Recently, the Cincinnati Reds fired general manager Wayne Krivsky, in favor of former St. Louis Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty. From the standpoint of a fan neutral to the Reds, I have always been critical of the job that Krivsky did with the Reds. He made a great move in acquiring pitcher Bronson Arroyo (though I'm a big fan of Wily Mo Pena). But he committed one of, in my opinion, the worse in-season trades in baseball history when he traded SS Felipe Lopez and OF Austin Kearns for a couple of relief pitchers who are now in the minor leagues. Lopez had been an All-Star, and Kearns has the talent to be. And both were no older than 26. And I suppose he can't be blamed for having been unable to unload Ken Griffey Jr., but he should have tried. He did make a fine move by acquiring 2B Brandon Phillips, but that one may well have been luck. As for Jocketty, I think he's a great pickup for the Reds. Jocketty is a go get em' type general manager who's not afraid to do anything he thinks will improve the team. He crafted a mini-dynasty in St. Louis over recent years, making numerous big name acquisitions for low prices. And the Reds are in a place where one or two major acquisitions could make them a potential world champion.
So Who's Next?
All signs point to San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean. Sabean has a good history, but has driven the Giants into the ground in recent years. The biggest follies of his recent management have been the outlandish contracts he signed for pitchers Matt Morris and Barry Zito. Morris was traded to the Pirates for spare parts last year, and has since been released. And Zito, after signing the then-biggest contract in history by a pitcher, was bad last year, and has been so horrible this year that he has been removed from the rotation. And besides pitching, the Giants have an ancient, anemic offense that makes the 2005 Houston Astros look like the '27 Yankees. Sabean has been a good GM in the past, it was just years ago that the Giants were a perennial powerhouse. But that died with Barroid Bonds' knees. It's just time for a change in San Francisco.