The Krivsky Firing: Why Now?

The fact that Wayne Krivsky got fired wasn't terribly surprising since he's got a pretty spotty track record and a much better GM (Walt Jocketty) was already employed in the Reds' front office. What was a little more surprising was the timing. Why after 21 games? If the Reds were as determined to dump Krivsky as they seem to be, why not do it in the off-season? What about 21 games could tell them something they didn't already know? The only person that can answer that question is Bob Castellini, so let's see what he had to say in today's Cincinnati Enquirer:

"I don't think anybody in the organization is happy with the results on a win-loss basis," Castellini said. "We've had two losing seasons under our new ownership, and we started out this season poorly on a win-loss basis. That's the primary reason why we made the change."

Coughcoughbullcrapcoughcough. Sorry, but you don't blame a GM for a 9-12 start. Seeing that kind of statement from Castellini kind of confirms what everyone suspected: that Castellini's wanted Krivsky out almost since the beginning of his ownership and he's taking the first possible open door to do so.

I don't really have a problem with that, but the article linked above indicates that Krivsky had no idea this was coming. Maybe he's just stupid to not connect the dots with Jocketty's hiring in January, but it seems kind of low to ambush a guy like the Reds did when they really had no plans of keeping him employed in the first place. Then again ... what's the phrase about crying and baseball?