I don't know, this strikes me as a bit of a reach:
Signing Thom Brennaman to join his father, Marty, in the Reds' radio booth was the latest example of how important it is to have a visible owner.Had owner Bob Castellini not been involved in the wooing process, Brennaman still would be employed by the Diamondbacks.
Having him in the booth is not going to win the Reds one game, but the fact that Castellini and Co. were able to get the No. 1 guy on their list bodes well for future endeavors, i.e., signing free agents.
"If this is any indication - and I'm not so bold as to believe that the broadcaster is a big deal - but if this is any indication of the way this franchise is starting to operate, it says to the fans in this city and around this entire region that this franchise is coming back," Thom Brennaman said. "It will be at the top again. You can mark it down."
I guess I have skepticism because I could easily see the Reds shelling out big bucks for a radio guy as opposed to a starting pitcher.
It's just the way things have been done in Cincinnati in the past. The focus on who's filling out the lineup card is a pretty good example of this. There are plenty of radio personalities and writers who think getting a guy like Lou Piniella would mean more wins and more butts in the seats, and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that people think the same thing about getting big personalities into the radio booth (well maybe not the wins part, I don't think anyone's that deluded).
It could definitely be different this offseason, but I'm not sure I'm going to believe it until I see it. And that's without taking into account the fact that spending money is good and all, but spending it intelligently is really what matters. Krivsky's latest move was purchasing two years of Juan Castro, so I don't know how much confidence I have at this point.