read Marc Lancasters blog comments with Bob!

[redsfan4445]

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

[noskill27]

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

[M2]

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

[jimbo]

That just makes me feel giddy.

[MartyFan]

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

[edabbs44]

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:

[WVRedsFan]

Originally Posted by edabbs44

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:

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.

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by WVRedsFan

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.

Bob knows the quotes aren't just read by fans. He's got to talk to agents as well. After all, one of the things every FA wants is to play on a team that is trying to win. Let's just pretend he said this instead: "Well, we're pretty tapped out right now. Being a small market franchise means we just can't pony up the cash to stay competitive."
Would that kind of candor make people happy?

I'm guessing Bob has a lot of money. Hinting that he'll take some of it from the vegetable business to spend on the ballclub is a good move.

[Spring~Fields]

Originally Posted by edabbs44

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:

Castellini is not making any revelations here and not promising any grandiose changes. He is telling the fans that they can expect changes, but don't expect any huge player changes that will bring huge financial changes to the payroll budget.

Mr. Castellini appears to be honest and reasonable when he communicates in a business and accounting manner. He is not exaggerating by telling the fans or implying to the fans that the Reds are going to make any large changes that would significantly increase the budget. He is not leading them to believe in some fantastic improvements to player personnel that the team cannot afford.

The subject of Marc’s writing is “payroll flexibility”.
Mr. Castellini said that there is a “little bit“, or “wiggle room” for payroll flexibility. Little or wiggle are adjectives meaning small.

“Castellini insisted the Reds have some wiggle room with the remaining budget”

Castellini is using accounting parlance in using the term budget. Budget means the plan for allocating resources: a plan specifying how resources, especially time or money, will be allocated or spent during a particular period.

He is also being conservative or using conservatism in his use of generalities, conservative/conservatism cautious and on low side: cautiously moderate and therefore often less than the final outcome, is more accounting parlance, meaning, tendency to support gradual rather than abrupt change and to preserve the status quo.
Payrolls are an “inexact” projection due to the volatility in payroll changes that occur during a fiscal year that is the “period” in accounting terms, they are not fixed as in fixed expenses, so he has to say, “there is no exactness”. They will change and vary within a given fiscal year for any business, but he has clearly told us in small increments by using the terms “wiggle room” and “little bit”, meaning small amounts.


Points of reference:
Accounting parlance -
Parlance - particular way of talking: the style of speech or writing used by people in a particular context or profession.

Budget - plan for allocating resources: a plan specifying how resources, especially time or money, will be allocated or spent during a particular period
money for particular purpose: the total amount of money allocated or needed for a particular purpose or period of time
plan spending: to plan the allocation, expenditure, or use of resources, especially money or time.

Conservatism - tendency to support gradual rather than abrupt change and to preserve the status quo
To support gradual, preserve the status quo - Thus Castellini says, “wiggle” or “little”.

Conservative - cautious and on low side: cautiously moderate and therefore often less than the final outcome
Less than the final outcome because the payroll budget will have variances or variations due to the nature of arbitration, certain other moves that the team may or may not make, and the components in those contracts that might come or go.

“Little bit”
Little - an adjective meaning "small"

“Wiggle room”
Wiggle - make small movements: to move side to side in small quick movements, or make something move in this way - example of little bit or wiggle room. Krivsky has been consistent with those terms as it is reported that he made 42 moves or trades, those were each small movements

“Exactness correct“
: accurate and correct in all important details
precise: precise and not allowing for any variation.

Payroll in contrast to:

Fixed expense
Not subject to change: not subject to change in amount or time

Fixed cost - unchanging expense: a business expense that does not vary according to the amount of business

He has to say “there is no exactness“, because the payroll is naturally not exact, he leaves that up to the fans for their open interpretation for the realm of possible large increases in payroll to improve the team.

But he has said in fact just the opposite, he has said there is little, there is wiggle room, meaning small amounts, which does not equate to large improvements that cause substantive increases to the budget which is the plan for 2007.

"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."

“We look at every possibility”

Look - consider something: to direct the attention toward something in order to consider it
Let's look at the possible options.
possibility out of the realm of possibility
Possibility - something possible: something that is possible
Possibilities - potential: the potential for successful future development

Yet he has already conservatively stated that there is only room for a “little bit”, or “wiggle room” so the options for
possibilities will be limited by the budget plan that has only a small amount to make allowances for changes or increases to that budget.

[Phhhl]

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.

[jojo]

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...

[RedEye]

Originally Posted by Santo Alcala

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.

Well put. Unfortunately, I completely agree.

[oneupper]

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.

[Falls City Beer]

Show me.

[NJReds]

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