Kullman Latest Casualty of Castellini Regime
By
Amanda
Posted at 11:12 pm
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’ve decided that I’m keeping score of Krivsky’s moves. The Timo Perez signing and firing Kullman bring him to -2. I’m calling him Dan O’Krivsky until he gets into the positive numbers.
Don’t forget shaving the mustache. He ought to lose some points for that, too.
I’m ok with firing Kullman. I have nothing against Kullman. But a new GM (like any new business manager) has the right to bring in his own people; either people he already knows well, or people he interviews and finds to be a good fit. Keeping the same set of employees might work out well, but also might result in some personality conflicts…particularly when one of those employees was considered a strong candidate for the GM.
Another justification: the Reds have been awful for the last six years. The big league team is awful and the farm system is awful. One of the best ways to signal a turn around in the system is to sweep away several of the influential folks at the top of the program and bring in new people. Those new people, in turn, will probably make some changes of their own and bring in other new people. We need a massive overhaul, as what is currently present clearly is just not working. It’s a highly competitive business, and when the results aren’t there on the field, you have to make some changes…both on and off the field. -JinAZ
I’ll wait until I see who O’Krivsky brings in to pass final judgment, but I liked Kullman and think he was probably one of the few competent people in our front office. Just about the whole thing needs to be dismantled, so maybe this is a sign of things to come.
But you still can’t defend the Timo Perez signing in any way. I bet we’re gonna have Perez and Womack in the starting lineup on the same day at some point in the season.
Hey, J. Good to hear from you again.
You said:
“But a new GM (like any new business manager) has the right to bring in his own people…”
I don’t know, man. Outside of baseball and top-level executives of enormous companies, I think it would be pretty atypical for a new manager to come in, fire everyone, and hire his cronies instead.
Yeah, I suppose it’s his right. But if my company brought in a new documentation manager who promptly fired all the technical writers to hire his college buddies, you can bet I’d be crying foul, even if I had been a candidate for that position or if we would have had personality conflicts.
And if that new documentation manager’s first big move to save the technical docs of my company was to sign Timo Perez, well, I think I’d be pretty justified in complaining.
Brad Kullman
Count me as one of those who hate this move.
I’ve known Brad Kullman from college.
He was always the biggest Reds fan I’ve ever known, and always had the team’s best interests in mind. (Ahead of personal advancement) Made some pretty good moves too (Harang, Claussen)
I just can’t beleive that Castellini would say what he did the day before and then let O’krivsky can him the next day.
I have been un-impressed to date with all of Krivsky’s decisions to date. (Timo Perez ?) Did we really need a light hitting outfielder ? Gosling ?
supposed to compete for the 5th spot on our rotation. was released from Arizona, the worst team in the league last year.
Now we won’t have a good acting GM to take over when Krivsky falls on his face.
Good Luck, Brad. We’ll miss you.
Yes, spread the O’Krivsky movement. Ahahaha!
Geki,
O’Krivsky seems to be a complement right now. At least some of DanO’s moves looked good on paper. I’m keeping score too, and I’m at (-4)
Fires Kullman -1
Timo Perez (light hitting outfielder) -2
Gosling (cut from AZ now our #5 starter ?) -3
Hatteburg ( I didn’t know there was a first baseman in the league w/ less power than Casey but Krivsky found one) -4
I’d give him a -3 at this point. Signing Hatteberg was pointless and stupid, but I didn’t mind picking up Gosling. It’s not like we’re handing him a rotation spot, so picking him up for nothing was a neutral move in my book.