More on the Jerry Narron Firing

Last night the details on the firing of Jerry Narron were few and far between. Today we've got some more after the Reds held a press conference to officially announce the news. GM Wayne Krivsky had this to say:

"I can't say enough good things about Jerry Narron ... we had a very close, professional relationship, and I can't say enough about the guy in terms of the positive personal qualities that he possesses,'' Krivsky said in a noon news conference today at Great American Ball Park.

[...]

"It comes down to the performance of the team,'' said an emotional Krivsky. "I share in that. But being the manager, you've got the direct responsibility there handling the team on a day-to-day basis."

Krivsky said he shares in the responsibility in putting the team together.

"A big part of me feels responsible,'' he said. ""I feel bad that I wasn't able to shore up the team a little bit better for Jerry and the staff to work with. It really bothers me.''

Ahh, so this was the classic "I can't fire myself and I gotta fire someone" move from Krivsky. I will say this, it's a strange move to bring Pete Mackanin in and have him be the interim manager. Usually they just move someone already on the coaching staff up into the interim position with the intention of hiring from outside later. Mackanin was the advanced scout for the club, meaning he wasn't already in the dugout. On one hand, naming an interim may suggest they're interested in someone that's not currently available, on the other hand it might just mean they want someone else to manage the team and haven't thought a lot about it yet.

If you're curious, that's Mackanin above. I thought I'd do the Reds' fans that wanted to see what their new manager looked like a favor. And I can never resist using an Expos picture.