The Reds’ decision to keep Nick Krall may end up doing something bigger than protecting a front office executive - it could wind up shielding the Castellini family, too.
After last week’s Athletic report laid out the inner workings of Cincinnati’s leadership structure, the pressure on ownership only intensified. The piece portrayed Bob Castellini as an owner who gets too involved in baseball operations, and that was a familiar complaint around the fan base. What changed was the sourcing: for the first time, unnamed voices inside the organization were saying it out loud and putting the Reds’ mess on the record.
That’s why firing Krall would have been such a risky move. If the Castellinis had dismissed him right after the report, the reaction would have been immediate and ugly.
Fans would have seen it as ownership shifting blame, especially with Castellini reportedly vetoing a “laundry list” of possible trades. In that version of events, Krall becomes the scapegoat and the family’s fingerprints stay all over the problem.
And if a new president of baseball operations had been brought in, would anyone have believed the Castellinis were suddenly ready to step back? That’s the trap ownership was facing. Once the image of meddling takes hold, replacing one decision-maker doesn’t erase the suspicion that the next one will get managed the same way.
Instead, Thursday brought a different message from Phil Castellini. “It’s incumbent on me to create as many resources as possible for these guys to deploy against the strategy to improve this team,” Phil Castellini said on Thursday.
“The baseball things need to happen with the baseball guys. That’s the key focus.”
He also said ownership is, "100% behind these guys (Krall and Meador)."
That points to Krall, GM Brad Meador, and manager Terry Francona being the ones expected to steer the baseball side moving forward. It doesn’t mean the Castellinis disappear from the process - they’re still the ones funding it - but the public message is clear enough: the baseball people are supposed to run baseball.
The real test now falls on Krall and Meador. If the Reds keep stumbling, if the bad trades and rough free-agent decisions continue, the blame will land squarely on them. Ownership can then say it gave the front office a chance and move on to someone else.
But if Cincinnati does turn into a contender, the Castellinis benefit from that, too. Better baseball means more ticket sales, more concessions, more sponsorships, and the possibility of playoff games. It also gives the family a shot at living up to the promise they made when they bought the club 20 years ago: “We will bring championship baseball to Cincinnati.”
The article also drew a parallel to another Ohio owner who spent years taking heat. Bengals owner Mike Brown was vilified for a long time, but after Cincinnati reached the Super Bowl in 2021, a lot of that anger shifted elsewhere. Brown still gets criticized, but much of the frustration in Who Dey Nation now lands on Duke Tobin and Zac Taylor.
The Reds, of course, are not going to spend like the Yankees or Dodgers. But the Brewers, Rays, and Guardians have already knocked down the old small-market excuse.
If the Castellinis are willing to provide resources on that level, then the conversation changes. At that point, the issue isn’t simply how much money is spent - it’s who is spending it wisely.
So the decision to keep Krall may have been less about loyalty than survival. Firing him would have made ownership look like the villain.
Keeping him pushes the spotlight back onto the front office. For now, the ball is in Krall’s court.
Now the Reds have to see whether he can deliver.
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