Failure

[BengalszoneBilly]

I M H O ...

Might anyone one here consider this possibility: John Allen is simply an employee given limited power? Does the buck really stop with John?

Ahhhh! No matter. Go ahead. Fire another employee. That obviously worked so well with Dave Miley right? Of course it did. What a turnaround that got the Reds huh? Let's do it again, pass the buck and fling another good mans family into uncertainty!

Jeezus! I feel like I'm at a medical doctors website where everyone specializes in treating the symptoms while ignoring the cause! Is anyone else here in favor of leaving the cancer intact while we amputate all the limbs? I love an attractive torso as much as the next guy, but c'mon!

Well go ahead and hack on brothers. Keep handing out pink slips like raffle tickets. I support your drive to fire John Allen. Let's get rid of all the symptoms ASAP! I'm honestly looking forward to John's termination simply because I can't wait to see what innocent party gets blamed next.

[thefrazz]

Umm...you mean like the way the Bengals were???

Sounds like a mold from the old Mike Browns handbook!

Thank goodness Mikey is a "born-again" owner

[Pangloss]

Take a look at their last draft and then send them a copy of Moneyball.

[Kirkendall]

Speaking of which.. this year's first round draft pick was featured on the 2005 All-USA Baseball Team.

Jay Bruce, outfielder

West Brook

(Beaumont, Texas)

Ht.: 6-3. Wt.: 195.

Bats: Left. Throws: Left.

Major league draft: Signed with Cincinnati Reds (first round).

Key stats: Hit .500 with 31 RBI, 36 runs scored and 13 stolen bases.

Favorite major leaguer: Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr.

First home run: "I was 11, playing the Amelia White Sox in Little League, and it was a line drive to left-center."

Steroids in baseball: "It's cheating and unfair to those who do it naturally."

In 10 years, I want to be where: "Playing center field at Great American Ball Park and helping the Reds win another World Series championship."

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/baseb...9-all-usa_x.htm

I'm not sure if his last line is just smoke, but his attitude is already a million times better than disgruntled Dunn. Plus this guy can steal and drive guys in without it being a homer.

Speaking of Dunn, he hit his first sac. fly since 7/22/03 (think that's the date). Not something you want out of the big bat in your lineup.

[Pangloss]

Kirk, I wasn't clear in my post. The point I was trying to make is this: Moneyball reminded me that Bill James in his Baseball Abstracts written in the 1970's argued pretty convincingly that as much as our first round pick might be looking forward to playing at the Great American Ball Park, he just might not make it that far. According to James and Billy Beane, for that matter, players drafted out of the college ranks have a much, much, much better chance of making it to the big leagues than players taken out of high school. With their payroll limitations, perhaps the Reds should look at the Oakland A's as a model to emulate, and not continue to do things the same old way.

[CBin2k7]

I blame Carl Lindner as much as the next man. But I do believe he is not the only problem. He did add 15 million dollars in payroll this offseason. The Reds salary of 61 million or so, is ahead of teams that are competing right now. Now Carl Lindner would have to sell the club in order for us to have change at the top. But what if Uncle Carl spends 80 million dollars and we are no better than barely .500. Spending money is not always the problem in baseball. It is having competent people who know how to run a club, make the right acquisitions and build up a farm system. That is why I believe so strongly that John Allen needs to go, along with Dan O'Brien.

You say give O'Brien a chance, well he went out and spent money on Eric Milton a fly ball pticher, in a home run hitters paradise. He traded for Ramon Ortiz who Anaheim gave up on. He paid Paul Wilson. I read the insider articles on ESPN that talk about how scared Dan O'Brien is to make a move and trade someone. He is a joke among other GM's because of that.

To make a long rant short, Carl Lindner is not the only problem. He might be a big one, but I don't think he is the biggest problem. The fact that he has incompetent people running this ballclub is his biggest problem and it is ruining the Cincinnati Reds

[CBin2k7]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/salaries?team=min

For what it's worth the Reds rank 19th in the league in payroll, ahead of the Minnesota, Washington, Cleveland, Texas, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Toronto. All teams with better records.

[Kirkendall]

Kirk, I wasn't clear in my post.

Actually you were. Your post reminded me of that article and thought I'd post it.

CBin2k7 -- Linder's problem has very little to do with him or his money, as you point out with teams having a better record by less payroll. He's being advised by John Allen with scouts that obviously can't scout. We need pitching talent, not money to spend. Pitching talent is rare these days and tend to all join the same group of teams which tells me we need better scouts. We need some baseball brain in the front office. That IMHO, is what we need. So I'm with you on dumping Allen but as well as our entire scouting department.

I will not banish O"Brien just yet. I think he lies and steps around the issue more than the best practiced politician. But in the end, I really can't believe the Milton signing, the Wilson extension, and the Jimenez contract were completely of his doing. This team is consistently under pressure to buy big name players to "show they are serious this time". But when you do that, we're in the hell we're in.

Now, I will say, that the man that put our team into a wreck is Jim Bowden. Sure, he would actively go out and pick up players and big bat prospects but at the expense at the few developing arms in our system. He dumped some great arms in the process of picking up major league ready talent to "win now". Our minor league system is a WRECK right now. We have no one to fall back onto in terms of pitching. We have no chance in this division without a good core of pitching talent -- which Bowden screwdd up in developing.

We need to see past 2006, how the minor league system is developing. At that time, will I judge O'Brien on his overall status. Right now though, our farm is developing and we need to remind ourselves, this will take time.

[CBin2k7]

CBin2k7 -- Linder's problem has very little to do with him or his money, as you point out with teams having a better record by less payroll. He's being advised by John Allen with scouts that obviously can't scout. We need pitching talent, not money to spend. Pitching talent is rare these days and tend to all join the same group of teams which tells me we need better scouts. We need some baseball brain in the front office. That IMHO, is what we need. So I'm with you on dumping Allen but as well as our entire scouting department.

I will not banish O"Brien just yet. I think he lies and steps around the issue more than the best practiced politician. But in the end, I really can't believe the Milton signing, the Wilson extension, and the Jimenez contract were completely of his doing. This team is consistently under pressure to buy big name players to "show they are serious this time". But when you do that, we're in the hell we're in.

Now, I will say, that the man that put our team into a wreck is Jim Bowden. Sure, he would actively go out and pick up players and big bat prospects but at the expense at the few developing arms in our system. He dumped some great arms in the process of picking up major league ready talent to "win now". Our minor league system is a WRECK right now. We have no one to fall back onto in terms of pitching. We have no chance in this division without a good core of pitching talent -- which Bowden screwdd up in developing.

We need to see past 2006, how the minor league system is developing. At that time, will I judge O'Brien on his overall status. Right now though, our farm is developing and we need to remind ourselves, this will take time.

I am with you 100 percent. You said everything that I might have forgotten.

It angers me to hear people praising Jim Bowden for the Nationals success and saying he was done an injustice by the Reds when they fired him. He is the one that mortgaged the future to go for it all in 99 and 00.

I just don't like reading things where it says the O'Brien is scared to make personnel moves or decisions, for whatever reasons those are, it can't be too good for the future of this club.

I would much rather see this time sell off the high paid players and start over, but you and I both know that fans want success on the field and they want it right now. There is no quick fix and there are no certain answers, I am no GM, but I will always support the Reds no matter how hard it gets.

[BengalszoneBilly]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/salaries?team=min

For what it's worth the Reds rank 19th in the league in payroll, ahead of the Minnesota, Washington, Cleveland, Texas, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Toronto. All teams with better records.

It's not about money. It's about leadership. IMO Lindner is NOT a sports leader. He's a business leader.