ICYMI, Phil Castellini, the Cincinnati Reds current President and Chief Operating Officer, and also the son of the team owner, Bob Castellini, made some egregious comments yesterday hours before the opening day game during an interview on 700 WLW. He was asked about fans who might be frustrated with the team, and have lost faith in the ownership. His response...
Well, where you gonna go? Let's start there. I mean, sell the team to who? I mean, that's the other thing, I mean, you wanna have this debate? If you wanna look at what would you have this team do to have it be more profitable, make more money, compete more in the current economic system that this game exists, it would be to pick it up and move it somewhere else. And, so, be careful what you ask for. I think we're doing the best we can do with the resources that we have.
We're no more pleased with the results than the fans. I'm not sitting here saying anybody should be happy, I'm not sitting here polishing any trophies in the office right now. And, that's what we're here to do. But, the bottom line is I do think we've had to shift the discipline, we've tried a lot of things that didn't work. They came this close to working and didn't, nobody's gotta tell me they didn't work. So, I think we've learned from those things. Trust me, [general manager] Nick [Krall] is a guy on a mission.
So a couple of things to dig out here. First off, the first thing out of his mouth is profitability. Nothing about trying to actually win and have a successful team. That's the secondary thought. In 16 years since the Castellini's have owned the team, the Reds have a losing record (1,193-1,297), only two division titles, only four total playoff appearances, and ZERO playoff series wins. And here in year 17, they go back into a rebuild instead of committing to improving a decent team. Getting rid of good players just to slash the payroll. This year, they'll be lucky to even hit .500. A 75 win season is likely. The playoffs aren't even in the discussion and its still April. The only thing that matters to these guys is profit, they could care less what the actual product on the field is.
Then there's the whole "maybe should move the team so be careful what you wish for" piece. Fans just want a competitive team, and his response is to threaten them. "Accept having a terrible team that can't win or you won't have a team to root for at all" is a translated interpretation. The audacity to actually come out and say that, as a fan, its appalling. It just further reiterates their complete lack of interest in anything but money.
But don't worry! Phil came back and issued a heartfelt apology that made everything better!
"I apologize to Reds fans and regret the comments that I made earlier today. We love this city, we love this team, and we love our fans. I understand how our fans feel and I am sorry."
They might understand how the fans feel, but they don't care. They say they love the city, team, and fans, but they don't show it. Cincinnati may not have the market size and appeal of L.A. or New York. But the city of Cincinnati loves baseball. There's a storied history here. Just look at this Opening Day celebration for a season with little hope of being competitive.
Happy Opening Day !
See you all soon ! pic.twitter.com/GwA4Z6zURY
— The Holy Grail (@holygrailbanks) April 12, 2022
The fans deserve better. They deserve ownership that actually tries to win. Not ownership that threatens them for being upset that the owners themselves don't even care.
Article: https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/reds-president-phil-castellini-scoffs...
