On This Day in Reds History: Bob Castellini Becomes Majority Owner of Cincinnati Reds

On January 20, 2006, Bob Castellini officially became the majority owner of the Cincinnati Reds, purchasing a 70% stake from Carl Lindner Jr. for $270 million.

“As we build our organization, we’ll likely do some other things differently once we get our sleeves rolled up,” Castellini said at the introductory news conference. “I’ll be here every day. I will be hands-on. That’s a promise. I intend to work out of the Reds' offices on a daily basis until I have an insider's understanding of how we work.”

He later added a promise to Reds fans, saying:

"I want to make a promise today to Reds fans wherever you are, a promise from one fan to another: We will bring championship baseball to Cincinnati,"

The Reds at that point were coming off five consecutive losing seasons, after finishing the 2000 season 85-77-1, good for second in the National League Central. Yes, they had a tie, a 3-3 game versus the Milwaukee Brewers that had a lengthy rain delay. It was the first tie in the Reds' opening day history. That game was also Ken Griffey Jr's Reds debut.

Upon taking over in 2006, Castellini said he expected payroll to be near the previous season’s, saying "three teams made the postseason the previous year with a comparable salary structure, and "our goal is to put a contender on the field this year."

The team did improve in 2006, winning seven more games than in 2005 and finishing just two games under .500. The team made a trade to acquire future Reds' Hall of Famer Brandon Phillips from the Cleveland Indians. Adam Dunn hit a team-high 40 home runs and saw another future team Hall of Famer, Aaron Harang, lead the league in wins with 16. The future was starting to look bright.

Unfortunately, the next three seasons were bleak. The team failed to reach the 80-win mark and moved on from manager Jerry Narron during the 2007 season after a 31-51 start to the year. It wasn't all doom and gloom, however. Joey Votto made his Major League debut in 2007 and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 2008. Homer Bailey debuted in 2007, and Jay Bruce debuted in 2008 after being very highly touted prospects in the organization. Bruce hit 21 home runs in his first season before a broken wrist ended his season. The team also hired manager Dusty Baker for the 2008 season.

2010-2013 is undoubtedly the best stretch of baseball for the Reds in the Castellini era, going 357-291. Votto established himself as one of the best players in baseball and won an MVP. Brandon Phillips won Gold Glove Awards, Homer Bailey threw two no-hitters, and Aroldis Chapman became an elite closer. Unfortunately, the team failed to know when to move on from players, and Bob's hands-on approach may have led to holding on to players for the sake of selling tickets. Dusty Baker was fired after the 2013 season for Bryan Price; the team looked to be starting over without going through a true rebuild.

From 2014-2019, the team went 418-554 and fired Price after a 3-15 start in 2018. There were some promising players in that time frame. Todd Frazier, Eugenio Suarez, Scooter Gennett, and Zack Cozart all had All-Star seasons. Luis Castillo developed into a formidable starter, and Billy Hamilton and Jesse Winker were very good prospects. The team just did not succeed or trade players in time to get maximum value.

In 2019, the Reds hired David Bell to be their new manager and promoted Nick Krall to general manager, replacing Dick Williams. They made big swings in signing Nick Castellanos, Mike Moustakas, Shogo Akiyama, and trading for future Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer. They made the playoffs for the first time since 2013 in 2020, but failed to score a run in both games versus the Atlanta Braves. 2022 marked the first 100-loss season since 1982 and the first full teardown and rebuild.

2022 got off to a horrible start, and not just on the field of play. Fans began demanding the team be sold after trading away fan favorites and just missing the playoffs the year prior. Phil Castellini, Chief Operating Officer, President, and Bob's son had a message for Reds fans who wanted the team sold to new owners.

"Well, where are you gonna go? Let's start there. Sell the team to who?" Castellini said. "If you want to have this debate — if you want to look at what would you do with this team to have it be more profitable, make more money, compete more in the current economic system that this game exists, it would be to pick it up and move it somewhere else."

Former Reds' outfielder Nick Castellanos had this to say after not receiving an offer to come back to Cincinnati following the 2021 season.

"It's just a classic example of ownership using organizations as profit," former Reds and current Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos said. "When there are no consequences for losing, you're not held accountable for your performance. What sucks is in a great city like Cincinnati where the fan base is impeccable, it's suffocating," Castellanos said, "because of ownership. I'm not saying that they are bad people. The system is bad."

"I'm held accountable to be the best I can be, otherwise I'm sent down or released," said former Reds' pitcher Michael Lorenzen. "There should be something for teams, too. The standard should be the best in the world, not to be the best of the worst."

2023 through present day has been similar to the 2008-2011 seasons to this point. Top prospect Elly De La Cruz is developing into a star and could become an MVP-caliber player if he continues to make strides. Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott have had All-Star seasons, and Nick Lodolo is a number-one-A-type pitcher when healthy. They have room to grow, but the hiring of manager Terry Francona reminds me of the Dusty Baker hiring, bringing on a veteran leader to teach the young players how to win.

That leads me to my main question: has Bob Castellini's ownership reign been successful? I say sort of. The landscape of Major League Baseball has changed mightily over the last 20 years. Salaries and payroll have skyrocketed since he took over. The highest payroll in baseball was $194.6 million, and only five teams cleared the $100 million mark. In 2025, the Dodgers had a payroll of $321 million, and two teams had a payroll of $300 million. Six teams cleared $200 million, and only seven teams had less than $100 million. Bob Castellini is one of the poorest owners in baseball currently and still puts out league-average payrolls.

I personally am not a Castellini defender, but I will give him credit for being somewhat consistent and navigating through the biggest landscape change in all of the four major sports in North America.

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