I see a lot of dislike for the idea of Jocketty coming over to the Reds in the diary on his dismissal from the Cardinals, and it's tough for me to understand.
The dislike for LaRussa, sure I get that. I think Zach actually sums it up well there, comparing him to Bill Cowher theoretically coaching the Bengals. In a lot of ways it wouldn't really sit right. But Jocketty is a different situation.
I agree that he has made some pretty bad moves in recent years. The Mulder trade was terrible, and he's handed out some bad contracts. But it also looks like his work situation was deteriorating in St. Louis, with more responsibility and trust being placed in other members of the front office.
The Cardinals have been a damn good team since Jocketty took the helm in 1995, and it's not as if St. Louis is that much bigger of a market than Cincinnati. They've been to the playoffs seven times in thirteen years, and they've had winning records in nine of those seasons.
Sign me up. What I would love to see happen is for Jocketty to be brought in as team president or some other made up front office title. He can give input to Krivsky for a year, and if Krivsky doesn't work out (I think we will pretty well know for sure on that count after 2008) then Jocketty can fill the position starting in 2009. And maybe he can sign a certain Cardinals pitching coach while he's at it.
At some point it stops being about new school vs. old school, and it becomes about winning and losing. Jocketty has always won in St. Louis. I'm pretty confident he would do well in Cincinnati, and I really hope Bob Castellini is at least weighing his options right now.