Reds sale officially approved...

[BrooklynRedz]

per Bud at the Winter Meetings. Just an FYI.

[Heath]

Per Marc - looks like a deal

Let the real speculation begin.

A year ago next Wednesday - RedZone hit the record for most users at one time (at 408) - anyone want to speculate if that gets topped tommorrow around 4?

(BTW - Rich Aurilia got signed on Jan 25th last year.)

[redsfan30]

Hopefully today is Dan O'Brien's last day on the job.

[Reds4Life]

Brooklyn, are you hearing any rumblings that DanO might be gone soon?

[Heath]

Originally Posted by Reds4Life

Brooklyn, are you hearing any rumblings that DanO might be gone soon?

Please, pretty please. With sugar on top??

[zombie-a-go-go]

Originally Posted by Heath

Per Marc - looks like a deal

Let the real speculation begin.

A year ago next Wednesday - RedZone hit the record for most users at one time (at 408) - anyone want to speculate if that gets topped tommorrow around 4?

(BTW - Rich Aurilia got signed on Jan 25th last year.)

If the announcement is on the same level as the Aurilia signing, I may very well cry. Have you ever seen a grown man cry? Not a pretty thing. Kind of embarassing, really.

[BrooklynRedz]

Originally Posted by Reds4Life

Brooklyn, are you hearing any rumblings that DanO might be gone soon?

To be honest, I'm not hearing much of anything right now coming out of Cincy. I'll try doing some digging tonight, though, and will certainly let you know if anything shakes out.

I will say that in a conversation I had about a month ago with someone close the Reds FO, there is a deep sense of unease rolling through the halls. But, I guess that's not exactly news to anyone.

[steig]

let the firings begin and clean up this mess...please

[Reds Fanatic]

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/a...=.jsp&c_id=mlb

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- It took less than five minutes for the majority ownership of the Reds to pass hands from Carl Lindner to Robert Castellini on Thursday morning.
The Cincinnati produce magnate waited patiently outside a ballroom where the quarterly joint owners meeting had just begun. Castellini was chatting amiably and off-the-record with a pair of reporters when Larry Lucchino, the Red Sox president, ducked his head through the wooden double doorway and beckoned Castellini into the inner sanctum as one of Major League Baseball's 30 chosen.

Castellini received a loud ovation as he replaced Lindner, who has had control of the franchise since 1999 and now will take a minority stake of the Reds, who were founded in 1882 and are widely acknowledged as baseball's oldest franchise. The vote was unanimous.

Castellini's stewardship will be formally rolled out on Friday at a press conference in Cincinnati, and he cordially asked not to be quoted before then.

Two other members of the purchasing group, the brothers Thomas L. and William J. Williams Jr., have the Reds in their bloodline. Their father and uncle were owners of the franchise from 1966 to 1984, before Marge Schott took control as majority owner.

The club reportedly was valued at $270 million, and Castellini is buying about 70 percent. Lindner purchased the team from Schott for $67 million. It is the third shift of a majority portion of an MLB franchise in the last year, following the sales of the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Devil Rays. That leaves the Washington Nationals, Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves still on the market.

Lindner aside, Reds minority owners Bill Reik Jr., a New York investment broker, and George Strike are keeping their shares.

Castellini is a former minority partner with the Texas Rangers and has been in the same position with the St. Louis Cardinals for the last decade. He's a Cincinnati native and continues a long pattern of keeping the Reds under the stewardship of locally based owners.

He once owned a group of buildings near old Riverfront Stadium identified by a large sign that read "Castellini Produce." But Castellini sold the 24-acre parcel for $36.5 million to Hamilton County, which tore down the buildings to make way for Paul Brown Stadium, the current home of the National Football League's Bengals.

Riverfront, named Cinergy Field in its final years, was imploded after the 2002 season. It was replaced by Great American Ball Park, which was constructed on an adjacent lot. The two new stadiums sandwich the now empty spot where the Big Red Machine won World Series titles in 1975 and 1976, and Pete Rose passed Ty Cobb to take over the lead on the all-time hits list in 1985.

Castellini, 64, is still involved in his produce business but intends to spend a great deal of time resurrecting the Reds, who haven't won the World Series since 1990 and haven't made the playoffs since 1995, when they swept the Dodgers in a National League Division Series and in turn were swept by the Braves in the NL Championship Series.

[Matt700wlw]

Originally Posted by redsfan30

Hopefully today is Dan O'Brien's last day on the job.

Don't count on it.

[jmcclain19]

I really hope no one is expecting anything more than Status Quo tomorrow.

Don't get your hopes up that anything major will happen.

[Puffy]

Originally Posted by jmcclain19

I really hope no one is expecting anything more than Status Quo tomorrow.

Don't get your hopes up that anything major will happen.

DanO has at least 8 more months to screw up the Reds future.

[Caveat Emperor]

Originally Posted by Reds4Life

Brooklyn, are you hearing any rumblings that DanO might be gone soon?

The bigger issue, I think, is whether or not Castellini is bringing in someone over DanO's head to run things. I think it's far more likely that DanO is retained with someone making the decisions above him than it is DanO is replaced outright at this point.

[MikeS21]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

The bigger issue, I think, is whether or not Castellini is bringing in someone over DanO's head to run things. I think it's far more likely that DanO is retained with someone making the decisions above him than it is DanO is replaced outright at this point.

I agree with Caveat.

I really think that with only one more year on DanO's contract, he will stick around, unless he totally refuses to cooperate with the new ownership's philosophy. If these owners are baseball savy at all, they know that there is no one in the current FA market who can help this team in 2006, nor are the Reds going to get any substantial trade value out of any player, unless it is Dunn or Lopez getting traded.

I think the biggest change we will see initially, will be perhaps that 2-3 advisors will be brought in, who have some expertise in various areas of baseball operations. One guy might be a major league talent evaluator, and another might be a minor league scout. And if we're real lucky, perhaps a sabermatrician will be brought in.

A word to the wise is sufficient. If O'Brien wants a favorable reference given to his next prospective employer, he would do well to pay attention to what these advisors tell him.

[westofyou]

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...articleid=4714

While the Reds work towards bridging the gap with Dunn and Lopez, we are left to wonder what will happen with Cincinnati in 2006. With ownership changing hands the team may well be circling the wagons again for 2007. That the Reds are focusing on one year-deals rather than saddling themselves with long-term deals for players they still control is a prudent strategy. The only player the Reds currently have money committed to for the 2008 season is the revitalized Ken Griffey Jr.. While the team and its fans may like to be rid of Eric Milton and his price tag, the fact that the Reds are maintaining a flexible payroll will allow them to move quickly when/if they get closer to contending.