The Cincinnati Reds sit at 23, and this one fucking frustrates me because there are stretches over the last decade where it felt like the Reds almost understood who they were supposed to be. Almost. The problem is that “almost” has defined too much of the Castellini era.
To understand why they land here, you have to understand what the Reds are supposed to represent. This is one of baseball’s foundational franchises. The Big Red Machine wasn’t just successful, it was central to the identity of the sport in the 1970s. Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Pete Rose, Tony Perez. Cincinnati baseball is supposed to feel proud, intense, historically aware. This is the franchise that opens the season with Opening Day treated like a civic holiday. That matters. The Reds are not supposed to feel small.
And yet, over the last decade-plus, ownership posture has often made them feel smaller than they should.
The Castellini family bought the team in 2006, and early on there was real energy. There were playoff appearances in the early 2010s. There were moments where it looked like the Reds could become one of those stable, mid-market franchises that consistently punched above weight. But over time, the organization drifted into a strange cycle of partial pushes followed by hesitation, followed by resets that never fully committed in either direction.
That’s the defining problem here, not tanking, not incompetence. HALF MEASURES…
The Reds have had legitimate talent come through the organization over the years. Joey Votto became one of the defining hitters of his generation, and instead of building sustained contenders around him, ownership often felt content hovering near relevance. Then came rebuilds framed as strategic patience, followed by moments where the club hinted at aggression before pulling back again.
And then there was the quote.
In 2022, after fan backlash over payroll decisions and organizational direction, team president Phil Castellini responded to criticism with, “Where are you gonna go?” It instantly became one of the most revealing ownership-adjacent comments in baseball over the last decade. What an asshole, it sounded like a franchise talking to its fans as trapped customers instead of emotional stakeholders.
Fan alignment fractures when ownership begins speaking like loyalty is guaranteed regardless of behavior. This isn’t a market incapable of supporting baseball. Cincinnati cares deeply about the Reds. But caring deeply also means people notice when the organization feels content operating in the middle. Too often the Reds have acted like a franchise trying to remain respectable instead of dangerous.
And over an 11-year evaluation window, that adds up. The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays showed what sustained organizational seriousness can look like in smaller or mid-sized markets. Cincinnati has had moments of that seriousness, but not enough continuity behind it.
The Reds also suffer in the Long-Term Vision category because the organizational arc has repeatedly felt interrupted. Push a little. Reset. Push a little. Reset again. It never fully locked into a coherent identity over the last decade.
And yet, they don’t fall lower because there are still signs of baseball life here. The fan base still cares. The history still matters. The young talent cycles have not been devoid of hope. This isn’t a dead franchise. It’s a frustrated one.
The Reds don’t feel cynical in the way the bottom tier does, they feel unresolved.
Competitive Intent and Effort: 23. Some pushes, but too much hesitation and too many half-measures during potential windows.
Fan Alignment and Honesty: 24. The Castellini comments and payroll messaging damaged trust significantly.
Cultural Fit to the Area: 20. Cincinnati’s baseball culture remains strong, but ownership posture has often felt smaller than the market’s passion.
Financial Integrity and Revenue Use: 23. Mid-tier spending without sustained competitive escalation.
Labor Ethics and Organizational Culture: 22. Not dysfunctional, but lacking the internal sharpness of better-run mid-market clubs.
Long-Term Vision and Stability: 24. Repeated resets and interrupted arcs prevented sustained identity.
Integrity and Accountability: 22. No major scandal, but public-facing posture at times felt dismissive.
Relationship to History and the Game: 18. The Reds’ legacy still carries enormous weight, even if modern stewardship hasn’t matched it.
Impact on the Health of Baseball: 22. More frustrating than damaging, but prolonged mediocrity from a foundational franchise weakens league energy.
Composite Score: 198 out of 270
Overall Rank: 23
The Reds are not at the bottom because they still feel connected to baseball history and community in a real way, but over the last decade-plus, too often they’ve behaved like a franchise trying not to fail instead of one determined to matter and for a team with this much history, that should bother people more than it does.
Rankings so far:
30 — Oakland Athletics
29 — Miami Marlins
28 — Pittsburgh Pirates
27 — Colorado Rockies
26 — Chicago White Sox
25 — Los Angeles Angels
24 — Detroit Tigers
23 — Cincinnati Reds