I didn't really read the entirety of this Q&A with Jim Bowden in floridatoday.com, but the first sentence makes it all worthwhile:

Wearing a windbreaker and offering a fist bump instead of a handshake, Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden looked anything but formal earlier this week at Space Coast Stadium in Viera.

A windbreaker and a fist bump. That's awesome. Does he also call everyone “G dawg”?

The second sentence ain't bad either:

Bowden, once the youngest GM in the history of Major League Baseball, doesn't always fit the image of buttoned-down executive.

C'mon, statheads! Where were all you guys calling for the youth movement when Bowden got the axe?

Wayne Krivsky, your Cincinnati Reds General Manager, took a page from Mr. Castellini's book today and axed someone his first full day on the job. According to Marc, Brad Kullman, Reds Director of Major League Operations, was fired this evening. Much like Dan O'Brien at his termination, Kullman didn't remotely say the kind of stuff I'd say if it were me:

“He could have stuck me down the hall and told me, 'You can be the computer guy. If you don’t like it, quit,'” said Kullman. “He didn’t do that to me, and I definitely appreciate that.”
…
“I respect that part of the game and understand it,” he said. “But it doesn’t make it any easier.”

I don't know. At first the executive carnage was kind of exciting in a depraved sort of way, but now it's just getting gruesome. Marc said that Kullman was “pretty emotional,” which is, of course, code for “crying.” Krivsky was also very “emotional” during his introductory press conference yesterday.

Have we had enough yet? Can we perhaps turn our attention to stopping the flow of tears in and around Cincinnati now?

I had this e-mail from the Reds awaiting me when I got home from work:

Cincinnati Reds chief executive officer Bob Castellini today announced Wayne Krivsky as the club's general manager. Krivsky signed a two-year contract through the 2007 season with two one-year mutual options.

Castellini will introduce Krivsky, who has 30 years of front office experience, at a 6 p.m. ET press conference tonight in the field level interview room at Great American Ball Park.

Krivsky joins the Reds from the Minnesota Twins organization, where he had been the special assistant or assistant GM to Terry Ryan since 1994.

Just hours before, my boss had read that Beattie was a shoe-in for the position, probably from the increasingly-desperate-to-get-the-scoop Hal McCoy, and came by to tell me that he used to play pick-up basketball with Beattie in college. I was so excited.

Oh well. I guess a candidate that's a better evaluator of talent is worth giving up my in for.

This is exciting. I wonder what Krivsky will be able to get done before spring training. So many possibilities.

The general manager race is well underway. Of course, we don't know who is in the lead, bringing up the rear, or staggering out of the gate with a broken leg. No, our new ownership group has decided to let the tension build until the climactic photo finish that will see the leading contender showered in roses and treated to a sack of oats. It hasn't been revealed yet whether the guy with the broken leg will be taken out back and shot.

What we do know is that at least nine candidates have interviewed, second interviews may be in the works for the finalists, and a decision is expected this week.

Today, KC2HMZ contributed some background information on all the candidates. In fact, he wrote more actual, hard information in two comments here than RHM usually enjoys in an entire weeks' worth of smart-alecry.

Seems like a shame to let all that content get drowned out on an 8-day old entry when I could be re-posting it to give the illusion that I actually did some work, so here I am reposting it for your reading-and-surmising-who's-going-to-win-the-crown enjoyment.

1. Wilder interviewed for the Red Sox GM job during Epstein's departure period. He would be entering his third season working for the ChiSox and is responsible for overseeing the Minor League system, player development staff and Latin American operations. Before that he worked for the Brewers as a special assignment scout, and as VP of player personnel. In 2000, he worked for USA Baseball's selection committee and helped assemble the team that won the gold at Sydney. He worked for the Cubs as farm director and later as assistant GM. He spent 1991 to 1995 working for the Braves organization. As a player, he played in the minors for 7 years with the Athletics and Cubs - he was an outfielder - retiring in 1989.

2, Kullman had the title of director of baseball operations before being tapped to serve as the interim GM. He also served as interim GM when Jim Bowden was fired in July 2003.

3. Almaraz. I must confess that I don't know much about this guy other than that he's a long-time scout, probably best known for his program with Latin American players.

4. Beattie. A college basketball star at Dartmouth, he pitched for the Yankees and Mariners and threw the first one-hitter in Mariners history. He also surrendered Carl Yastrezemski's 3,000th hit. After retiring he went on to serve as GM of the Expos and Executive VP of the Orioles. He was removed in Baltimore after the 2005 season, and when he arrived home, the phone was ringing - it was Castellini, who hired him as a special advisor.

5. Maddox. Before the Red Sox hired Theo Epstein, Maddox was identified as a candidate for that job. He was with the Pirates as as special assistant to the GM and then as scouting director before coming to the Reds.

6. Krivsky was the other finalist in 2003 when they ended up hiring O'Brien (apparently everybody in the organization except Lindner wanted him for the job). He worked for the Rangers as an administrative assistant, assistant to the GM, and finally as assistant GM before becoming the Twins' assistant GM.

7. Arbuckle is another guy who was a candidate for in Boston before the BoSox hired Theo Epstein. He's been with the Phillies since 1993, serving as director of scouting, then as assistant GM, scouting/player development. He began his full-time career in baseball with the Braves in 1980. After the Phillies fired Ed Wade in October, he was interviewed before Philly hired Pat Gillick. He's also been a member of the USA Baseball steering committee.

8. Wren's worked for the Expos as assistant director, scouting, Marlins as assistant GM and as VP and Assistant GM), Orioles GM, and has been the Braves' VP / Assistant GM since 2000.

9. Mozeliak has been with the Cardinals since 1997 and has held a variety of titles including Assistant Director of Scouting, Director of Scouting, Director of Baseball Operations, and assistant GM. He also has the St. Louis connection to Castellini for whatever that's worth. He also has a Cinci connection since his wife, Julie, grew up here and graduated from Indian Hill High School. He got his start in baseball with the Rockies in 1993.

Thanks a lot, KC2HMZ. I look forward to plagiarizing your stuff again real soon!

Bob Castellini, Reds CEO, has an open letter to the fans. Castellini doesn't really have anything to report: nothing's really happened yet. Still, he's taken the time to touch base and make us feel like we're still welcome. What a sweetie-pie.

I want to promise you that our online resources will be a vital part of the process. Rest assured that this newsletter, as well as reds.com, will become even more of vehicle for team management to connect with our fans and create a true online Reds community.

Brad Kullman's already going to be answering some questions from RedsZone. And though Castellini doesn't mention it here, I understand that they're also investigating use of MLBlogs to get their message out to the masses.

Credit to Castellini and crew for their techno-savvy. Next thing you know, they're going to go all 1337 on us. They're probably using their bad-ass MLB network to play Quake 4 or City of Villains at this very moment.

That does sound pretty fun, actually. Can you feel the warm fuzzies?

Or rather: //@rM phuzzi3$