Baseball is finicky.  It—or, rather, those charged with tending it at its highest level—has demoted itself from America’s pastime to football’s cocky, doomed little brother.  There is much to be said for the brute physicality of the NFL, the way its strange allure obscures the terrible toll it takes on its players’ bodies and minds.  By comparison, baseball lacks ferocity.  It doesn’t bleed.  It isn’t tough.  It’s soft.

It’s also unwatchable, or so many waning fans believe.  Games, once beloved as leisurely affairs, now stretch to interminable lengths, most notably throughout October, when the most important matchups of the season routinely push past four hours.  On-field product, too, leaves much to be desired—infield shifts neutering premier hitters, the playing landscape dominated by walks, strikeouts, and home runs.  There’s the swiftly-growing influence of gambling on the game’s marketing agenda, as well as the tremendous disservice done to its reputation by the recent lockout.  Competitive balance is a non-entity, and smaller-market teams routinely throw performance under the bus, willfully ignoring and avoiding moves that would improve the organization.

There are other lamentations to be made.  Baseball, if it’s not dying, is in the ICU.

This is why the entirety of the Cincinnati Reds’ 2021-’22 offseason has been such a dismaying catastrophe.  Not satisfied with the cost of a team that came within a September fadeout of the playoffs, truly in need of a handful of pieces to make a run for a championship, Reds owner and CEO Bob Castellini commanded his front office to slash payroll.  The signs were bleak early, as the Reds waived very capable starting pitcher Wade Miley, allowing him an escape to the division-rival Chicago Cubs, all so that Cincinnati wouldn’t be on the hook for a measly $1 million buyout.  That’s pocket lint to the owner of a major league baseball club.  Castellini, in denying it, had neither the grace nor the consideration to even feint at appreciating his fans.

The Miley disaster was only the beginning.  As of this writing, the Reds have dealt excellent and affordable arm Sonny Gray, and—stunningly—rising offensive star Jesse Winker.  Longtime fan and clubhouse favorite Eugenio Suarez was shown the door as well, his team-friendly contract nonetheless not enough for the budget to bear.

It’s shameful.

One can look at Castellini’s booming 2006 proclamation that he’d bring “championship baseball” back to Cincinnati, the sport’s professional cradle, and cry dishonesty.  From the perspective of a despondent fan, that’s understandable.  Castellini deserves it, even if he tried once upon a time. From 2009 through 2013, the Reds surged with energy, touching the postseason three memorable times, boasting a bona fide future Hall of Famer in first baseman Joey Votto.  

Once upon a time is a long time ago now.  After the ’09-’13 run, many of the team’s best players had priced themselves out of the city.  A “rebuilding” project began.  A host of the team’s best players, starter Johnny Cueto, third baseman Todd Frazier, outfielder Jay Bruce, reliever and very possible future HOFer Aroldis Chapman were dealt.  Dealt too late, too, as Castellini had previously nixed deals that maximized the returns for his outgoing employees.  None of the ballplayers received in return for those four amounted to anything, anything, within the Cincinnati Reds organization.  Mismanagement at a staggering clip.

From 2014 to 2018 the club foundered.  Only before and throughout the 2019 season, for the first time in years, did it make bold moves, acquiring outfielder and lightning rod Yasiel Puig and trading for ace pitcher Trevor Bauer.  As that season concluded, then, the Reds shifted into full-on aspiring-contender mode, signing Mike Moustakas and Nick Castellanos, as well as outbidding the field for Japanese import Shogo Akiyama.  Miley was brought aboard to bolster the rotation.  With a developing young core and Votto already in place, not to mention a front office and owner committed to the cost of winning, Cincinnati’s future grew bright.  They even made the playoffs in the shortened 60-game absurdity that was the 2020 season, getting bounced by the Braves quickly but leaving fans eager for further success.

2021, then, was a season in transition.  Castellanos and Winker posted career-best, at times extraterrestrial numbers.  Miley took over as anchor of the rotation.  Votto somehow recaptured star-power glory at the age of 37.  A terrific surprise came in the form of rookie second baseman Jonathan India.  Only a dreadful bullpen and underwhelming performances by intended anchors like Suarez and Moustakas sunk the team.  A few alterations and a few additions here and there, and the Reds would have been real contenders—even favorites—in the slight National League Central.

Instead, that promise is shattered.  Winker is gone, Suarez is gone, Miley is gone, Gray is gone.  More will depart.  Hopefully, Votto will find his way to a contender, his no-trade clause a welcome guard on wherever the inept Reds front office might attempt to send him.  Baseball makes us dream, and when our teams succeed the dreams are good.  In Cincinnati now, those dreams are dead.

Castellini should sell.  He should be forever scorned as the man who dismantled a promising team without mercy or consideration.  In a statement that, as sports go, is rather heartbreaking, Votto told the Cincinnati Enquirer, “It’s a bummer.  I wanted to do some winning with those guys.”

So did the fans.  Instead, they flock to the exits.  The organization sets off fireworks at Great American Ball Park, a lively exhibition, after every home game on every Friday of the season.  This year, they shouldn’t bother.  There’s nothing to celebrate.  The fans deserve better than the hollow distraction.  As sports go, also, we as fans aim for delight.  We seek escape, because life is hard, people are mean, and somehow a collection of uniforms throwing a ball around on a grass-and-dirt field brings us together.  Misery loves company, true.  Not as much as fans love life, and each other, though, when their team pulls off a win.

Time for those fans to go elsewhere.  Throw their support behind a different team, however arbitrarily chosen.  Keep a close eye on the league’s stars, including yet another future Hall of Famer in Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout.  Enjoy the beauty of a beautiful game.  Find the fandom in time, but, in the meantime, admire the view, the thrill, the emotion of baseball.  The divine serenity of it all.  Fans deserve that.

And, if all else fails, glance down the river.  Mike Brown?  Now that guy knows how to run a team.