Ownership Notes

by JD Arney on Nov 3, 2005 3:06 PM EST in News Comment 11 comments

- Paul Daugherty, somewhat surprisingly, gets it:

For all kinds of reasons, the Reds of 2005 are the Bengals of the 1990s. You don't want to go there.
We understand total makeovers are easier in the socialist NFL, where every team is playing with the same pile of payroll cash. We also see how the two World Series teams this year didn't get there by throwing money. Houston and the Chicago White Sox had payrolls in the modest, $75 million range.
It doesn't take lots of dough to compete. Oakland does it. Minnesota does it. How? That's your charge.

- The Enquirer also has a section on "what the Reds sale means":

What it means to Reds officials
General manager Dan O'Brien and manager Jerry Narron have one year left on their contracts, and early indications are that they are safe for the time being. Reds chief operating officer John Allen is not believed to have a contract for 2006.

Hurray! I'll be the first to say it: if Castellini doesn't clean house right away then we're just getting more of the same old. John Allen and Dan O'Brien need to go, and innovative people need to come in. Paul Depodesta needs a job. Wayne Krivsky would probably still be willing to listen. Both would be improvements. Make it happen Bob!

- Especially since we'll probably be hearing more about this 1997 land deal where Castellini received a great deal of money for riverfront property needed for GABP construction. So yeah, this whole deal is pretty incestuous. But it would be easy to make the point that business isn't going to be done as usual anymore in Cincinnati. If Castellini comes in and cleans house the city will love him and the franchise will get healthier to boot. Win, win situation.

Take a year to "evaluate" the franchise and we'll know that he's no different from Lindner.

I can't believe that a guy could spend time helping to run the St. Louis franchise and not realize that the Reds are operating in a poisoned atmosphere. I won't believe that things aren't going to be different until Castellini shows me that he's going to continue down the same path that Lindner walked.

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Regardless of what happens

Let's all agree that Bob Boone shouldn't be allowed to get within 15 feet of a major league manager's office.

God, he was awful.

by bobestes on Nov 3, 2005 3:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Cleaning House

15 feet? Kinda harsh. 5's alittle more reasonable.

I agree with JD. It would do so for the confidence of the fans if he took out the trash. But it's kind of hard to do with the way O'brain (yes that's really his name) has jammed everything up. They've already made commitments for next year haven't they?
Anyone else think Chris Sabo should get a job on the yet to be revamped staff?

"When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always twenty years behind the times."-Mark Twain

by sukr on Nov 4, 2005 12:31 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Well, well, well

I knew this smelled fishy. Thanks for the link to the '97 article JD. Now well see how the banks project starts to develop. And we'll see how the ever-timid local media outlets handle delving into this. Ever since that damn fool reporter admitted to stealing info from Chiquita, the uber-rich have been kind of hands off...including the stench of the most recent Banks deal with the county, where Bill Butler's pudgy fingers might have been caught in the cookie jar.

Goodbye Uncle Carl, I never loved you.

by Pinetarfly on Nov 4, 2005 9:46 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

'97 article

But that article was written before the deal was done to a) sell land, b)build the new Reds stadium on the riverfront rather than Broadway Commons, c) build the Bengals stadium on the western riverfront site.

Here is what I was talking about the other day:

http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2002/12/23/story3.html

Chiquita actually owned (secretly, I might add) the controlling interest of Castellini Co. when Lindner negotiated (supposedly) the county's purchase of Mr. Castellini's land (it was owned by the family, not the company) and the deal to build the Bengals stadium on the western riverfront site. "Whatever Lindner's involvement, this much has long been clear: The Bengals siting decision added millions to the project's price tag." This is because of the additional land the Bengals would need for practice fields, etc.

There has always been a deal among a circle of very few individuals to squeeze every dollar out of their investment by buying out outside competition. The result is that the County has zero negotiating leverage at the bargaining table when Lindner is involved. You have to understand that the County had no intention of purchasing the Castellini land for the purpose of building PBS there.

"Rob Fredericks, a legislative aide to Hamilton County Commissioner John Dowlin, said former Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus changed his bargaining stance on the Castellini land after receiving a phone call from Lindner. Fredericks said he attended a meeting where Bedinghaus disclosed the call."

So Lindner gave Bedinghaus the wink-wink to convince him to agree to the most-expensive option for the county. Result: Lindner, Castellini, & friends make more money.

Enough with Strikeouts and Michael

by Brian B on Nov 4, 2005 10:18 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

money

I'd love to see someone do a real article about this weird cabal of old men that only do business with each other and are joined by their love of baseball and George W. Bush.

by bobestes on Nov 4, 2005 10:45 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Do it, Finkelstein-style

Ron Oester. Bring him back.

Secure power arms for the bullpen.

Lock in Felipe ASAP.

by ohiobobcat on Nov 4, 2005 10:07 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Today's Erardi article

"Nightengale said success for a baseball franchise begins at the top with ownership. He cited the Los Angeles Angels, who have transformed their market with strong, new, aggressive leadership."

That's absurd. The Angels built their team and won it in 2002 under Disney ownership. Disney then sold high to a New York Mexican, slashed beer prices and spent his own money to bring in Bartolo Colon and Vladimir Guerrero. They've won the division the last two years, but Moreno hardly "transformed" the market.

Enough with Strikeouts and Michael

by Brian B on Nov 4, 2005 10:31 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Not that it matters much

But just doing a google search, I have learned that Robert Castellini is a Bush Donor at the "Major League Pioneer" level, but he didnt give quite enough to achieve the "Ranger" status in 2004 apparently.

http://www.tpj.org/docs/pioneers/pioneers_view.jsp?id=1153

Its amazing what you can learn through google.

by TheDude on Nov 4, 2005 12:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Which means

Theo Epstein definitely wouldn't be interested in working for the Reds. It was a remote possibility to begin with, but definitely not an option now.

I read over at RedsZone that Epstein's grandfather was pursued in the McCarthy witchhunt. Interesting stuff.

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. --Oscar Wilde

by JD Arney on Nov 4, 2005 1:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

However

Red Sox owner John Henry lent the team's private plane to the Bush administration to secretly ferry detainees from the war in Iraq/Afghanistan/whereever

So that doesn't necessarily rule him out :)

by bobestes on Nov 4, 2005 2:44 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs