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Reds under new management

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Jaxbuck

Jaxbuck

I hate tsun
‘18 Fantasy Baseball Champ
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Oh thank you sweet jesus the day I've prayed for has arrived...we can now officialy hope again.

Castellini group expected to buy Reds
<HR style="COLOR: #efefef" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Breaking news: An ownership group led by local businessman Robert Castellini is expected to buy a majority stake in the Cincinnati Reds and will likely assume operating control of the team, sources said today.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...SPT04/51102012

Castellini group expected to buy majority stake in Reds
By Cliff Peale, John Erardi and John Fay
Enquirer staff writers


An ownership group led by local businessman Robert Castellini is expected to buy a majority stake in the Cincinnati Reds and will likely assume operating control of the team, sources said today.

The team is expected to issue a press release at 4 p.m.

Under terms of the agreement, it’s believed that Reds owner Carl Lindner will give up control of the team.

Castellini, 64, is the president of Castellini Co., a fruit and vegetable wholesaler, and has ties to baseball. He is part of the St. Louis Cardinals’ ownership group headed by Cincinnatian Bill DeWitt, who is that team’s chairman. Castellini and DeWitt previously invested in the Baltimore Orioles.

Sources say brothers Thomas L. and W. Joseph Williams are in Castellini’s ownership group. Tom Williams is the president of North American Properties, which is headquartered in Cincinnati. Joseph Williams is the chairman.

North American Properties has offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Ft. Myers and Minneapolis.

It was started in 1954 by William J. Williams, who owned the Reds with his brother James from 1980-84.

Three minority owners of the team put shares totalling 51.5 percent up for sale on March 8. That consortium included the Louise Dieterle Nippert Trust, local investor George Strike, and a subsidiary of Gannett Co., which owns The Enquirer.

Although more than 50 percent of the team went up for sale, owner Carl Lindner is “CEO for life” of the Reds, per his ownership agreement. Lindner owns 37.5 percent of the club.

Lindner has first right to match any offer for the shares on sale, along with William Reik, an investment manager in New York who controls about 11 percent of the team. A source today said Reik will retain that percentage of ownership in the team. It’s not known whether Lindner will keep his share of the team.

Assuming an agreement is reached with the Castellini group and a contract is signed, the next step in the deal requires approval by Major League Baseball owners.

While the sale would end the mystery of who controls the Reds, only time will tell the answer to this question: How much money will the new owners spend on the Reds, and what is the status of chief operating officer John Allen, general manager Dan O’Brien, and manager Jerry Narron.

O’Brien and Narron each have one year remaining on their contracts.

In 2005, the Reds’ payroll was just under $62 million. Although that represented a $16 million increase over 2004’s payroll, the returns were modest. The team finished 73-89, good for fifth place in the six-team National Central League Division. Cincinnati has not had a winning season since 2000. It’s the longest losing streak since the team endured 11 straight losing seasons, from 1945-55.

By way of comparison, the New York Yankees’ payroll last year was the highest in the league at $208,306,817. The World Champion Chicago White Sox’s payroll was just over $75 million.

Tom Williams became president of North American Properties in 1991. He was a lawyer at the law firm of Frost & Jacobs, has a bachelor of arts degree from Georgetown University, and a law degree from the University of Cincinnati.

Joe Williams has a bachelor’s degree from Xavier University. The brothers were also part of the Cardinals ownership group.
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DaytonBuck - I hear there is a really promising young GM on the marketplace right now.

Wish this deal was done so that the ex-Red Sox GM could get a good deal to help build back the original Red Legs into a winning franchise.

Cincy is a town that has been thirsting for improvement in its Baseball team. Hopefully, this is a sign of good things to come.
 
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This is a very very good thing for Cincinnati and the Reds. Bob C is cut from the same cloth as the Dewitt's and Bob Jr, Phil and the rest of the Castellini crew will do a great job making SMART moves. This is a very successfully group of businessman.
 
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Trevor Hoffman is searching for a new home right about now. Cincinnati Real Esate is at a premium.:biggrin:

There are so many places to improve on the Reds that seem like they should easily be done from afar, starting with O'brien. Hopefully these guys have enough vision to bring back a winner to Cincinnati.
 
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I'm not even worried about on the field moves right now. Just waiting to pop the cork on Allen and Dan O getting the axe.

I seriously wonder if there is a player in MLB that could do as much good for the Reds as getting rid of Uncle Carl and the gang of fucking retards he has assembled.
 
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Jaxbuck said:
I'm not even worried about on the field moves right now. Just waiting to pop the cork on Allen and Dan O getting the axe.

I seriously wonder if there is a player in MLB that could do as much good for the Reds as getting rid of Uncle Carl and the gang of fucking retards he has assembled.
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The problem with the Reds and the pre-Marvin Lewis Bengals is that management was passed out to the kids and yes guys and gals.
 
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Jaxbuck said:
I'm not even worried about on the field moves right now. Just waiting to pop the cork on Allen and Dan O getting the axe.

I seriously wonder if there is a player in MLB that could do as much good for the Reds as getting rid of Uncle Carl and the gang of fucking retards he has assembled.
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Hey Jaxbuck tell us how you really feel :biggrin:

For me - This has sweet written all over it.
 
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Theo would be nice but I think he's taking the year off, and I don't think the Reds would have any chance with him anyways. I think a drunken Shottize would better than the Allen, Obie crew running things. I just hope this new guy will spend some money and do things the right way. I realize the Reds will never outspend the Yankees or Red Sox but 80 million with smart decisions and the Reds could on par with the Cardinals, A's, Twins. Hopefully now we can actually sign draft picks, get talent into the farm system, and not have every pitching prospect in the system blow their arm out. I had dug for about a decade of losing after the past couple of seasons but now I have some hope we may see .500 or better baseball.
 
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How quickly Reds fans forget the past... There's absolutely no reason to celebrate anything at this point. When Uncle Carl bought the club everyone was convinced the glory days would return. No longer would the horrible neglect of the minor leagues continue and a new era of big time free agents had arrived. No one thought that tings could actually get worse and what happened? Why on Earth should I believe that this ownership group will be less embarrassing than the previous two? I think I'll reserve my judgement for a while...
 
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StooGrimson said:
How quickly Reds fans forget the past... There's absolutely no reason to celebrate anything at this point. When Uncle Carl bought the club everyone was convinced the glory days would return. No longer would the horrible neglect of the minor leagues continue and a new era of big time free agents had arrived. No one thought that tings could actually get worse and what happened? Why on Earth should I believe that this ownership group will be less embarrassing than the previous two? I think I'll reserve my judgement for a while...
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I can appreciate that concern but here are the two biggest reasons I don't think this group will be as bad.

1) The limited partners are leaving as well as Lidner. There was always a lot of talk about them mucking up the works behind the scenes.

2) This new group is an experienced baseball bunch from a winning organization. They know what to do to win and place importance on putting a winning product on the field. Two things Uncle carl never got.

The last time an owner came to the Reds from St Louis VERY good things happened.
 
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Those are two great points dude. The departure of the minority partners is nice, but I find myself getting genuinely optimistic knowing that these guys have ownership experience with a quality organization. I think I'm just a victim of over a decade of professional sports in Cincy.
 
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