The Buhner.com Blog

When the Cincinnati Reds were purchased by Bob Castellini, one of the first things that he did was to fire current GM Dan O’Brien and replace him with someone that he hired. In this case, it was Wayne Krivsky, who was the top candidate to become Reds GM when O’Brien was hired. Krivsky came with a pedigree of small-market baseball knowledge, having been the Minnesota Twins assistant GM for eight seasons before taking the Reds job. Krivsky would see success early, and as a result end up making the kinds of mistakes that see promising GMs fail.
Krivsky started off making two moves that would help his club greatly - he traded Wily Mo Pena to the Red Sox for Bronson Arroyo, then he picked up little-used journeyman catcher Dave Ross from the Padres for former top prospect Bobby Basham, whom was still recovering from a torn labrum. Arroyo would turn out to be one of the two aces of the Reds staff (along with Aaron Harang), winning 14 games and posting a 3.29 ERA. Ross, who had shown some flashes of power during his career (10 HR in 124 AB in 2003 for LA), hit 21 HR and posted a .255/.353/.579 line in 90 games for the Reds. Krivsky would then rescue former top prospect Brandon Phillips from the Cleveland doghouse, frightened that the team would have to seriously use Tony Womack as their #1 option at second base going into the season. Phillips, out of options and not in the Indians immediate plans, was acquired for a player to be named later. Phillips would bat .276/.324/.427 as the Reds full time second baseman, stealing 25 bases in 27 attempts while making the league minimum.

The acquisitions (and a weak NL Central) put the Reds - previously not considered serious contenders for a playoff push - at or near first place for half the season. On July 1st, the Reds were tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for the NL Central lead and held a 2.5 game lead in the NL Wild Card race. The team was hitting, Arroyo and Harang were pitching, but the perceived problem with the team was the bullpen. Indeed, the team had no “true” closer - Dave Weathers was pulled from the role in May, Todd Coffey also performed in the role, but the team was turning to the likes of Chris Hammond and Esteban Yan when the starters came out of the game. Seeing his team unexpectedly in the playoff hunt and facing pressure to do “whatever is necessary” to keep the roll alive, the Reds looked to outside sources for bullpen help. First turning to a familiar name, Krivsky went to Seattle for Eddie Guardado. Guardado, a former Twin, came into the season with injury concerns after having pitched the previous season with a torn rotator cuff. He had lost his closer job in Seattle, and the M’s were willing to part with him (and the money to cover most of his salary) for a prospect. The Guardado gamble paid off - he pitched in 15 games for the Reds (saving and put up a 1.29 ERA during that time before blowing out his arm. He would get Tommy John surgery in September.

Still in need of bullpen help, Krivsky turned to Washington and former Reds GM Jim Bowden. Bowden, not known for coming out on the winning end of too many deals, worked out a deal with the Reds that would send the team two major league relievers - Gary Majewski and Bill Bray, along with veteran shortstop Royce Clayton, utility infielder Brenden Harris, and minor leaguer Daryl Thompson. In return, the Reds would send outfielder Austin Kearns, shortstop Felipe Lopez, and reliever Ryan Wagner. The move sent shockwaves, considering Kearns and Lopez were the Reds starting right fielder and shortstop at the time, both had just turned 26 two months earlier, and neither was having a poor season. In fact, Kearns was having his best season since his rookie year while Lopez was coming off of an All-Star game appearance the prior season. The 26 year old Majewski, in contrast, had average numbers for a middle reliever and while Bray showed promise, he was a 23 year old in his rookie season. While the Reds planned to put Clayton (a journeyman shortstop known more for his glove than his bat on his 6th team in five years) in the shortstop role, the Reds were left to fill the .274/.351/.492 line they traded away in Kearns with either supersub Ryan Freel (and his career sub-.400 slugging percentage) or minor leaguer Chris Denorfia. In doing this, Krivsky broke two major rules of trading - don’t overpay for mediocrity because of perceived need, and don’t make a trade where the result will produce a bigger hole than it covers. Krivsky noted that Lopez’s defense was questionable at short (true), Clayton would improve that (notsomuch), and that the market for relievers was strong (decently true), justifying the price paid for them (notsomuch.)

While Clayton’s defense wasn’t so much a step up from Lopez (Baseball Prospectus actually suggests that Clayton played poorer at short than Lopez for the Reds in 2006), Clayton’s bat was a step down, even with Lopez’s numbers dropping off from his previous season. Denorfia slugged .368 in a stint with the Reds, starting 14 games in right. Freel would start the majority of the games after the trade (41) and slugged .399, and the Reds also turned to Todd Hollandsworth during that time (12 starts). Hollandsworth, picked up in August for a PTBNL, couldn’t break the .400 slugging line either.

But it was Majewski that was the key to the deal for Krivsky, and it’s the reason for the “sour grapes” in the title.  Majewski would pitch in 19 games for the Reds, posting a 8.40 ERA and giving up 30 hits in 15 innings.  Majewski would give up earned runs in his first three appearances with the Reds and seven of the first 11 he would make before going on the DL with what was called a “tired arm”.  The “tired arm” or sore shoulder (as has been reported elsewhere) supposedly bothered Majewski since Spring Training, which the Reds found out later, causing them to claim that the Nationals dealt the Reds a knowingly injured player without disclosure and requesting some sort of compensation.

“We don’t feel like we were dealt with fairly, and you can go to the bank that we’re not going to take it sitting down” - Wayne Krivsky, 12/2/06

When Majewski went on the DL on August 7th, Krivsky followed up the next day by leaving a message for Bowden, apparently to discuss Majewski and his health situation.  It was Majewski’s comment about his shoulder bothering him since Spring Training that led to his DL trip, and Majewski had a cortisone shot in his shoulder before the All-Star break, shortly before he was traded - something the Reds too were not aware of.  Tests revealed no serious injury at that time (nor, apparently, at the time of the trade, assuming the teams went through the routine practice of physicals before deal completion), but the day after Majewski was placed on the DL and the day of Krivsky’s reported message to Bowden, the Reds’ GM came out in the media and did everything except say that Bowden screwed him.

“I’m still trying to figure out what’s what here.  I’m glad we have Gary Majewski, and I’m glad he’s not hurt seriously. I’m disappointed he’s not active for us right now.” - Krivsky, 8/8/06

“I did call [Bowden], and I have not heard back.  I just wanted to have a conversation.” - Krivsky, 8/8/06

“I don’t like eliminating teams.  Hopefully people feel when they deal with us, they’re dealing straight up. And I want people to feel like they’re being dealt with honestly.” - Krivsky (when asked if he’d deal with Bowden again), 8/8/06
“For me, your credibility is paramount, not only with [the media] but with other teams and the fans and your ownership. You lose your credibility, you’re done in this business.” - Krivsky, 8/8/06

Krivsky at that time was asked about the possibility of filing a grievance, which he avoided commenting on.  He was also asked if a team should reveal if a player has had a recent cortisone shot while discussing him in trade negotiations.  According to AP, he “pursed his lips, thought for five seconds and then declined comment.”

Bowden took an interesting approach when asked by the media about Krivsky and Majewski, claiming that he felt that the story was a media creation and that Krivsky wouldn’t really be questioning the legitimacy of the trade.

“I don’t think they feel that way.  If they did, I know one thing: Wayne Krivsky would call me directly.” - Jim Bowden, not checking his voice mail, 8/8/06
“And our organization is always forthright honest in any transaction we make. We supply every documentation that’s ever asked on every single player. I think that’s just a media report. I don’t think there’s any truth to it, and the Reds have certainly not called us and they certainly would call us if there was an issue.” - Bowden, 8/8/06

“I never received either a call or a message from Wayne, but when I read his comments this evening, I called him and reminded him that the Cincinnati Reds had received all of the medical information they requested, both before and after the trade.  It is also worth remembering that Gary pitched for us right up to the trade and has continued doing so for the Reds up until now.” - A “disappointed” Jim Bowden (after being told that the press are not dirty liars), 8/8/06

Bowden hasn’t commented publicly about Krivsky’s announcement that he’s going to file the grievance.  The point of argument for Krivsky is the cortisone shot - Cincinnati reportedly has a list of pre-trade questions that includes an inquiry whether or not a player has received an injection.  Washington and Bowden insist that they answered all questions truthfully; Cincinnati insists that they were not notified of Majewski’s injection shortly before the deal.

It comes off as an attempt by Krivsky to save face.  The deal was questionable to begin with, and when the key to the deal bombed, Krivsky was left looking like a fool.  Majewski still hasn’t shown any damage in any tests that have been given by the Reds, but if the Nats are found at fault for not disclosing the injection, then at least Krivsky can point back to the deal and not take as much blame, especially if Majewski turns out to be a productive pitcher for the Reds in the future.  It’s like writing to a company when you’re dissatisfied; sure, you felt you got cheated, but let’s see what we can get out of it.  Worst case scenario is you get ignored.  Best case - maybe you get something free for your troubles.  That’s what Krivsky’s looking to get - he doesn’t want the trade overturned, but he’ll likely be looking for an extra player, or some other compensation.

“We’re not looking to negate the trade.  But there are other remedies.” - Krivsky, 12/2/06

The biggest issue that I have is not necessarily that Krivsky’s seeking compensation (that’s a smart move in any case) - it’s the posturing in the media that Krivsky did after Majewski crashed and burned towards Bowden that had him come off juvenile and unprofessional.  It’s one thing to be pissed off, but there’s nothing that can be said in the media that’s going to do anything except try to have you save face (which you weren’t going to do in the first place with a deal like that) and piss off Bowden (and other GMs) by implying that Bowden is a deceitful GM and the Nationals are dishonest.  Plenty of teams file grievances because of injuries and other undisclosed information in trades, but Krivsky came off as tacky, and it’d cause me if I were in a general manager role to move him further down the list of people I’d call to talk trade.

Then again, dealing Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez for two middle relievers and Royce Clayton would probably cause me to reconsider.