Phil Castellini surprised that Opening Day tickets still unsold

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Originally Posted by Sea Ray

I think Oakland and TB are "cheep buttheads" but at least they know how to judge talent and put contending teams on the field. If those teams had payrolls like ours they'd be golden

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I 100% want them to be smarter, I'm not arguing they shouldn't be smarter. But there's no reason they can't be both.

At the end of the day, both things are in Bob's hands. He's the one hiring these doofuses and he's the one who won't let these doofuses spend what they can afford, because winning isn't the priority.

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Originally Posted by Bob Sheed

Not to the public. But plenty of companies are compelled to open their books to 3rd party auditors. MLB teams should be no different.

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If I was the head of the MLBPA I would have fought tooth and nail to be able to see the books before agreeing to a CBA.

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Originally Posted by Bob Sheed

Not to the public. But plenty of companies are compelled to open their books to 3rd party auditors. MLB teams should be no different.

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Yea I am sure they have auditors, tax accountants, and tax lawyers. Just like every private company in this country, they are forced to file a tax return.

Those people are not allowed to release those books to anyone.

This is all an exercise in futility.

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Originally Posted by Bob Sheed

"Water? You mean like from the toilet?!"

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Another post calling someone stupid. Always a classy move

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Originally Posted by bucksfan2

Yea I am sure they have auditors, tax accountants, and tax lawyers. Just like every private company in this country, they are forced to file a tax return.

Those people are not allowed to release those books to anyone.

This is all an exercise in futility.

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I touched on this earlier, I think.

If MLB had a rule where team ownership had to invest all revenue back into the team, via allocations from their GM, and the auditors were there to prevent "creative" accounting when doing so. Actual numbers are kept in-house, and any violations are dealt with according to whatever the punishments are.

The owners enjoy having an asset that appreciates annually. The fanbase enjoys their hometown product, knowing that there are no longer any grifter owners skimming from the top.

Yes, it will never happen. Because grifters are gonna grift. But it would solve the number one problem in MLB right now.

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Originally Posted by bucksfan2

Never understood people who allow someone else to effect their happiness. I will watch the Reds because I enjoy watching the Reds. I will go to games with my family because my girls want to go to the games. I will buy overpriced beer because I want to drink beer and watch a baseball game.

Owners are going to get their money whether or not I decide to go to a game.

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If a guy that ran a burger shop right by my house did something that I disagreed with to the point that it angered me, I'd get my burgers at another restaurant or make them at home. It doesn't mean I have to give up burgers.

I can still watch or listen to the Reds and discuss them here.
If I want to spend my hard earned money, I can watch baseball in Florence, UC in Clifton, Louisville, Dayton, Reds in Pittsburgh, Reds in Cleveland, or someone else's affiliate if visit my sister in Indianapolis.

Not everyone is willing or able to make some of those trips or sacrifice Reds home games, but outside of getting free tickets, I sure am.

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Originally Posted by Bob Sheed

Not to the public. But plenty of companies are compelled to open their books to 3rd party auditors. MLB teams should be no different.

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Yep, my company makes private companies do it all the time. “You want to ship your crap, open your books so we can give you more credit”

If these teams want to build stadiums on taxpayer dime it should be a requirement that all of their finances are public.

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Originally Posted by RedTeamGo!

Yep, my company makes private companies do it all the time. “You want to ship your crap, open your books so we can give you more credit”

If these teams want to build stadiums on taxpayer dime it should be a requirement that all of their finances are public.

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Problem is the owners are local businessmen and they get local politicians to float Bond and Tax levies that the voters approve and then the funds build the stadium for them.

So either don't vote in those guys or don't vote for the Bond measure.

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Originally Posted by westofyou

Problem is the owners are local businessmen and they get local politicians to float Bond and Tax levies that the voters approve and then the funds build the stadium for them.

So either don't vote in those guys or don't vote for the Bond measure.

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Problem there is, typically both candidates are in the pockets of local business. So the "well just don't vote for them" strategy was compromised many many moons ago.

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Originally Posted by OGB

If a guy that ran a burger shop right by my house did something that I disagreed with to the point that it angered me, I'd get my burgers at another restaurant or make them at home. It doesn't mean I have to give up burgers.

I can still watch or listen to the Reds and discuss them here.
If I want to spend my hard earned money, I can watch baseball in Florence, UC in Clifton, Louisville, Dayton, Reds in Pittsburgh, Reds in Cleveland, or someone else's affiliate if visit my sister in Indianapolis.

Not everyone is willing or able to make some of those trips or sacrifice Reds home games, but outside of getting free tickets, I sure am.

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Watching Florence Freedom games is not the same product as MLB. Since MLB shares ticket revenue, you're still giving the Reds money if you buy a Pittsburgh Pirates ticket vs the Reds

Not sure if this has been posted - Fay says they lost $2 million last year - https://twitter.com/johnfayman/statu...45739357102091 - if its true, they'll make plenty this year.

I just read this and had to look it up to make sure it was true:

The Reds are paying Ken Griffey Jr. more this season than all but five players on the Opening Day roster.

Sell the team.

#maketheteamgoodBob. Idc how you do it. Low payroll. High payroll. All I ask is that your staff make competent baseball decisions that lead to a winner.

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Originally Posted by LeatherPants

Hey if they want to open their books to show they were in the red by $40 million, they are free to do so. Until they do, I call BS.


Once again, for those in the back, losing revenue doesn't mean you lost money, it just means you probably didn't make as much money as you were going to.

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It wouldn't mean a thing. Baseball is a cash cow to be milked. There's so many accounting tricks used to make it look like a loser that even if you had the actual books in front of you, you'd need at least a CPA to be able to distinguish the truth from them.

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Originally Posted by RedTeamGo!

Yep, my company makes private companies do it all the time. “You want to ship your crap, open your books so we can give you more credit”

If these teams want to build stadiums on taxpayer dime it should be a requirement that all of their finances are public.

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Yep, I would imagine this is quite common if someone wants credit extended to them.

In order for someone to open up their books there has to be a reason to do so. And no business is going to willingly open up their books because someone wants them to. It just doesn't make sense to me to demand it.

Anyone working for a private company, go ask your boss(es) to open up the books and see what happens.

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Originally Posted by bucksfan2

Yep, I would imagine this is quite common if someone wants credit extended to them.

In order for someone to open up their books there has to be a reason to do so. And no business is going to willingly open up their books because someone wants them to. It just doesn't make sense to me to demand it.

Anyone working for a private company, go ask your boss(es) to open up the books and see what happens.

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Nobody thinks they'll actually open their books. But we reserve the right to ***** about it.

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Originally Posted by LeatherPants

Nobody thinks they'll actually open their books. But we reserve the right to ***** about it.

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I get it, but if I owned the Reds I sure as heck wouldn't open up the books because some fans demanded it of me. Same thing with a business, the books are not being opened unless I have to.

I think Castellini is a bad owner, and I think he (or his silent partners) are spooked by 2020 and 2021. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if they did actually lose $2M during the pandemic.

I think the Reds are in the situation they are in because of bad contracts, not necessarily pandemic losses.

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Originally Posted by bucksfan2

I get it, but if I owned the Reds I sure as heck wouldn't open up the books because some fans demanded it of me. Same thing with a business, the books are not being opened unless I have to.

I think Castellini is a bad owner, and I think he (or his silent partners) are spooked by 2020 and 2021. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if they did actually lose $2M during the pandemic.

I think the Reds are in the situation they are in because of bad contracts, not necessarily pandemic losses.

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The Reds are in the situation they are in because they are cheap and dumb, which is a bad combination.

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Originally Posted by bucksfan2

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if they did actually lose $2M during the pandemic.

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With the amount of money given to both MLB clubs in general (via TV, radio, and other rights) and the Reds in particular (via revenue sharing), it would shock me if Red owners didn't skim tens of millions off the top every year.

The point here is that the Reds have limited resources ($$) to spend. They'll never be able to spend with the big boys and that's not a Castellini problem. That's an MLB problem.

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Originally Posted by Sea Ray

The point here is that the Reds have limited resources ($$) to spend. They'll never be able to spend with the big boys and that's not a Castellini problem. That's an MLB problem.

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If you are going to repeat yourself, I'll repeat myself: They can afford to spend more than they are spending.


The argument it sounds like you are making is that if they can't spend what the "big boys" spend, then they shouldn't try at all. That bull.

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Originally Posted by LeatherPants

If you are going to repeat yourself, I'll repeat myself: They can afford to spend more than they are spending.


The argument it sounds like you are making is that if they can't spend what the "big boys" spend, then they shouldn't try at all. That bull.

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It's not your money and it's not up to you to decide things like how much money they should stockpile for a rainy day or how much money they should send to their stockholders.

They pay folks lots of money to make decisions on how much they can afford. You are in no position to have an informed opinion on that

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Originally Posted by Sea Ray

It's not your money and it's not up to you to decide things like how much money they should stockpile for a rainy day or how much money they should send to their stockholders.

They pay folks lots of money to make decisions on how much they can afford. You are in no position to have an informed opinion on that

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There are way more people on a Reds message board that really hope they make a profit and don't really care if they win than you would think.


I'm glad the owners have fans too!

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Originally Posted by LeatherPants

There are way more people on a Reds message board that really hope they make a profit and don't really care if they win than you would think.


I'm glad the owners have fans too!

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Name one person on here that you genuinely think doesn’t care if the Reds win.

Hopefully the Reds start selling Castellini jerseys so you guys can buy a couple.

Wear your Castellini jerseys with pride!!

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Originally Posted by Old school 1983

Name one person on here that you genuinely think doesn’t care if the Reds win.

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That LARKIN guy, who everyone says is an Atlanta fan.

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Originally Posted by LeatherPants

There are way more people on a Reds message board that really hope they make a profit and don't really care if they win than you would think.


I'm glad the owners have fans too!

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I don't care if they make $100million or break even. That's their business. I care that they win and I accept that they don't have the resources that half the league does. Here we are with a payroll far above teams like Pitt, Oak, TB and Clev and you're whining that they're not spending more. You want more money spent on guys like Mike Minor, Tommy Pham and Solano?

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Originally Posted by Bourgeois Zee

With the amount of money given to both MLB clubs in general (via TV, radio, and other rights) and the Reds in particular (via revenue sharing), it would shock me if Red owners didn't skim tens of millions off the top every year.

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If you are talking skimming off the top in nefarious way, I seriously doubt it. If you are talking about them pocketing that money (or distributing it among the other owners) it wouldn't shock me.

But consider this, I can't find out how much of the Reds Casetllini actually owns. According to one internet article its around 15%, he just owns all the controlling shares. I had thought that the Williams family owns a majority of the Reds, but can't find that information. If he would want to distribute any of that money, he would get far less that the other silent owners would get. And if he were doing something nefarious, IMO he would be forced out. You know, if you are a majority shareholder and the minority shareholder is screwing you, he is gone.

Its an interesting dynamic and I wonder if there are many in baseball like that.

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Originally Posted by LeatherPants

Hopefully the Reds start selling Castellini jerseys so you guys can buy a couple.

Wear your Castellini jerseys with pride!!

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That LARKIN guy, who everyone says is an Atlanta fan.

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That’s not obviously a fan of another team.

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Originally Posted by LeatherPants

Hopefully the Reds start selling Castellini jerseys so you guys can buy a couple.

Wear your Castellini jerseys with pride!!

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That LARKIN guy, who everyone says is an Atlanta fan.

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I actually heard they were going to start selling hemorrhoid pillows staring the players they moved on from this off-season to ease the butthurt.

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Originally Posted by Old school 1983

I actually heard they were going to start selling hemorrhoid pillows staring the players they moved on from this off-season to ease the butthurt.

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True story, Reds Owner Aaron Stern was the first to offer seat cushions to customers at a cost in the 1880's.

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Originally Posted by westofyou

True story, Reds Owner Aaron Stern was the first to offer seat cushions to customers at a cost in the 1880's.

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Life imitating sarcasm. The real question is what percentage of total revenue would he have spent on those cushions if he wasn’t such a penurious butthead as to make fans pay for it.

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Originally Posted by Old school 1983

I actually heard they were going to start selling hemorrhoid pillows staring the players they moved on from this off-season to ease the butthurt.

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definitely not trolling, no sir

[cheapskate owners trade off several reds stars and let others go literally for nothing and slash the payroll to the bone]


“lol u mad??????”


Definitely the words of a real fan, and not someone who’s just a complete simp for billionaires.

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Originally Posted by Wonderful Monds

definitely not trolling, no sir

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Did you bother to read the messages that this was in repose to?

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Originally Posted by LeatherPants

There are way more people on a Reds message board that really hope they make a profit and don't really care if they win than you would think.


I'm glad the owners have fans too!

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Originally Posted by LeatherPants

Hopefully the Reds start selling Castellini jerseys so you guys can buy a couple.

Wear your Castellini jerseys with pride!!

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That LARKIN guy, who everyone says is an Atlanta fan.

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I mean I know you did….so I’ll ask you…name one poster here that is an actual Reds fan and has a history of posting that doesn’t care if the Reds win? You know I’m not a troll and you know I said what I did in sarcastic jest. I have a 9 year history of posting here (35 year history in total fandom) that demonstrates I’m not a troll, not a Castellini family member, and care about this team winning.

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Originally Posted by LeatherPants

lThat LARKIN guy, who everyone says is an Atlanta fan.

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That dude is literally a Braves fan that comes on here to troll Reds fans

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Originally Posted by Wonderful Monds

[cheapskate owners trade off several reds stars and let others go literally for nothing and slash the payroll to the bone]


“lol u mad??????”


Definitely the words of a real fan, and not someone who’s just a complete simp for billionaires.

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Stars? The only guy that was star status and not to a place in his career where he wasn’t likely to decline was Winker.

I made a sarcastic comment to 2 utterly absurd comments. I’m not trolling.

As to your simp comment. Again, no real way to respond to that on the baseball side of the forum.

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Originally Posted by Old school 1983

I made a sarcastic comment to 2 utterly absurd comments. I’m not trolling.

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Umm, that's the definition of trolling.

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Originally Posted by Bourgeois Zee

Umm, that's the definition of trolling.

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I vehemently disagree with Old school. But I don’t think he’s trolling. Just deeply misguided.

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Originally Posted by Falls City Beer

I vehemently disagree with Old school. But I don’t think he’s trolling. Just deeply misguided.

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If he purposefully provokes others with incendiary posts?

That's trolling, bruh.

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Originally Posted by Bourgeois Zee

Umm, that's the definition of trolling.

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So Leather Pants was Trolling too? Or is he cool since you’ve agreed with him on this topic?

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Originally Posted by Bourgeois Zee

If he purposefully provokes others with incendiary posts?

That's trolling, bruh.

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Did you not see the comments I responded to? Perhaps I was trying to show how ridiculous they were by saying something as ridiculous to the other side. So let’s add to the Leather Pants induced questions no one seems to want to answer.

1. Is the Reds new payroll going to be between $44 and $75M?
2. Who are the posters that aren’t obvious fans of other teams who don’t care if the Reds win?
3. Who is cheering more for Castellini (hence want his jersey) more than cheering for the team to win?

These are super easy questions 1 is a Y/N. The other 2 should be some posters here. Apparently there are so many of them it should be an easy answer.

Or people can grow up, realize they shouldn’t be calling people a troll who obviously aren’t, and see the utter ridiculousness of some people who are on their side of the argument that are stating completely ridiculous things.