Reds Had a Chance to Build Trust With Fans, but One Frustrating Decision Got in the Way Again

I like to think I am fair when it comes to the Reds. I give them credit when they deserve it, and I’m willing to be critical when it’s warranted.

That’s why I give Phil Castellini credit for showing up to the Reds’ end-of-year media availability alongside Nick Krall and Brad Meador. After a disappointing season, ownership needed to be there to take questions and address the state of the organization.

But once you don’t allow video, you lose me.

That is the part of this that I cannot understand. The Reds had an opportunity to let fans hear directly from the people making decisions. Instead, they put a restriction on how that conversation could be shared.

And to me, that says this organization still doesn’t get it.

The Reds Are Sending Conflicting Messages

When I didn’t see video from the availability, I wondered whether recording had been prohibited. I didn’t want to put that out there without checking, so I reached out to sources who confirmed that video was not allowed.

That is incredibly frustrating when the organization is also trying to tell fans it hears them loud and clear.

You want fans to believe you understand their frustration. You want them to believe things will get better. But you won’t let them watch the conversation where you explain why.

Those messages don’t line up.

It feels like the Reds are so worried about their image and the possibility of an embarrassing clip making its way around social media that they are missing the bigger picture.

If you want to change how people view the organization, put a winning team on the field. Give fans a reason to believe in what you are doing. Keeping cameras out of a media availability does nothing to accomplish either of those things.

Fans Want to Hear the Entire Conversation

Fans want to hear the questions. They want to hear exactly what Castellini and Krall said in response. They want the opportunity to watch the exchange and form their own opinions.

I appreciate the reporters who were there and shared what was said. This is not a criticism of their work. But reading selected quotes is different from being able to watch the entire availability.

What questions led to those answers? Were there follow-up questions? Were there topics leadership declined to address?

I’m not suggesting anything was hidden by the reporters. The point is that fans should have been able to see the conversation themselves without having to piece it together through separate articles and posts.

This was the end-of-year media availability. Fans were looking for an explanation of what went wrong and why next season would be different. Letting them watch should have been a pretty easy decision.

There is plenty of blame to go around for the Reds’ problems, and allowing video would not suddenly fix any of them. But this was a simple opportunity to be more open with a frustrated fan base.

I appreciated Castellini showing up. That deserves acknowledgment.

But if the Reds want fans to believe they are listening, they need to understand why a decision like this is so frustrating. Fans want answers and a reason to believe things will get better.

Being so concerned about how those answers might look in a video clip only gives them another reason to doubt that this organization gets it.

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