According to the Billings Gazette, the Reds have fired Billings manager Joe Kruzel and pitching coach Pete Magre.
Minor league pitching coordinator Mack Jenkins takes over the pitchers, while infield coordinator (and former Dragons manager Freddy Benvides) will take overthe manager’s duties. . . except for when he takes next weekend off for a family commitment.
“There’s not a whole lot to say other than we just felt the club needed a change in direction,” (Reds director of player development Terry) Reynolds said before the Mustangs lost, 10-2, to the Osprey. “With the off day (Thursday), the timing just seemed like if we were going to do it, that was the time to do it.
“Both Joe and Pete worked hard and gave their heart and soul to this club all summer, but we just thought at this time we wanted to get a fresh start going into the last couple weeks and move forward.”
That explanation is obviously b.s. — who fires a staff with 2 weeks left in the season, and no replacement lined up for half that time –but it’s impossible to determine whether Reynolds is spinning something Kruzel and Magre did, or just goofy timing on his/Krivsky’s part. I don’t know anything about any of these guys, so I have no clue.
A little research shows that Kruzel was non-renewed as coach of his alma mater at University of Toledo a couple years back, but again, I have no clue what that was about. Toledo’s always been lousy.