Phil Castellini surprised that Opening Day tickets still unsold

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Originally Posted by Ron Madden

We can see how much Castellini pissed the fans off, how do you think the players feel after hearing that idiot talk?

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Like I said before... No doubt the players were listening too.

I don’t know. Players get paid. Stuff like front office clownery probably doesn’t affect them unless it affects their playing time or next contract.

These dudes are extremely wealthy coddled men. I doubt they give much of a damn either way if Phil craps the PR bed. Keep signing those checks.

No need to romanticize multimillionaires.

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Originally Posted by Falls City Beer

These dudes are extremely wealthy coddled men. I doubt they give much of a damn either way if Phil craps the PR bed. Keep signing those checks.

No need to romanticize multimillionaires.

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Boooo.

These guys watched a team that was on the cusp get absolutely torn down and then the owner’s kid told the fans “Yea, whatcha gonna do about it?”. This is after ownership refused to provide any help to a team that was otherwise playoff caliber last year outside of a comically bad bullpen, until it was far too late.

They might be highly paid but they’re still humans and they’re still “the workers” compared to the 1%-er owners that run the team.

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Originally Posted by Bob Sheed

The players have eyes and ears too.

Imagine working for a company who's leadership basically says, "we make more money by not succeeding."

How would that effect your morale and effort given?


...Phil really pooped the bed on this one. And the only reason he still has a job is because he's got the Veggie Tales hookup for a last name.

Rampant nepotism destroys morale as well, so Reds ownership really is firing on all cylinders at this point. And nevermind the front office... the Reds players need to look no further than the dugout for evidence.

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yep, lost in analytics is that fact that when a worker's morale is crushed, he tends not to perform at the highest level he's capable of.
Note, I Am not accusing any Reds player of not playing hard. I am just saying, at just about any job, bad morale lowers the output of a team.
Imagine working for a company where the boss actively sabotages your team, gets rid of your most productive coworkers and friends, etc
That's not a place that you are going to be happy to come into and you are not going to be super focused.
I suppopse the only motivation is to play hard so you get too expensive to stay in Cincinnati.
Someone like Votto, I Guess he can focus on personal excellence and count down the days until he can retire.. because he knows he's never going to win here again

Instead of offering a half-ass apology, Phil should have given a full-blown resignation.

I know, not a useful metric over 10 games, but worst run differential in baseball right now.

Really easy to see a path to 100 losses. Average health might get them there, let alone bad luck with injuries.

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Originally Posted by The Operator

Boooo.

These guys watched a team that was on the cusp get absolutely torn down and then the owner’s kid told the fans “Yea, whatcha gonna do about it?”. This is after ownership refused to provide any help to a team that was otherwise playoff caliber last year outside of a comically bad bullpen, until it was far too late.

They might be highly paid but they’re still humans and they’re still “the workers” compared to the 1%-er owners that run the team.

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Maybe some of them are bothered. Don’t know. But I don’t see a lot of glowering faces in those dugouts. Winning matters but their stats matter more and they know it. It’s why formerly successful guys sign here. Get their numbers up and move elsewhere.

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Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

I know, not a useful metric over 10 games, but worst run differential in baseball right now.

Really easy to see a path to 100 losses. Average health might get them there, let alone bad luck with injuries.

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The best outcome at this stage—from a fan’s standpoint—would be a 100 loss season. It would hopefully dislodge Krall and maybe result in a reconsideration of a lot of things: Whether to sell, whether to restructure the front office, etc. Losing just 90 probably keeps the entire system in place.

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Originally Posted by Falls City Beer

The best outcome at this stage—from a fan’s standpoint—would be a 100 loss season. It would hopefully dislodge Krall and maybe result in a reconsideration of a lot of things: Whether to sell, whether to restructure the front office, etc. Losing just 90 probably keeps the entire system in place.

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While I'm bitter about the plan itself, watching it all burn does have a certain appeal. The worse the record, the higher the draft pick.

Except not really anymore, right?

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Originally Posted by WildcatFan

Honestly, if you had to slot a six-game leg-pisser of a stretch somewhere, could you choose a more perfect time than right after the COO scolds the fans for not being good enough?

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It really is incredible. If there was a lab-tested formula for pissing off your fanbase, could it be different than what we've seen? Lockout>trade all the popular players>be terrible about the PR associated with those trades>lose traditional Opening Day warm feelings>talk $hit about the fans during replacement Opening Day>have a schedule that has them at home for like 28 hours (and 2 midweek day games) in the first two weeks>be terrible. I mean, some they control and some they don't, but in all events, it's truly a master class in torching your goodwill.

Ownership deserves to lose money in a statement way.

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Originally Posted by Falls City Beer

I don’t know. Players get paid. Stuff like front office clownery probably doesn’t affect them unless it affects their playing time or next contract.

These dudes are extremely wealthy coddled men. I doubt they give much of a damn either way if Phil craps the PR bed. Keep signing those checks.

No need to romanticize multimillionaires.

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Sure that can be said about some players, but it isn't that way with all players. Look no further than Nick Castellanos' shots fired at the Castellini's once he got to Philly.

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Originally Posted by Ky Fried Redleg

Instead of offering a half-ass apology, Phil should have given a full-blown resignation.

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Even if he'd have done that, we'd still be on a 6 game losing streak and an unwatchable product.

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Originally Posted by Sea Ray

Even if he'd have done that, we'd still be on a 6 game losing streak and an unwatchable product.

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Exactly. Phil is more the messenger in this case than anything else.

He said the quiet part out loud and got blasted for it.

Now we're watching the quiet part play out in real time, without the illusion of thinking it's "just bad luck" or whatever.

Our fan experience is being milked for profit. Let that sink in.

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Originally Posted by Bob Sheed

Exactly. Phil is more the messenger in this case than anything else.

He said the quiet part out loud and got blasted for it.

Now we're watching the quiet part play out in real time, without the illusion of thinking it's "just bad luck" or whatever.

Our fan experience is being milked for profit. Let that sink in.

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Your last line seems like it's a plan. I don't think this is a profit scheme. I think they're incompetent and not skilled enough to build a winner...so they might as well make some money. They decided, rightly so, that even with Miley, Gray, Winker and Cast that the team would be bad so might as well cut some salary. If they were primarily in it for profit they wouldn't have brought in Mike Minor and Pham