Opening Day? More like Nope-ining Day

Here's a sentence I thought I'd never hear myself say: "I wish the MLB lockout was still going on." But I found myself saying it repeatedly on March 14. You're probably wondering why that day specifically, but we'll get to that in a minute. I've been a Cincinnati Reds fan my entire life and I don't think the word 'fan' does it justice. I live and breathe by it. Bobbleheads, posters, autographed baseballs and bats can be found in almost any room in my childhood home. I've been to the Reds Caravan, I've been to more than 100 games and met a ton of my childhood heroes. Adam Dunn, Brandon Phillips…you name it, odds are I've met them. About nine or 10 years ago, I met All-Star outfielder Jesse Winker in Lima during the Caravan. At the time, he was just a soft-spoken prospect, but he couldn't have been nicer. Took pictures, asked how I was doing and it felt like it wasn't just some front because he was doing a fan tour. Winker didn't know it, but he made a fan for life that day. And that's where this story begins. With Winker. On March 14, Winker and third baseman Eugenio Suarez were traded to the Seattle Mariners for pitchers Justin Dunn and Brandon Williamson and outfielder Jake Fraley, as well as a player to be named. Off the heels of trading pitcher Sonny Gray to the Twins just one day before, what the Reds did felt like a slap in the face to the fans. Of course, the Gray trade was tough to deal with, but that was bound to happen. Anyone who follows the Reds extensively knew the Gray had been rumored to be getting dealt for the past two offseasons, and it felt like 'when' not 'if' he'd be traded. Same with Suarez; he'd been rumored to be dealt as well. Winker, though, completely blindsided not only me, but I'd guess more than 90 percent of the fan base. Rightfully so. He was coming off the best season of his career (24 HRs, .305 AVG, .949 OPS) and was just hitting arbitration, so he was under team control. Once I got the notification that the Reds had traded him, I hit a level of apathy I didn't think was possible regarding the Reds. I think what made it worse was what came next, honestly. After the Winker/Suarez trade, Reds General Manager Nick Krall said that it wasn't "just a payroll move." Then, relief pitcher Amir Garrett got traded to the Kansas City Royals for starting pitcher, Mike Minor, and $500,000. Was the trade financially driven or not? Shortly after the fire sale, the Reds went out and signed Colin Moran, Hunter Strickland, and Donovan Solano, who are all veterans who can contribute. I'll admit those moves are decent ones, ones that make the Reds better in some ways. Then the Philadelphia Phillies signed Nick Castellanos for a 5-year, $100-million deal. Cincinnati ownership can use whatever excuse it wants — COVID, small market, etc. — that's a deal the Reds need to be making. In response to the move, the Reds signed former All-Star outfielder, Tommy Pham. That's a decent move too, but it'd be a lot better if Winker were still playing for the team. I don't care what lame excuse majority owner Bob Castellini tries to make, the Reds can afford the Castellanos deal and could have afforded to keep Winker. But I guess that's the root of all the problems the Reds face. The Castellini family. Seventeen years after buying the team, the Reds are right where they were when they bought them: Essentially irrelevant in the grand scheme of baseball. No playoff series wins, four playoff appearances total and two division championships later, Cincinnati is no better off than it was when Carl Lindner owned the team. But I think what Bob's son, Phil Castellini, said last week might possibly be the worst of what's gone on since last November. While baseball starts today, the Reds — who have always started at home — are on the road tonight in Atlanta. Cincinnati's home opener is April 12. Anyone who knows baseball knows that it's a holiday in Reds country and truly, no one does it better. Even when Cincinnati isn't good, the opening day game always sells out. This brings me to Phil Castellini's comments. He said that the game's not a sell-out, not yet anyway. Why's that? "Because of the date change, a lot of people who had the plans for tomorrow's game couldn't make it," he said last week. "We still have Opening Day tickets available, which I don't think I've ever been able to say at this podium at this time of year." Yep, it's not because you gutted the team, let starting pitcher Wade Miley walk for nothing to join the Cubs, didn't match the Castellanos deal or kept your best young talent. It has to be the date change, right? Does he think the fans are that foolish? I think what's most disheartening about this offseason — at least for me — was that the Reds weren't far off from being a very competitive team, especially with the expanded playoffs. Joey Votto turned back the clock and clobbered 36 home runs last year, Jonathan India and Tyler Stephenson look to be every bit of being major-league talents, the duo of Winker and Castellanos was easily top-five in baseball and this was a team that won 83 games with essentially no bullpen. The Reds were pieces away from competing for a division crown and hopefully more. Instead, the Cincinnati front office has held the team back yet again. And for that, I couldn't care less that it's opening day. And that kills me as a diehard Reds fan because deep down, I still care about the Reds. But as long as the front office they have now is in charge, I can't keep getting my hopes up.