about building a winner to accurately make this assessment? Or was a special adviser consulting him on it?

[lollipopcurve]

The status quo wasn't remotely working.

Merry-go-round front offices don't work either. Let's hope they get it right this time, because it's been awhile.

[flyer85]

Originally Posted by Matt700wlw

Should we dig up your quotes from past threads where you said when Krivsky is no longer the GM it will be a good thing?

nothing says "RedsZone" like a good kick in the soft parts while someone is on the ground.

[Benihana]

Originally Posted by Caseyfan21

So what's the deal with Jocketty?

I assume he is now full time GM, nothing interim. How long is he signed for? Is he just GM for the rest of this year or is he expected to stay multiple years? I haven't seen answers to these questions and I assume it will be answered during the press conference.

All indications I see is that Walt is in it for the long haul now...

From the Reds website, Jocketty is signed through the 2011 season. By all indications, the Reds' window to contend is now open, 2008-2011.

[remdog]

I'm certainly surprised by the timing of this but not too surprised by the end result. I thought Krivsky would last until the end of the season but I had a feeling that he wouldn't be back. As far as my opinion of him as a GM, I'm pretty much neutral but Jocketty was the one that made Castellini's eyes sparkle.

I think a number of things lead up to this happening now:
---Krivsky obviously rubbed some people the wrong way, maybe Bob was one of them.
---The outlandish contracts given to players that were, at best, bench fodder. The Dodgers announcers were talking about giving Patterson $3M when no one else was willing to give him $500K as an example. This stuff does not go unnoticed around the league.
---It's entirely possible that Dusty said something like, "I can't win with this roster even though the division is wide open for the taking".
---Jocketty has been in this division for a long, long time and obviously knows the Cards well. He may have told Bob that the Cards will come back to earth and that with some moves the Reds can still swoop in and take this thing.
---There was the story about Castellini and Dunn sharing ribs in Bob's office over the winter and having a great time. Bob wants Dunn signed but it doesn't look like Krivsky was doing anything to make it happen. This may have elevated the friction between Bob and Wayne.

I'm guessing that Dunn gets signed to an extention. I don't worry too much about the Reds trading Bruce because they'll need another OF next year. However, with Volquez and Cueto emerging I could see Bailey being moved and, for the right player, I wouldn't have a problem with that. One of the reasons for having a strong farm system is to produce players that you can trade in order to get solid players to fill the holes you have at the major league level.

Rem

[redsfan30]

Originally Posted by lollipopcurve

Merry-go-round front offices don't work either. Let's hope they get it right this time, because it's been awhile.

Exactly.

[Caseyfan21]

Originally Posted by remdog

I'm guessing that Dunn gets signed to an extention. I don't worry too much about the Reds trading Bruce because they'll need another OF next year. However, with Volquez and Cueto emerging I could see Bailey being moved and, for the right player, I wouldn't have a problem with that. One of the reasons for having a strong farm system is to produce players that you can trade in order to get solid players to fill the holes you have at the major league level.

Rem

I agree with everything you said, but if this team trades Bruce or Bailey they better be very sure they're getting the right pieces in return. This team is on the edge of really putting together a solid core of young talent (so it seems) and if Jocketty decides to take more of a win now mentality than waiting another year or two, he better be careful not to trade away pieces that put the Reds back another 5-7 years if the trades don't pan out.

[redsrule2500]

Ugh of course this would all happen the day before my huge Differential Equations midterm. Now I'm just reading Reds crap all day....Thanks Bob

[Aronchis]

Originally Posted by Caseyfan21

I agree with everything you said, but if this team trades Bruce or Bailey they better be very sure they're getting the right pieces in return. This team is on the edge of really putting together a solid core of young talent (so it seems) and if Jocketty decides to take more of a win now mentality than waiting another year or two, he better be careful not to trade away pieces that put the Reds back another 5-7 years if the trades don't pan out.

The chance of the Reds trading Bruce is nill. He is almost part of the team right now.