Even the press couldn't find where the Reds dropped the ball on this one. Not sure what they did wrong. The World Series hasn't even started and they already made a decision and let him know their intentions. They said that contract talks would occur in the offseason, this is the offseason. Give him a front office position? When he is still going to pursue playing? Not sure what more the Reds could do.
Let's review. They sign him up for one more year after he said he wanted to play more one year, the Reds (Linder says uncle after Reik sits on him after Barry sits on him) buckled. They set up a party for him, he eventually says ok, but then "thanks, but no thanks." Fine, they cancel the party. The handwriting is on the wall late in the year. We're out of the race, Lopez is finally showing promise (Daugherty calls him a suspect? Does he go to games? Did he see him play the last half of the season? Anyway, I digress), and they want to see what Machado has to offer. So Larkin gets his panties in a bunch because they want to see the young guys on a regular basis AND COMMUNICATE THAT TO HIM. He didn't like what he heard, so he stuck his bottom lip out and started talking.
Yea, I can certainly see where the Reds screwed Barry on this one
And I can certainly see why folks would expect him to accept that role more gracefully next season. Sort of like expecting John Kerry to keep his "plan."