Really, really interesting article from Hal McCoy:
When Wayne Krivsky became general manager of the Cincinnati Reds in February, one of the main reasons was the support he received from two members of owner Bob Castellini's screening committee -- special assistants Larry Barton Jr. and Gene Bennett.As was reported at the time by the Dayton Daily News, Castellini had decided on special adviser Jim Beattie to be the GM, but the next day Barton and Bennett made impassioned cases for Krivsky, and Castellini changed his mind.
Now, 10 months later, Barton pulled a Johnny PayCheck and told Krivsky, "Take this job and shove it, I don't work here anymore."
[...]
Barton's main complaint is that Krivsky wasn't listening to his advice, especially the trade of Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez to the Washington Nationals for shortstop Royce Clayton and pitchers Gary Majewski and Bill Bray.
"Wayne came to me in the spring and said he could get (pitcher) Bronson Arroyo for an outfielder -- Wily Mo Pena, Adam Dunn or Austin Kearns," said Barton. "Turns out Boston wanted Wily Mo, and that was fine because we had an extra outfielder."
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.' "
Barton said when the Reds were ready to acquire pitcher Eddie Guardado from Seattle, a scout told him Guardado had a bad arm that could blow any time, "But Wayne said he had talked to his agent and was told Guardado just had a bad back and his arm was OK."
Krivsky made the deal, and Guardado underwent Tommy John ligament transplant surgery in his elbow Sept. 8 and isn't expected to be able to pitch until the middle of next season.
Barton also mentions the stupidity of carrying three catchers.
Part of being a good GM is knowing who to listen to. It's impossible to know if this is just sour grapes on the part of an employee who felt like he didn't have enough say, but the Guardado thing is telling. I don't know why you'd trust a player's agent over an independent source, since an agent is inherently biased.
Krivsky definitely seems to have a "my way or the highway" take on things, which is fine if he knows what the hell he's doing. I'm still not convinced that he does.