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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy is in his 36th year of covering the Cincinnati Reds, the longest tenure for any active writer covering one team. Counting spring training and postseason games, McCoy has covered more than 7,000 major-league baseball games, written close to 18,000 baseball stories and eaten enough hot dogs to give Babe Ruth indigestion.Home > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2008 > April > 28 > Entry
Krivsky’s final say
Wayne Krivsky is finding it difficult to sever his ties with the Cincinnati Reds after he was fired and says, “I must be crazy because I hope the Reds win every game the rest of the year and I still get on-line every morning to check how the minor-league teams did.”
And before he fades into the woodwork, Krivsky wants to clear a few things off his desk and his mind.
One of the things he wants known is that Dusty Baker was his choice to manage the Reds and he told owner Bob Castellini at the time, “Dusty Baker is my man and he is the guy for the job.” And Krivsky added, “It was my recommendation and Bob agreed.”
Krivsky said he held the advance scoutomh job open for interim manager Pete Mackanin for if he didn’t find a job, but he hooked on with the New York Yankees.
Then there was the trade of outfielder Josh Hamilton for pitcher Edinson Volquez (a deal that so far works both ways) and the signing of pitcher Josh Fogg.
“When I’m told before the season that I better win, I’m going to get all the pitching I can get,” he said. “Fogg was a $100,000 gamble, what we would pay him if he didn’t make the team. He made it so it cost $1.5 million and I still think it’s a good deal.
“When Homer Bailey didn’t make the team and Matt Belisle was injured, who did we have for our fifth starting spot? Nobody,” he said. “That’s where Fogg fit in. He made $3.7 million from the Rockies last year.”
And then there was the $3 million paid to outfielder Corey Patterson.
“I was told to get him signed, whatever it takes,” said Krivsky, who signed him for $3 million. Patterson was paid $4.7 million last year.
And Mike Stanton? “Stanton and the $3.5 million is on me,” he said. “And Juan Castro ($975,000), but I had something going with the Los Angeles Dodgers when I was let go. I told (new GM) Walt Jocketty to please try to find something for Castro.”
Krivsky kept quiet about pitcher Rheal Cormier and it was thought the Reds had to eat his salary when they released him. But when the Reds traded outfielder Chris Denorfia to Oakland the A’s agreed to pay Cormier’s $2 million, “And, actually, with interest we got $2.08 million,” said Krivsky.
Well, hey, now that we’ve seen Toronto eat about $10 million to dump Frank Howard and the penny-pounding Pittsburgh Pirates pour Heinez ketchup on $10 million for Matt Morris and eat it, how bad is Stanton’s $3.5 million?
As Krivsky said, “If you haven’t had at least one bad contract or made one bad decision, then you haven’t been a general manager.”
So true, so true.
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Comments
By Sally
April 30, 2008 11:13 PM | Link to this
It is a shame that we will really see what Wayne Krivsky has done for The Reds a few years from now. He was a 24 hours 7day a week man; don’t think there are any like him out there. Thanks Wayne and Best of luck..Hope you kick our ….By Cub Fan
April 30, 2008 12:16 AM | Link to this
It doesn’t matter who your GM is because Dusty will not use they players you sign correctly. Your GM may make a move and sign a good veteran player to back-up a younger kid. But Dusty will insist on giving that veteran way too many starts over the younger player and in the process likely stunt his growth.By Cub Fan
April 30, 2008 12:16 AM | Link to this
It doesn’t matter who your GM is because Dusty will not use they players you sign correctly. Your GM may make a move and sign a good veteran player to back-up a younger kid. But Dusty will insist on giving that veteran way too many starts over the younger player and in the process likely stunt his growth.By Cub Fan
April 30, 2008 12:15 AM | Link to this
It doesn’t matter who your GM is because Dusty will not use they players you sign correctly. Your GM may make a move and sign a good veteran player to back-up a younger kid. But Dusty will insist on giving that veteran way too many starts over the younger player and in the process likely stunt his growth.By Davius
April 29, 2008 7:23 PM | Link to this
Krivsky didn’t deserve to be let go the way he was but he made more than a few mistakes when signing contracts. Stanton,Freel,Ross,Coffey,Patterson,Fogg, Dunn,Cormier,Gonzales,Castro. All were contracts that he found all but “IMPOSSIBLE” to move. This was his Swansong. When they signed Jocketty the writing was on the wall. He was alot better at finding young talent than he was at signing veterens. With an owner like George Steinbernner Castellini. That is not a good combo. Building a good farm system was not enough. Thanks to him for Phillips,Burton,Hamilton,Volquez and Arroyo. they were his best moves.By JasonRedsFan
April 29, 2008 6:19 PM | Link to this
Reds Authority: Sheesh, calm down and be respectful. First off: this is more of a blog then an article for the paper. Secondly: are you in the Hall of Fame for your writing? Didn’t think so. We need to be less angry on this blog comment page and just enjoy the usual straight forwardness and experience of Hal.By JasonRedsFan
April 29, 2008 6:19 PM | Link to this
Reds Authority: Sheesh, calm down and be respectful. First off: this is more of a blog then an article for the paper. Secondly: are you in the Hall of Fame for your writing? Didn’t think so. We need to be less angry on this blog comment page and just enjoy the usual straight forwardness and experience of Hal.By Reds Authority
April 29, 2008 6:04 PM | Link to this
Hal… Some here have made valid points on the deteriorating quality of your posts and articles. It is not so much the substance of your material. Rather, it is the countless and increasing number of errors-of-fact and especially grammatical and spelling mistakes. I realize you lost a great deal of your visual acuity in the last few years and have difficulty even seeing the computer screen in front of your face, but PLEASE have someone at the Dayton Daily News PROOFREAD your work!By kevin
April 29, 2008 5:03 PM | Link to this
i didn’t care much for krivsky, but i think he got a bum rap on this deal. He deserved better than that. Patterson needs to go, if they were going to go that route, we should have signed lofton instead.By Mr. Redlegs
April 29, 2008 4:50 PM | Link to this
Anyone who thinks Baker has ruined young pitchers should do their homework and stay off a Reds board. But you’re welcomed to be dumbed down further by joining pathetic, incompetent Cubs fans.By nostockstjustbonds
April 29, 2008 4:39 PM | Link to this
anyone who thinks Dusty Baker is a good manager for a team with a young pitching staff should be fired.By Jack A
April 29, 2008 1:37 PM | Link to this
Scout…omh? Spellcheck ftl!By Hoagie
April 29, 2008 1:12 PM | Link to this
You probably mean Frank Thomas, not Frank Howard.By Nathan
April 29, 2008 12:57 PM | Link to this
Frank Howard?By N
April 29, 2008 9:06 AM | Link to this
What about the Arroyo contract?By Mike
April 29, 2008 8:53 AM | Link to this
Krivsky got a bad deal. The owner’s friend was fired in St. Louis and he hired him as soon as he was ready to return to baseball. Bad luck for Wayne. A nice break for Walt. Jocketty has experience and solid results. With time he should succeed in Cincinnati. I hope he builds a great farm system which is key to consistent success while following the marching orders to win now.By Michael
April 29, 2008 2:35 AM | Link to this
Something smells about the Baker and Patterson deal not to mention Hariston. There is no way a player would go to his manager after signing a $7M, two year deal and say “I’m not an everyday player” has hard as Freel has played, shows up six weeks before he is due to report for spring training and has given is all to support the team. As for Bruce, I think someone made that story up that he was “accident pron” so Hariston could sneak in. Then there’s Hopper. Here is three guys who got it stuck where the sun doesn’t shine. No wonder the team is loosing. They have been demoralized. These guys are team members and belong to the same union and have come up through the ranks together only to see their team mates getiing it where it hurts. I think it’s time that an investigation came out and the truth be laid on the table for us fans and the media. This is nothing but bad politics and lies. I believe this is going all the way to the top floor as I saw and heard comments while I was down in Sarasota that did not make sense.I want to see the ball get rolling with a press conference with Wayne, Walt,Bob, Dusty and Patterson so the truth will come out and so that we can get on with the season and win some games.By Michael
April 29, 2008 2:33 AM | Link to this
Something smells about the Baker and Patterson deal not to mention Hariston. There is no way a player would go to his manager after signing a $7M, two year deal and say “I’m not an everyday player” has hard as Freel has played, shows up six weeks before he is due to report for spring training and has given is all to support the team. As for Bruce, I think someone made that story up that he was “accident pron” so Hariston could sneak in. Then there’s Hopper. Here is three guys who got it stuck where the sun doesn’t shine. No wonder the team is loosing. They have been demoralized. These guys are team members and belong to the same union and have come up through the ranks together only to see their team mates getiing it where it hurts. I think it’s time that an investigation came out and the truth be laid on the table for us fans and the media. This is nothing but bad politics and lies. I believe this is going all the way to the top floor as I saw and heard comments while I was down in Sarasota that did not make sense.I want to see the ball get rolling with a press conference with Wayne, Walt,Bob, Dusty and Patterson so the truth will come out and so that we can get on with the season and win some games.By Michael
April 29, 2008 2:33 AM | Link to this
Something smells about the Baker and Patterson deal not to mention Hariston. There is no way a player would go to his manager after signing a $7M, two year deal and say “I’m not an everyday player” has hard as Freel has played, shows up six weeks before he is due to report for spring training and has given is all to support the team. As for Bruce, I think someone made that story up that he was “accident pron” so Hariston could sneak in. Then there’s Hopper. Here is three guys who got it stuck where the sun doesn’t shine. No wonder the team is loosing. They have been demoralized. These guys are team members and belong to the same union and have come up through the ranks together only to see their team mates getiing it where it hurts. I think it’s time that an investigation came out and the truth be laid on the table for us fans and the media. This is nothing but bad politics and lies. I believe this is going all the way to the top floor as I saw and heard comments while I was down in Sarasota that did not make sense.I want to see the ball get rolling with a press conference with Wayne, Walt,Bob, Dusty and Patterson so the truth will come out and so that we can get on with the season and win some games.By Mikey, Tess, Gramps and Nanna
April 29, 2008 2:02 AM | Link to this
I have thought from the very beginning of spring training that the truth would finally come forth about Baker, Patterson and Hariston, (Dusty’s package deaL).By ohdave
April 28, 2008 11:19 PM | Link to this
It was remarkable that the Reds held on as long as they did the last couple of years. And Krivsky made some good moves. What hurt him the most was Griffey’s and Milton’s contracts, neither of which Krivsky inked, which tied his hands in signing players. Still, you are judged by results. And in spite of some good moves, the Reds weren’t winners. Jocketty signals that Castellini isn’t going to stand pat. That sends a message to players. And if Krivsky was as effective as he claims, he won’t have any trouble finding work in another organization. It’ll be interesting to see if his phone rings.By Dave from Louisville
April 28, 2008 11:05 PM | Link to this
Classy work Hal. Krivsky will land on his feet. Who wants to take bets Krivsky is the next GM of the Giants? He did a good job, but I also think Walt will do a good job too.By Mr. Redlegs
April 28, 2008 10:54 PM | Link to this
I think something huge is also overlooked about the Patterson contract: he’s a Boras client so no one was getting Patterson as cheap as they believe. Overall, Krivsky could not overcome one very large handicap—cronyism. The team’s record and all these little contract issues were a shoddy excuse.By Readhead
April 28, 2008 10:32 PM | Link to this
Hal, I appreciate your communicating Wayne’s perspective on these issues. It is interesting to view them in light of the most recent salary dumps.