Castellini the Great?

Talk about making an entrance. I mean, walking in the place, stepping up the mic, *ahem* - clear your throat and go, "Suck my balls, Fuckers!" Just 72 hours after new Cincinnati Reds owner officially took over the team on Friday, he fired 2-year GM Dan O'Brien in a press conference today at Great American Ballpark at 5:00pm.

You may remember previous posts of mine (likely not, but maybe) about our owner Carl Lindner and Dan O'Brien - so my opinion has already been stated on what needed to happen. Now that it has, I gotta say I'm more ready for baseball than I've been since the 2000 season when I thought we'd actually repeat our lightning-in-a-bottle performance of 1999 (ok, it may have to do with the Bengals first round playoff exit as well).

"We're buying the Reds to win, anything else is unacceptable. We will not rest until we are putting a contender on the field, year in and year out" said Castellini alongside partners Thomas and Joe Williams.

Castellini is a lifelong Reds fan who became so disenchanted with the organization 2 years ago that he elected to not renew his luxury stadium box (rough life you know). "It's real evident that he's genuinely passionate and really cares about this team and this city," O'Brien said. "That can only mean good things for this franchise."

What does this mean for the Reds? Well, for starters, Castellini was spotted having dinner with exiled Reds Manager Lou Piniella shortly following last season. It was widely rumored that Castellini wanted Lou in the worst way to help assist this venture, and that sentiment was confirmed today when Castellini stated that Lou was going to take a year off from managing baseball to work the announcer's booth for Fox.

Second, Castellini removed O'Brien because he wanted a guy he'd chosen for the GM position. Manager Jerry Narron was brought in solely by O'Brien because of their ties in Texas, and with O'Brien out...just how long will Narron last? He did admirably with the team last season, but honestly - I or Teebee could've done better than Dave Miley following the massive collapse around the all-star break.

Free agent signings? Well, none, largely because their are none. The blueprint seems to be to put together 3 solid pitchers in some fashion, and Castellini knows he has the young position players to get what he wants. "We're out there looking every day. Most of these people are not available anymore. We'd have to do it through trades. Most of the teams want our good young position players. It's going to be difficult, but it's not for lack of trying."

So with a month until pitchers and catchers report, I gotta say it's been a fun 3 days so far of a new era in Cincinnati baseball.