From the DDN:
There are strong indications that the Cincinnati Reds will name Jim Beattie as the team's general manager, The Dayton Daily News has learned.
This is really quite bad news. Beattie seems to be the most underwhelming of all the candidates, and actually seems very similar to Dan O'Brien (slow, deliberate, boring, etc.).
Hal really goes off the deep end with this statement:
One thing Beattle has in his favor that O'Brien didn't is that Beattie played the game. He was drafted and signed by the New York Yankees in 1975 and pitched nine major-league seasons with the Yankees and Mariners, going 52-87 with a 4.17 earned run average in 203 games.
I personally hold quite a few things against Dan O'Brien, but I never once thought his failings had anything to do with his lack of experience as a major league baseball player. And anyone who thought otherwise is, to put it bluntly, delusional.
Hat tip to JinAZ in the comments.