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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Andy Nesbitt

Reds president Phil Castellini is everything that is wrong with baseball

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning WinSubscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.

The Cincinnati Reds had their home opener yesterday and chances are you have no idea how the team did because they’re rarely relevant on a national scale and they’re a franchise that has grown used to having losing seasons.

But if you take anything away from their home opener it should be this – the team’s president, Phil Castellini, is everything that’s wrong with baseball and Reds fans should boycott the team until he and his family, which owns the team, sell the team.

Why am I going off on this dude? Check out what he said yesterday when he was asked about why fans should stay loyal to a franchise that slashed payroll again, hasn’t won a playoff series since 1995, and is basically tanking for the sake of tanking:

“Well, where are you going to go? Sell the team to who? That’s the other thing: You want to have this debate? …. What would you do with this team to have it more profitable, make more money, compete more in the current economic system that this game exist? It would be to pick it up and move it somewhere else.

“Be careful what you ask for.”

Threatening your loyal fanbase because you’re too cheap to even remotely try to build a contender is a disgusting look. Doing it on the day of the home opener is just truly awful.

Also, notice how all he talked about there was money – “What would you do with this team to have it more profitable, make more money, compete more in the current economic system that this game exist?”

Profit, more money, economic system.

Excuses. Excuses. Excuses.

Cheap. Cheap. Cheap.

Gross. Gross. Gross.

Last night he gave a weak apology after the whole world ripped him for being gross:

“I apologize to Reds fans and regret the comments that I made earlier today. We love this city, we love this team, and we love our fans. I understand how our fans feel and I am sorry.”

So heartfelt!

Get outta here with that, man.

There are a lot of cheap MLB owners who clearly don’t care about how their teams do on the field. It’s just a money grab for them. They don’t care if you and your family have loved the team for years and just want to be able to cheer on a winner every now and then.

They only care about their bank statements and their profits and charging you a bunch of money to come to their stadium, eat their over-priced hot dogs, drink their over-priced beers and then leave only to do it all again some other time.

Phil Castellini and his family are bad for the game of baseball. Bad for the people of Cincinnati. And just bad overall.

Reds fans deserve better. A whole lot better.

Quick hits: Jay-Z’s hilarious reaction to KD’s trey… Mariners filthy rookie pitcher… Mel Kiper’s latest mock draft… And more. 

– The Nets beat the Cavs last night in a play-in game and NBA fans loved Jay-Z’s priceless reaction to a late 3-pointer by Kevin Durant.

– You need to see how filthy Mariners rookie pitcher Matt Brush was last night against the White Sox.

– The NFL draft is quickly approaching and ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. now thinks a QB will go in the top 6.

– Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud had a great reaction to getting hit by a 52 MPH pitch against the Nationals.

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