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- Thread starter Bucktastic
- Start date
That all depends on what the Yankees do. If Torre is gone next year Lou will be the manager of the Yanks. Bob talked to Lou about being a special advisor. Lou wanted (or is contractually obligated) to be away from baseball for one year. I think if Torre is with the Yanks next year, Lou will be our manager next year. I feel Jerry Narron is gone next year whatever happens with Lou. Jerry is not Bob's man.
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crazybuckfan40
Head Coach
You know what, being in Cincy if they build it, the fans will come.
Basically being that if they field a good team, no matter the cost. Not talking Yankees and Red Sox, but enough to get us some talent and put a winner on the field, people will come support them. Heck they still put lots of fans in the seats when they have not been so good the last couple years.
Hopefully the new guy realizes that, and they bring someone in that recognizes what the hell they are trying to do with the organization and what our positions of need are, and try and get the minor league program back to where it needs to be.
Basically being that if they field a good team, no matter the cost. Not talking Yankees and Red Sox, but enough to get us some talent and put a winner on the field, people will come support them. Heck they still put lots of fans in the seats when they have not been so good the last couple years.
Hopefully the new guy realizes that, and they bring someone in that recognizes what the hell they are trying to do with the organization and what our positions of need are, and try and get the minor league program back to where it needs to be.
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Bucktastic
Troy Smith for HEISMAN
Very good point if Torre is gone.....Sweet Lou wil be on his way to the Yanks.
No doubt Narron is already on his way out. Hopefully Bucky Dent stays on though. Hes a damn good coach.
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BuckeyeBlitz04
Senior
About time things are getting shook up in Cincy! 70 wins a year is just not cutting it at all. We need some ppl who know how to run teams and make winning organizations!
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Bucktastic
Troy Smith for HEISMAN
New Reds GM will need his freedom
Can't be afraid of CEO, failure
By Paul Daugherty
Enquirer staff writer
He wants what he wants. I don't know much about Reds owner Bob Castellini. Except, possibly, this: I want to be on his side of the issue. I want to be in his corner of the ring. He doesn't waste time or mince words. If you're a fan, you have to love it. If you're a Reds employee, locate your suitcases and dust off your résumé.
That's not to say the club's new majority owner is impulsive or autocratic. He's just, um, decisive. He wants what he wants. Now.
"I told him I wanted to choose my own general manager," was how Castellini described the way he broke the news to Dan O'Brien. Who, up until Monday morning, was the Reds' general manager.
O'Brien had a three-year contract and a five-year plan. That's bad math when it comes to job security. When the big club is perpetually on the road to Tankville, no one wants to hear how the farm kids are ripping it up in Billings.
O'Brien's arid public persona didn't help. He might have been the most passionate guy in the room. He came off just this side of waxed.
You could see why Carl Lindner hired O'Brien. O'Brien is understated, professional and, oh yeah, an Ohio native who went to Crosley Field with his dad. Lindner ate that with a spoon. You could also see why O'Brien was possibly not a Castellini guy. If O'Brien ever rolled up his shirt sleeves, they'd have stuck on the buttons of his blue blazer.
Now that Castellini has dropped the axe, here's what has to happen.
He can't hire a yes-man.
He can't bring in a bootlick.
The new GM has to be young, creative and far enough outside the box he'll need a $20 cab ride to reach its little, cardboard edges.
When you are a small-revenue club (the Reds' market isn't small; the money they generate is) you have to make your own magic. Billy Beane is Exhibit A of changing water to wine. The Oakland A's are poorer than the Reds. Also, more successful. Beane has made his reputation thinking freely.
The new guy needs to know that Castellini will give him the freedom to do his job, which also means the freedom to screw up. It wasn't Dan O'Brien's fault the Reds spent $25.5 million for three years of Eric Milton. Ownership wanted Milton. New ownership should leave the baseball decisions to the baseball people it hires.
The new GM should also be strong enough, and possess a big enough ego, to stick his neck out for what he thinks. And be willing to rumble with ownership to get it.
The best thing Castellini said at a press conference Monday was, "I'm not going to get more involved. We're going to hire a general manager and he's going to assess his personnel."
He wants someone who recognizes talent and knows how to develop it. "Hardworking and passionate," Castellini said, to "establish and nurture a winning culture." Yes, and someone who can scout, draft, sign and develop a decent starting pitcher would be good, too.
Meanwhile, does Dan O'Brien leave the Reds better than he found them? Who knows? He signed off on Milton, which at the moment looks like a $25.5 million, three-year mistake. That's a lot of money, even in baseball. O'Brien hired Ramon Ortiz, now departed, for another $3.55 million. And Ben Weber for $600,000.
Throw in D'Angelo Jimenez, re-signed for $2.87 million and dispatched to Class AA in June, that's $15.5 million last year that achieved not much. That'll get you fired, even if a new boss hasn't taken over. And we aren't even mentioning O'Brien guys Jason Romano and Anderson Machado.
To be fair, O'Brien also brought in David Weathers, Kent Mercker and Joe Randa.
It's old news now. Bob Castellini has entered the building, bearing a broom. That's a good thing for a club that for five years drifted in an inertia sea, its off-field employees more concerned with keeping their jobs than doing them with any vision.
Castellini said he'll begin interviewing immediately. He already has a short list. You guessed he might. His first hire could also be his most important. Regardless, hold onto your hats, Reds Fans. The times, they are a changin'.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060124/COL03/601240381/1078
Can't be afraid of CEO, failure
By Paul Daugherty
Enquirer staff writer
He wants what he wants. I don't know much about Reds owner Bob Castellini. Except, possibly, this: I want to be on his side of the issue. I want to be in his corner of the ring. He doesn't waste time or mince words. If you're a fan, you have to love it. If you're a Reds employee, locate your suitcases and dust off your résumé.
That's not to say the club's new majority owner is impulsive or autocratic. He's just, um, decisive. He wants what he wants. Now.
"I told him I wanted to choose my own general manager," was how Castellini described the way he broke the news to Dan O'Brien. Who, up until Monday morning, was the Reds' general manager.
O'Brien had a three-year contract and a five-year plan. That's bad math when it comes to job security. When the big club is perpetually on the road to Tankville, no one wants to hear how the farm kids are ripping it up in Billings.
O'Brien's arid public persona didn't help. He might have been the most passionate guy in the room. He came off just this side of waxed.
You could see why Carl Lindner hired O'Brien. O'Brien is understated, professional and, oh yeah, an Ohio native who went to Crosley Field with his dad. Lindner ate that with a spoon. You could also see why O'Brien was possibly not a Castellini guy. If O'Brien ever rolled up his shirt sleeves, they'd have stuck on the buttons of his blue blazer.
Now that Castellini has dropped the axe, here's what has to happen.
He can't hire a yes-man.
He can't bring in a bootlick.
The new GM has to be young, creative and far enough outside the box he'll need a $20 cab ride to reach its little, cardboard edges.
When you are a small-revenue club (the Reds' market isn't small; the money they generate is) you have to make your own magic. Billy Beane is Exhibit A of changing water to wine. The Oakland A's are poorer than the Reds. Also, more successful. Beane has made his reputation thinking freely.
The new guy needs to know that Castellini will give him the freedom to do his job, which also means the freedom to screw up. It wasn't Dan O'Brien's fault the Reds spent $25.5 million for three years of Eric Milton. Ownership wanted Milton. New ownership should leave the baseball decisions to the baseball people it hires.
The new GM should also be strong enough, and possess a big enough ego, to stick his neck out for what he thinks. And be willing to rumble with ownership to get it.
The best thing Castellini said at a press conference Monday was, "I'm not going to get more involved. We're going to hire a general manager and he's going to assess his personnel."
He wants someone who recognizes talent and knows how to develop it. "Hardworking and passionate," Castellini said, to "establish and nurture a winning culture." Yes, and someone who can scout, draft, sign and develop a decent starting pitcher would be good, too.
Meanwhile, does Dan O'Brien leave the Reds better than he found them? Who knows? He signed off on Milton, which at the moment looks like a $25.5 million, three-year mistake. That's a lot of money, even in baseball. O'Brien hired Ramon Ortiz, now departed, for another $3.55 million. And Ben Weber for $600,000.
Throw in D'Angelo Jimenez, re-signed for $2.87 million and dispatched to Class AA in June, that's $15.5 million last year that achieved not much. That'll get you fired, even if a new boss hasn't taken over. And we aren't even mentioning O'Brien guys Jason Romano and Anderson Machado.
To be fair, O'Brien also brought in David Weathers, Kent Mercker and Joe Randa.
It's old news now. Bob Castellini has entered the building, bearing a broom. That's a good thing for a club that for five years drifted in an inertia sea, its off-field employees more concerned with keeping their jobs than doing them with any vision.
Castellini said he'll begin interviewing immediately. He already has a short list. You guessed he might. His first hire could also be his most important. Regardless, hold onto your hats, Reds Fans. The times, they are a changin'.
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060124/COL03/601240381/1078
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sandgk
Watson, Crick & A Twist
LINK
Short list one per Hal McCoy:
Short List 2 per Cincy Post tossing
Also keep in mind that Castellini has already signalled a desire to have Lou back on staff in some capacity - though for money reasons they will have to wait out his tenure (penance) under the contract with the Tampa Bay franchise.
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Lou Piniella? Jack McKeon?
Why not just bring back Davey Johnson too - hell, bring back everyone from the 1990s that the Reds Shouldn't Have Fired.
Why not just bring back Davey Johnson too - hell, bring back everyone from the 1990s that the Reds Shouldn't Have Fired.
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Wouldn't be a bad place to start. The Reds' philosophy for as long as I've followed them seems to have been...
"He's doing well? The team's successful? FIRE HIM!"
"He's doing well? The team's successful? FIRE HIM!"
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
link
1/25/06
1/25/06
COMMENTARY
Reds owner won’t be shy about making presence felt
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
BOB HUNTER
<!--PHOTOS--><TABLE class=phototableright align=right border=0><!-- begin large ad code --><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle></IMG> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
This is what we know about the Cincinnati Reds for the past 15 years:
They have made some promises they haven’t kept. They have had some good seasons, but generally have lost more than they won. They built a nice new ballpark and used it to sell the same, tired old product. They once had big-market support and bigmarket tradition but gradually let it erode until they were just another smallmarket team in another small-market town.
This is what we know about new owner Bob Castellini:
He wants to win. He is not patient. He’s not afraid to make decisions. He’s not afraid to take chances. He plans to be visible. He wants to set things right. It’s obvious in the five days since Castellini took over that he isn’t a proponent of Carl Lindner’s man-behind-the-curtain style of ownership. It’s also obvious that that is a welcome change for most Reds fans.
The Great and Powerful Carl directed Reds chief operating officer John Allen to make a lot of decisions that were highly unpopular with the team’s fandom, but assigning blame was never easy. Lindner was about as accessible as reclusive Howard Hughes was before he died, which meant, conveniently, never having to say he was sorry. To most of us, Lindner was more mystery than man. This is no problem when the team is winning. It’s a big problem when it isn’t, and the Reds haven’t had a winning season in five years.
Castellini made his first major move Monday, firing general manager Dan O’Brien with a year left on his contract. Whether that was a good or bad decision, the new owner didn’t back away from it; while he apparently likes O’Brien personally and appreciates the hard work he has done in trying to turn things around the past two years, he flatly stated that he wants his own man in the top baseball position of his club.
What seems obvious is that the cautious, patient O’Brien isn’t Castellini’s kind of guy. Castellini wants a guy who is more interested in winning now than doing it with a fiveyear plan, and he wants a guy who’s enough of a salesman to get Reds fans on board with what’s going on.
Sales wasn’t O’Brien’s calling. His plan, good or bad, didn’t resonate with a public that was tired of losing. Add in a few high-profile free-agent failures, and it was a tough sell for a guy not geared toward selling.
So the new guy, whoever he is, may make things better. If he doesn’t, he may at least make it palatable to the fans.
In his two news conferences, Castellini has made it clear that he is both intrigued and knowledgeable about the business of baseball. He already has hired former Expos GM Jim Beattie to take a close look at the organization’s pitching, in part because he has "never been able to fully understand what our plan is." He said "there’s definitely room for Sabermetrics (the mathematical analysis of baseball statistics)" and that "we have budgeted for that, (but) we’ll not let it take over our baseball operation." This is clearly not the aloof, too-busy-for-baseball Lindner or, for that matter, previous owner Marge Schott, who thought scouts were a waste of money because "all they do is watch games."
But it might be a good time to douse this raging inferno with a few quick squirts of reality.
The odds of success aren’t good. Baseball has stacked the cards against smallmarket teams that aren’t willing to spend like their bigmarket cousins.
Castellini already has ruled out a huge payroll bump, so the patient approach that O’Brien laid out might actually offer the best hope of winning.
Another squirt of reality: Most fiveyear plans don’t work in five years, if they work at all.
Castellini is sure to make mistakes — anybody who sets the kind of aggressive agenda he has is bound to — but in light of the Reds’ recent history, it’s tough to see this as a bad thing.
This is better, whatever it is.
Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch .
[email protected]
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sandgk
Watson, Crick & A Twist
Underscoring the differences in style Castellini to O'Brien -- todays radio round Cinci has the following tid-bit.
A day or so prior to Catellini's ouster of O'Brien Davey boy just could not pull the trigger on a trade that would have been a three-way involving the Reds, Red Sox, and Indians. Players moved would have been Kearns (Reds to the Indians), Matt Clement (Red Sox to the Reds) Coco Crisp, catcher Bard and pitcher David Riske from the Indians to the Red Sox.
Was this a straw that broke a camel's back?
A day or so prior to Catellini's ouster of O'Brien Davey boy just could not pull the trigger on a trade that would have been a three-way involving the Reds, Red Sox, and Indians. Players moved would have been Kearns (Reds to the Indians), Matt Clement (Red Sox to the Reds) Coco Crisp, catcher Bard and pitcher David Riske from the Indians to the Red Sox.
Was this a straw that broke a camel's back?
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