Quickest way to fix Reds: Cancel Wayne's World
In these prescriptive baseball columns O' mine, I throw a couple of ideas out into the ether and promptly wash my hands of them. Never once have I entertained the possibility that I could do a better job running a baseball team than the dudes/dudettes currently in charge of whatever franchise I'm evaluating.
That said, after conducting a full-body franchise physical, I am reasonably certain I could do a better job running the Cincinnati Reds than Wayne Krivsky.
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| Shipping out Adam Dunn's bat would be silly. (Getty Images) |
Not only can I Save This Franchise!™©®?, but I'd like to be considered for the gig when Cincy ownership gets wise to Krivsky's contractual and asset-swapping impotence within a year or two. Assuming Les Rouges are general-managed with even the barest hint of competence over the next 12 months, they've got a narrow window for contention in the two or three seasons to follow. Seriously, where should I send my resumé? I won't ask for much in the way of perks, outside of an on-call Town Car and generous grooming stipend.
Short-term outlook: No team that calls the NL Central home can be deemed a non-contender; as we've discussed, even the Pirates could possibly luck/bad-hop their way into 85 wins. The Reds' problem is that they don't project to score a whole lot of runs, which will put a ton of pressure on their shallow-as-a-starlet rotation, 642 middling middle relievers and clunky defenders to keep runs off the board. Given that they're slated to play 81 games in Un-Riverfront and a bunch more in homer-happy Minute Maid and Wrigley, that's wishful thinking.
Assets: For all the yapping about how the Reds lack starting pitching, few NL teams boast a more consistent top-of-the-rotation tandem than Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo. You can't like the 59 dingers they gave up between them in 2006, nor their particular facial-hair predilections, but they look set for another 425-450 above-average innings in 2007 and beyond (I'm assuming the team will soon attempt to sign Harang to a long-ish deal that buys out his first year or two of free-agency). Meanwhile, I offer the following warning in the interest of the greater good: If you see erstwhile rocker Arroyo reaching for a guitar or a mic, pull the nearest fire alarm and take cover under a desk or against an inside wall.
Homer Bailey. Homer Bailey. Homer Bailey. More on him in a bit.
Liabilities: During Krivsky's long tenure in the Twins organization, the team always seemed to have a gaggle of prospects at the offing (of course, they consistently logjammed those prospects behind the Shannon Stewarts and Doug Mientkiewiczes of the world, but that's fodder for another story). Krivsky started strong in Cincy with the Arroyo acquisition. Since then ... yeesh.
Giving up two young, cheap, everyday bats in Felipe Lopez and Austin Kearns for a bunch of middle relievers -- one of them, Gary Majewski, with a bum shoulder -- was short-sightedness at its worst. Then came the free-agent additions of Alex Gonzalez (nice glove and a teensy bit of power, but $14 million? Did I read that wrong?), Chad Moeller (a guaranteed contract?) and Mike Stanton (two guaranteed years for a 39-year-old dude who looked cooked two seasons ago?). He also chirped that Adam Dunn might have to go because he strikes out a lot (as opposed to most of his peers in the lineup, who don't whiff as much but can't get on base or drive the ball past the pitcher's mound).
I dunno. Krivsky has only held the gig for a little while, but he hasn't left anybody brimming with optimism for what comes next. And that's before he drove longtime player-development guru Johnny Almaraz out of town.
Paying $9 million per year for Eric Milton's particular brand of artistry is akin to paying $650 for a cup of coffee -- a cup of coffee prone to skin-scalding spasms. The bottom-of-the-rotation candidates (Milton, Kyle Lohse, Elizardo Ramirez) inspire nothing if not knee-weakening fear. The team will be hard-pressed not to rush Bailey (relax, we'll get to him in a second).
Totally non-helpful and semi-realistic suggestions:
1. Start worrying now about where their next run will come from. Offensively, they won't be anywhere near as soggy as the Astros (when, pray tell, will somebody in the 77001 zip code realize that Brad Ausmus hurts a team more with his bat than he helps it with his decent glove/arm and polite discourse with pitchers?). But some days they'll field a lineup that includes the eminently platoonable Scott Hatteberg, the roto-world-good/real-world-mediocre Brandon Phillips, the aforementioned Mr. Gonzalez and fluke-2006 supadupastar David Ross. Oh, and the pitcher, too. The Reds could really have used a big honkin' righty bat to play first base or left field, but the ship has long since sailed on all candidates fitting that description.
