General Manager Wayne Krivsky has done some strange things.
Since I haven't followed the sport that long and since I'm the kind of person who will give the benefit of the doubt well past the point any reasonable doubt has left the scene, I've regarded most of Kriv-dawg's actions with a baffled shake of the head and a muttered comment about how he must know what he's doing.
But the unexplainable nature of Krivsky's moves has been compounded lately with some bad blood. A reports in the DDN about the departure of scout Larry Barton, Jr. paints Krivsky as unwilling to accept input from his team:
But when Krivsky said he was trading another outfielder, Kearns, and a 25-year-old All-Star shortstop (Lopez) for an old shortstop (Clayton) and a couple of pitchers, “I told him I didn't like the deal and asked who was going to play shortstop next year, and he told me, 'I'm not worried about next year.' “
Of course, the appropriate question was not “who's going to play shortstop next year” but “who's going to play shortstop this year” but let's not split hairs. The point is that Barton was storming out in a huff, and not the Aubrey kind.
Today we get news that the Director of Player Development, Johnny Almaraz, is leaving much the same way:
“I’m not included in any of the discussions and, in fact, when I walked into the suite during the winter meetings Wayne and his people would lower their voices to a whisper or take their discussions into the bedroom,†Almaraz said.
Of course, the official statements don't breathe a word of any conflict, and by themselves, these incidents aren't really that important. People quit jobs in righteous indignation all the time. It's a daydream that keeps me going some days.
But add in rumblings from Will Carroll on Baseball Prospectus that Krivsky isn't “making any friends,” and quotes from Krivsky like, “You just can’t go with two catchers – you’d better have depth there,” and you just start to wonder whether maybe this guy isn't what's best for the team after all.
I'm not ready to call for Krivsky's head just yet. His moves, crazy as are, have sort of a mad genius feel to them, like maybe he has a master plan that absolutely requires a roster full of second basemen and entirely bereft of right fielders, and if only we could see his perspective, we would all understand his vision. And admittedly, he has made a handful of good deals and a multitude of deals that didn't actually hurt anyone.
But the time for riding those handful of good deals is done. Hear this now, because things have changed here at Red Hot Mama. I am no longer content to just sit back and watch in morbid fascination as Krivsky emasculates the line-up. If he has an over-arching plan for this team, he needs to share it so that we can understand what the heck he's thinking when he:
- Trades Jason LaRue for nothing and immediately replaces him with Chad Moeller.
- DFA's Brandon Claussen with no apparent intent to bring him back to the minor league team.
- Makes signing Juan Castro to a 2-year deal his top priority.
Krivsky has to let the rest of the world in on his priorities for this team, because right now it doesn't look like he has any. Maybe his moves are genius, or maybe he's just throwing darts at a spreadsheet of free-agent names and signing whomever he hits. You make 100 transactions that way, and maybe you get a Bronson Arroyo, a David Ross, a Brandon Phillips, and a Scott Hatteberg, if you're lucky.
But luck doesn't hold out forever, Kriv-dawg. It's time to share the method behind the madness, so people don't have to go on just thinking you're doing strange things.
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