Letter to the Fans from Castellini & Jocketty

[redsmetz]

I just got this in my email:

Dear Fans,

Thank you for your loyalty and support of the Cincinnati Reds. You are extremely vital to the success of the Reds, and it is important we share with you the thinking behind our recent personnel decisions.

Since taking ownership of this franchise, we have aggressively tried to improve our Major League roster for the purpose of restoring championship baseball to Cincinnati. We have sought and signed proven players. We have extended the contracts of select current players. We added Dusty Baker, a proven winning manager. And, we have capitalized on our burgeoning younger players like Joey Votto, Jay Bruce and Johnny Cueto.

We had high expectations for the 2008 season. Unfortunately the team has not played up to our expectations and we have sustained injuries to key players within our starting lineup and rotation.

We opted to trade Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn at this time because we believe it provided the best outcome for the long-term success of the organization. By executing these inevitable changes now, we secured more players as part of our focus towards building a deeper, stronger inventory of young talent.

We are pleased that the trades allow Griffey and Dunn the opportunity to play for teams in tight division races. Both Ken and Adam made significant contributions to the Reds and we are extremely proud and grateful they wore the Reds uniform.

While the run production generated by these two veterans will not be quickly replaced, we chose to endure the short-term ramifications for the sake of building a strong, competitive team for 2009 and many seasons to come.

The vast majority of our 50 draft picks were signed, culminating last week with first-rounder Yonder Alonso and a pair of talented pitchers. Our expanded scouting operations also signed Juan Duran from the Dominican Republic and Yorman Rodriguez from Venezuela, who are arguably the best amateur free agent position players from their respective countries.

As we near September, we will continue to provide valuable playing time to our young players and new acquisitions who we feel can become significant contributors at the Major League level. We ask your continued trust and patience as we build the roster that will get us back on top. We appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you at the ballpark.

[gonelong]

Could this be "The Plan" that suffering Reds Fans have been so desperate to waft to their ears?

This feels like a total reboot of the system to me ... about time. I suspect some offseason acquisitions and trades as well.

GL

[redsmetz]

Originally Posted by gonelong

Could this be "The Plan" that suffering Reds Fans have been so desperate to waft to their ears?

This feels like a total reboot of the system to me ... about time. I suspect some offseason acquisitions and trades as well.

GL

I think it's a bid to bump up attendance in the final five to six weeks of the season, acknowledging that it's going to be a bit dreadful, but asking folks to come on down anyway.

[Chip R]

P.S. The losing stops now. We really mean it this time.

[Krusty]

At least they showed consideration and addressing fans with the situation.

[RedEye]

Originally Posted by Chip R

P.S. The losing stops now. We really mean it this time.

All kidding aside, this letter really feels more like it is saying that "the losing begins now so that we can start rebuilding." It's a refreshingly honest change IMO.

[lollipopcurve]

Glad to see them acknowledging the need to go young. I'm behind it 100%.

[Krusty]

What would be worse is doing nothing at the trading deadline. At least they looked in the mirror and finally realize what they got wasn't working.

You can fire so many managers and GMs before you point the finger at the ones who produce the results......the players.

[Unassisted]

I think it's classy and much-needed. From what I've heard lately on WLW's call-in shows, average fans had trouble understanding why the Reds were "trading all of their best players." This will help the casual fan understand and feel better about those deals.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by RedEye

All kidding aside, this letter really feels more like it is saying that "the losing begins now so that we can start rebuilding." It's a refreshingly honest change IMO.

I'll believe it when I see it. The Reds are masters at sending out mixed messages.

[fearofpopvol1]

That's a classy thing to do. I think it's a little bit late (why didn't we get one of these last season?), but I appreciate the fact that they are at least saying something.

[BCubb2003]

You are extremely vital to the success of the Reds

So it's you're fault. You have some 'splaining to do.

[flyer85]

Didn't inspire confidence in how I view their leadership.

[RedsManRick]

Originally Posted by gonelong

Could this be "The Plan" that suffering Reds Fans have been so desperate to waft to their ears?

This feels like a total reboot of the system to me ... about time. I suspect some offseason acquisitions and trades as well.

GL

This isn't a plan; it's a collective blame job meant to allay fan revolt and an admission that "win now" didn't work. One thing the letter was noticeably free from was accountability in the front office. They outlined all the things they tried to do, implying it should have worked, and then passed the buck on to the players failing to meet expectations. There was no admission that the expectations were out of line with reality and the moves made were insufficent at best, misguided at worst. That scares me.

This process of putting together mediocre teams and then the front office blaming losses on bad luck and unexpectedly poor performance has been the hallmark of poorly run organizations such as the Pirates and Royals. I want Castellini to say point blank "I screwed up." He hasn't and won't.

If I hear the phrase "proven winner" once more my head might explode. Highlight the individual's contributions towards winning. There's too much room for coattail riding in any organization to apply the success of the organization broadly to any (and thus all) individual.

[Krusty]

Originally Posted by flyer85

Didn't inspire confidence in how I view their leadership.

Jockertty is Bob's guy. He won't be so quick to fire him as he did with Krivsky. I think Walt told Bob to right the ship that they needed to clean house and take two steps backward before going forward again.