read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

from marc's blog:
Payroll flexibility?

Earlier this evening, Bob Castellini was chatting with a few of us reporter types and somebody made the requisite crack about looking forward to that Barry Zito press conference. We all know that's not going to happen, but Castellini insisted the Reds have some wiggle room with the remaining budget.

"Nothing’s out of the question," he said. "We don’t knock any possibility out of the realm of possibility, OK? We look at every possibility that’s going to make this team a better team."

I mentioned his statement about ponying up some more cash at midseason if the team was in contention, and he said he'd do it again this year. Then he implied he's prepared to do it this winter.

"People keep trying to figure out how much money there is – don’t worry about it," he said. "If we have to move out a little bit more, we’ll move out a little bit more. ... There is no exactness."


HMM this made me smile as a Reds fan... Lets see what magic they can do :)

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

Good to hear. Hopefully, he can back it up!

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

Nice to hear. It's exactly the attitude the franchise should have.

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

That just makes me feel giddy.

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

LOVE THIS OWNER AND GM..they will return the Reds to GLORY!!!

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

WARNING...do not read if you don't want to hear negative thoughts.

I will believe it when I see it. We've heard this before and I fell for it once already. I really hope he is telling the truth but I am not buying yet. The way WK and Bob are talking, you'd think they're gonna break the bank. All these quotes like "stay tuned" and "We don’t knock any possibility out of the realm of possibility, OK?", whatever the heck that means. As always, I'm taking these quotes with a:

http://www.isitso.org/guide/salt.gif

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

I sometimes think that all baseball people say the things that will make the fans come to the park...or the RedsFest, for that matter. If these quotes were totally accurate, we'd already have Barry Zito, a slugging outfielder and another starter. ain't gonna happen.

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

I believe Castellini. I think he means it. I don't think ownership is the problem anymore. I still wonder about the baseball people. I read something earlier tonight that the consensus among other teams is that the Reds are going to give Adam Dunn away. That is the residual problem when a gm sticks his neck out and gets it lopped off in a deal like the one Krivsky made with the Nats last summer. True or not, the rest of the league is going to assume you're an idiot when you open negotiations on a deal. It becomes a road block, because the other guy is always going to hold out as long as possible to see if you are going to "break" again.

I don't think any reasonable person expects the club to compete with the ridiculous spending that is going on in free agency this winter. Castellini might be showboating a little to even suggest it. But, a good gm who has established his credintials has plenty of time to make good moves moving forward. I have no doubt that ownership would not fixate on a bottom line if we could make a move that would make a difference. I just wonder if Krivsky is capable to doing that, especially considering the "trap" he has created for himself.

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

I dunno... The Reds were in the thick of things until the last week of the season yet attendance was only up roughly 8% from the previous year and the Reds were doing everything short of offering to swing by fans' houses and pick them up in order to get them to the stadium during some series with bonifide playoff implications (my 8 yo actually treated me to a Padres game/refreshments out of her own money)...

The FO claimed the Nats deal as proof they were willing to raise payroll... (well ok I guess, but wasn't a big component of that really about deciding Lopez wasn't worth his arbitration raise this off season?).

I just suspect that what Castellini means by payroll increase and what diehard Reds fans hope he means by payroll increase may not be the same thing...

Anyway, I've seen enough spin from the new ownership/leadership to have some healthy skepticism about certain issues...

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

It definitely can make sense for a sports franchise to run a deficit, if that added investment creates value for the brand.

What's more, the increase in value of most sports franchises has outstripped inflation and interest rates over long periods of time. A smart owner should tap into that "passive income" to build his brand.

Think of it as a home equity loan (in the good days for housing) for an upgrade or addition. The appreciation in value is going to pay the loan all by itself.

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

Show me.

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

I think signing Zito for $15M+ year for 5-7 years is crazy anyway.

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

Agreed, but pretty soon we're gonna look up and every pitcher with some sort of talent wil be gone. And we'll be performing the January dumpster dive once again. Repeat next year, and the next, and the...

That's why they need to draft starting pitchers with at least their first 5 picks next year. If they cannot afford good pitching then there is no other alternative.

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

And there it is in a nutshell. How many posters on here have said that Zito, good pitcher that he is, is a flyball pitcher and would not do well at GABP.

I'll take Cast at his word. For everyone whose saying spread the money out, I have just one name - Eric Milton. Let's not go there again. Even though I root for him every time he goes out (and I got to see him pitch a heckuva game in Milwaukee this summer), I don't want the Reds throwing money at someone like him. I'd rather those pitchers be someone else's problem.

Re: read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!
 

Well put. Unfortunately, I completely agree.