GM hit ground running

[The Entertainer]

[quote][size=3][b]GM hit ground running[/b][/size]
Unafraid to deal, he did it often in 1st year with Reds

BY JOHN FAY | JFAY@ENQUIRER.COM


Bob Castellini and Jerry Narron, the men immediately above and below general manager Wayne Krivsky on the Reds' management food chain, say Krivsky's greatest asset is his decisiveness.

"He's not afraid," said Narron, the club's field manager. "I love it."

Castellini, the club's chief executive officer/owner, gave Krivsky a win-now mandate, and it fit Krivsky's style.

"He's decisive," he said. "People don't understand when you're the general manager you have many considerations. But if you feel your team is in contention, you have to do whatever you can do to keep them there."

Krivsky's decisiveness and Castellini's desire for a quick turnaround led to the defining moment of Krivsky's first year on the job as the Reds' GM.

It happened in early July. Krivsky's club was dead in the water, having lost eight of nine games going into the All-Star break. After a good start, the Reds were just one game over .500, four games behind St. Louis in the National League Central and seemingly ready for the long fade to elimination.

So Krivsky acted.

He traded his starting right fielder, Austin Kearns, and starting shortstop, Felipe Lopez, to Washington in an eight-player deal.

The second-guessing began as soon as the trade was announced. It grew when it was discovered that Gary Majewski, one of the two relievers in deal, was hurt at the time of the trade.

But Castellini stood by his man.

"The criticism he received on the Washington trade is fine," Castellini said. "It showed people cared. But we thought it was a good trade. He was going to bolster up that bullpen. Matter of fact, it did turn out that way. If you take a look at what happened last year, we had a great season in many respects. But probably the thing that hurt us the most were our bats slowing down the last four or five weeks."

The theory a lot of Reds fans subscribe to is the bats wouldn't have slowed nearly as much if Kearns and Lopez were still with the club.

But the Reds won seven of eight games immediately after the trade and stayed in contention until the penultimate day of the season.

Krivsky's first season on the job as GM was the Reds' best since 2000. The team improved its record by seven games from the year before - 73-89 in 2005 to 80-82 in 2006.

But Krivsky still is largely judged by the Washington trade. He can live with that, but he thinks it might be perceived differently down the road if Majewski returns to form and left-hander Bill Bray develops into what the Reds think he can be.

"When you're dealing with young players, it takes years," he said. "I'm satisfied with what we got. I don't like the circumstances of getting a player who was clearly hurt at the time of the trade. But we'll deal with that."

Krivsky rose in the eyes of fans just as his first year on the job came to a close and the second one started. The Reds last week signed starting pitchers Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo for at least the next four years.

The contracts were big news. But a minor transaction the week before showed what a flawed franchise Krivsky inherited: The Reds released right-handed pitching prospect Chris Gruler.

Gruler was the Reds' No. 1 draft pick in 2002, the third player picked overall. The Reds paid him $2.5 million to sign - a club record.

But Gruler never made it out of low Single-A ball because of injuries. His release came less than a year after the Reds released left-hander Ty Howington, their top pick and the 14th overall in 1999. The Reds' first pick in 2001, Jeremy Sowers, went to college rather than sign.

Three first-round picks, zero return. Those failures are part of the Reds' horrible record in drafting and developing players - particularly pitchers. The club ranks 29th of 30 teams in big-league players produced. For the club to turn around long term, that has to change.

"Absolutely, for this size market, that's something that is especially important," Krivsky said. "It starts with the draft, then your Latin American signings, your foreign signings. We have to do a better job. You have to have those decisions pay off."

The Reds' current roster includes only six drafted-and-developed players. Only two - Adam Dunn and Todd Coffey - are likely to make the club out of spring training.

Krivsky's people are in place to try to turn that around. He hired assistant GMs Bob Miller and Scott Nethery, director of pro scouting J. Harrison and senior director of scouting Chris Buckley. He promoted Terry Reynolds to director of player development.

Castellini wasn't happy to see the departure of Johnny Almaraz, the team's former director of player development. Larry Barton, a special assistant to the GM, also left. But Castellini isn't alarmed about the front-office changes.

"We haven't had that much turnover," Castellini said. "You're going to have some personality conflicts."

But, again, the attention remains on what Krivsky does with the big-league club. Much of Krivsky's first year on the job was shaped by the Reds' early success - they were 36-24 and in first place June 9.

Krivsky was an active GM from the start. By the time the season was a week old, he had obtained Arroyo, catcher David Ross and infielders Scott Hatteberg and Brandon Phillips - all of whom became key players.

Because the Reds were in contention, the moves never stopped.

"Give Wayne credit; he was doing everything he could to help us make the playoffs," Arroyo said.

Krivsky's plan coming into the job was not to turn the roster upside down. It just happened that way.

Only 15 of players on the 40-man roster when he inherited the club remain with the Reds. Amazingly, only four players obtained in Dan O'Brien's three years as GM remain on the 40-man roster.

"In the beginning, I knew there were changes I wanted to make or was hopeful to make," Krivsky said. "As time went on, as we got into the season and were playing well, you start thinking of ways to improve and stay in contention.

"Staying in contention had a lot to do with all the moves."

Krivsky remained active this offseason. The number of players he has acquired is up to 48.

The intention of his moves is to turn the Reds into a club built much more around pitching and defense. The Arroyo-for-Wily Mo Peña trade is a classic example. Sending Lopez to Washington and then signing free-agent infielder Alex Gonzalez, a superior fielder and inferior hitter, is another.

"I'm starting to get a little bit of 'Why are you going that way when it's a hitter's park?' " Krivsky said. "Theoretically, if you improve your pitching and defense, that's the way to build a competitive team. You're not going to win many World Series without good pitching. ... If you improve your defense, your pitching gets better.

"I'm not minimizing the importance of scoring runs."

Krivsky's philosophy on offense is different from the Reds' approach of the past. The club built by Jim Bowden struck out a lot and hit a lot of home runs.

Krivsky would like to see less bashing and more sound baseball.

"In our case, doing the little things can really add up," Krivsky said. "Whatever it might be: having good at-bats, doing the right thing for the situation, cutting down our strikeouts as a team, putting the ball in play."

If the Reds can do that and the pitching and defense are better, it might make fans forget - or at least forgive - the Washington trade.[/quote]



[url="http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070211/SPT04/702110449/1062/SPT"]Enquirer.com[/url]

[The Entertainer]

[quote][size=3][b]Q&A: Krivsky unfiltered[/b][/size]

BY JOHN FAY | JFAY@ENQUIRER.COM


We got general manager Wayne Krivsky's thoughts on some subjects near and dear to Reds fans. We started with the one that will be debated as long as he's GM - the trade that sent Austin Kearns, Felipe Lopez and Ryan Wagner to Washington for Bill Bray, Gary Majewski (far left) and Royce Clayton:

The Washington trade

"It's like any trade. You have to give it some time to see how it shakes out over time. Even the (Aaron) Harang-for-Jose Guillen trade - from what I understand - there were people saying, 'What are you doing getting a guy like that for a proven guy like Guillen?' It turns out it was a good move. When you're dealing with young players, it takes years. I'm satisfied with what we got. I don't like the circumstances of getting a player who was hurt at the time of the trade. We'll deal with that."

Homer Bailey

"We're glad we have him. I spent some time with him on the Winter Caravan. I thought he handled himself very well. He's mature, level-headed. He understands where he's at. He understands we're all in this together, that we want to do what's best for him long term and short term. I don't think he's getting too far ahead of himself. It's a mature attitude he has for a 20-year-old."

ADAM DUNN

"Glad to have him, too. I know Adam put a lot of pressure on himself in September after (Ken) Griffey went out. I think from talking to him he feels embarrassed - I don't know if that's the right word - but I know he's disappointed. I like to think he's worked hard and he'll be much better for the experience of last year."

The closer situation

"That will evolve in spring training. I think we've got some capable guys. It will probably be a committee. It's up to Jerry (Narron) and our staff. They might experiment with some guys in spring training. It's up to them. Maybe we don't have one guy every night. Maybe we do. I'm not smart enough to figure that out. We've got a nice mix of veterans and young guys with good stuff. Any manager would like to have a regular closer." Eddie Guardado (above) signed a minor-league deal recently but won't be ready for the start of the season.

CEO Bob Castellini

"I can't say enough. He gave me my big opportunity that I've been waiting for for a long time. I'm very comfortable with our relationship. It's very open, very honest. He's very supportive. I feel very fortunate to have him as the owner. As long as I wanted an opportunity like this, to get it with an owner like him, it makes it twice as good."[/quote]



[url="http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070211/SPT04/702110451/1071/SPT"]Enquirer.com[/url]