Ownership Notes

- 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.