[westofyou]

Here's how you kill a sports organization.

1. Sell it to an owner who wants to use it to further their own life and other business's that are in no way connected to baseball. Then let said owner be President of the team.

2. Continue relationship for over one decade.

3. Once in state of confusion hand keys over to a conservative accountant with no baseball side experience and install him as president.

4. Continue for a 5 years

5. Sell team to a man who made his fortune when most TV's were Philco's.

6. Retain conservative accountant as link between field and owner

7. Not awaken aforementioned owner

8. Continue for 5 years.

9. Allow conservative accountant to spearhead move into new facility, said move eventually pushes the baseball side of the business beneath the moneyside in accountants mind. From that moment on accountant will let non baseball side of business trump all baseball sides of the business.

10. Hiring a GM because he's a Bizzaro version of Jim Bowden. We know the Reds wanted stability after Bowden, but the mismanagment of that transaction was worthy of the Italian goverment.


Most fine organizations have VP's or Presidents that layer between the GM and the owners, for instance the Reds had Howsam as a VP, but he was a great businessman and baseball man.

If Dan O reports to the owner it seems to me that the owner will go and first find the new conduit. Whether it's a president/VP who will get a GM or a GM that will fill both roles who knows?

But the Reds can't have just handed Dan O the keys to every room based on his work history in Cincinnati. That would be madness.