Wayne Krivsky was in a no-win situation.
When he took over as the Reds’ general manager three years ago, Krivsky inherited farm system was still suffering from Jim Bowden’s neglect. The major league roster wasn’t much better. So Krivsky did what he could. He wheeled. He dealed. His goal was to improve the talent without hurting the future. He traded the pipe dream that was Wily Mo Pena for Bronson Arroyo. He picked up Brandon Phillips for a song. He acquired Jeff Keppinger for next to nothing. He got Josh Hamilton and Jared Burton through the Rule 5 draft. They were improvements. Not enough to change the team’s current losing course, but improvements nonetheless.
Trouble was, the man who hired Krivsky wants to win now. "No more losing," said Reds’ owner Bob Castellini when Krivsky’s firing was announced on Wednesday. Never mind that the Reds don’t really have the talent to win now. Not big. Not enough to challenge for anything other than the possibility of a wild card spot. Maybe. If everything breaks right.
Krivsky said he was shocked, but should not have been. The day Castellini hired his old friend Walt Jocketty, the former St. Louis general manager, as special adviser, Krivsky’s fate was sealed. That the pink slip was given this early is a bit of a surprise. The Reds had only played 21 games. But Castellini is an impatient man. And Jocketty has done it before, building Oakland into a contender, then guiding St. Louis to a World Series title.
Can Jocketty do it in Cincinnati? Yes, if he builds on what Krivsky started, while avoiding the mistakes. The Austin Kearns trade to Washington two years ago hasn’t done much for either team. Krivsky overspent on Mike Stanton, Alex Gonzalez, Juan Castro, Corey Patterson. Hopefully, Jocketty’s experience eliminates those mistakes.
