Sunday, April 27, 2008

Nearly every media account in Cincinnati of Wayne Krivsky's firing as the Reds' general manager last week made mention of the eight-player trade in 2006 that sent outfielder Austin Kearns and infielder Felipe López to Washington for young relievers Bill Bray and Gary Majewski, among others.

Apparently, in Cincy it is viewed as a bad deal, what with Bray and Majewski both toiling in the minors.

Curiously, in Washington, many Nationals fans also view it as a bad deal, in that López has had trouble holding down a regular starting job and Kearns is hitting below the Mendoza Line.

Here at MLB Sunday, we prefer to give trades a full five years or so before judging them, in order to let careers reveal themselves.

But we would also point out that one of the "among others" shipped to Cincinnati -- minor league pitcher Daryl Thompson -- is dominating the Class AA Southern League for the Reds' Chattanooga affiliate.

Thompson, a 22-year-old right-hander, is 2-1 with a 0.57 ERA in five starts for the Lookouts, and an astonishing 36 strikeouts to just four walks. This comes after he went a combined 14-5 with a 3.18 ERA in two stops in the Reds' farm system in 2007.

Krivsky actually gets good grades here on his deals -- particularly for stealing Brandon Phillips from the Indians, and for picking up Josh Hamilton in the 2006 Rule 5 draft and spinning him into power arm Edinson Vólquez a year later -- but his fate was sealed when Reds owner Bob Castellini hired old pal Walt Jocketty as a special assistant in January, telegraphing his intention to replace Krivsky with Jocketty, as he did this week.

· EVIDENCE: Nationals fans who believe third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is being less selective at the plate are correct, according to Bill James's Web site (BillJamesOnline.net).

Of pitches Zimmerman has taken this year (through Thursday), 39 percent have been strikes and 61 percent balls. (The splits for Albert Pujols, by means of comparison, are 24 and 76.) As for pitches Zimmerman has swung at, 33 percent have been on pitches out of the strike zone -- up from 26 percent in 2006 and 31 percent in 2007. Again, for comparison's sake, Pujols has swung at balls out of the zone only 19 percent of the time.

When Zimmerman has swung at balls out of the strike zone this season, they usually have been outside (17 percent). In 2006, he swung at only 5 percent of outside pitches, and last year only 7 percent.