Reds sign Pena to 1 year $1.25 mil. deal.

[reds44]

I don't see this posted yet so..........

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/a...2005&fext=.jsp

[captainmorgan07]

im glad to see dano's signing everybody but dunn to contracts somebody get his butt in gear

[CTA513]

Originally Posted by captainmorgan07

im glad to see dano's signing everybody but dunn to contracts somebody get his butt in gear

Dunn will probably get another 1 year contract, that way he will be way to expensive to sign long term.

[paulrichjr]

Originally Posted by captainmorgan07

im glad to see dano's signing everybody but dunn to contracts somebody get his butt in gear

Give the guy a little break! No one signs long-term contracts right before a new owner comes in. I would be surprised if an offer isn't made soon after the ownership change. I would be surprised if Dunn accepted it.

Since the board keeps yelling at me for not posting in a while, let me just direct you over to the blog for some news on this front. News that probably will make a lot of you rather unhappy.

And then I'll crawl back into hibernation.

[KronoRed]

/\ Not surprising

[Cyclone792]

Dunn Career Win Shares

Year    Age    Win Shares

2001     21        10
2002     22        21
2003     23        13
2004     24        32
2005     25        28

Aging pattern graph from TangoTiger ... http://www.tangotiger.net/aging.html

[dsmith421]

I just read Lancaster's blog.

How Dan O'Brien has a job is absolutely beyond me. The man just exudes total incompetence. He clearly has no handle on any of the skills that make for a successful GM. He needs to be fired yesterday.

[M2]

Marc, thanks for the info.

Just my take, but I think part of the problem the Reds have had with LTCs is linked to the team's problems at working the trade market -- DanO's an awful salesman. Obviously it would require being in the room with him to prove it, but both trades and LTCs require you to understand the other side and explain why what you're offering dovetails with that party's interests. DanO never seems to be able to identify where the give is with the other party. In LTC discussions a big part of it revolves around making that player understand where he fits into the team and where the team is headed. That would require DanO to stop treating the game like an academic exercise and start using short, declarative sentences.

[Jpup]

what are the chances that DanO is fired before Opening Day? If the Reds are going to keep O'brien as their GM into the future, they should just go ahead and trade Felipe, Adam, Austin, and Wily Mo before they just walk away and the Reds end up with nothing.

[Aronchis]

Originally Posted by Jpup

what are the chances that DanO is fired before Opening Day? If the Reds are going to keep O'brien as their GM into the future, they should just go ahead and trade Felipe, Adam, Austin, and Wily Mo before they just walk away and the Reds end up with nothing.

Walk away with nothing? It is when DanO leaves that they WOULD be traded then as the new regime levels the team and start over completely.

[Caveat Emperor]

Originally Posted by M2

Marc, thanks for the info.

Just my take, but I think part of the problem the Reds have had with LTCs is linked to the team's problems at working the trade market -- DanO's an awful salesman. Obviously it would require being in the room with him to prove it, but both trades and LTCs require you to understand the other side and explain why what you're offering dovetails with that party's interests. DanO never seems to be able to identify where the give is with the other party. In LTC discussions a big part of it revolves around making that player understand where he fits into the team and where the team is headed. That would require DanO to stop treating the game like an academic exercise and start using short, declarative sentences.

Or, as a possibility to throw out there: If a player is really concerned with more than money and wants to see a commitment to building a winning team here in Cincinnati before they ink a deal, why on Earth would they deal with Dan O'Brien right now?

The franchise is in transition, and just about everyone and their brother agrees that O'Brien is just filling a seat until the new owners can get in place and fire him. So, if you're looking for long term information about the direction of the franchise and selling points on signing, O'Brien is a bad source of information right now and likely NOT going to be the guy you're dealing with this time a couple months from now.

So, why not wait to get the full story from the new owners and whatever new management they put in place as opposed to signing on the dotted line with a lame duck GM, a lame duck ownership group, and a franchise plan that may or may not be set to change drastically in the very short term future?

If I'm the agent for Adam Dunn, unless DanO comes at me with crazy amounts of coin, I tell him politely: "Thanks, but we'll wait for the adults to show up before we have a conversation."

[Aronchis]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

Or, as a possibility to throw out there: If a player is really concerned with more than money and wants to see a commitment to building a winning team here in Cincinnati before they ink a deal, why on Earth would they deal with Dan O'Brien right now?

The franchise is in transition, and just about everyone and their brother agrees that O'Brien is just filling a seat until the new owners can get in place and fire him. So, if you're looking for long term information about the direction of the franchise and selling points on signing, O'Brien is a bad source of information right now and likely NOT going to be the guy you're dealing with this time a couple months from now.

So, why not wait to get the full story from the new owners and whatever new management they put in place as opposed to signing on the dotted line with a lame duck GM, a lame duck ownership group, and a franchise plan that may or may not be set to change drastically in the very short term future?

If I'm the agent for Adam Dunn, unless DanO comes at me with crazy amounts of coin, I tell him politely: "Thanks, but we'll wait for the adults to show up before we have a conversation."

Frankly I don't think we have a franchise plan. Lindner only was Chief from 2000-2005 which probably indicates that he had little interest into the Reds except the late Marge era plan Bowden devised. When Jimbo went up in flames in 2003, with the sale closing in pratically, Lindner went with a puppet he could control though it didn't work very well and didn't get the Limiteds a brass sendoff.

In terms of a long term franchise plan, they still didn't have one.

First, the Reds had a decayed plan with Marge, a poorly executed one by the Allen/Bowden duo, then none with Lindner who was just holding the phone.

If Dunn signs a LTC, it will be this year. If he doesn't sign one, that may be a sign a major culling is nearing. But any FO personal that Cast hires will either sign Dunn or trade him. If they just let him go as a FA, a bad bad sign that would be for the Reds future.

[traderumor]

All of DanO's "plans" are null and void if he gets the boot.

[creek14]

If new ownership doesn't kick this bum to the curb before ST I will be hard pressed to spend money on game tickets.

Usually by this time I am champing at the bit for ST and the regular season to get here. This year it's a big or maybe a big