Ken Rosenthal BLASTS Reds Ownership, Says Nick Krall IS NOT the Problem!?!? | MLB News, Highlights

Trace Fowler and Craig Sandlin discuss Ken Rosenthal's comments.

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Ken Rosenthal Blames Reds Ownership—but Nick Krall Isn’t Off the Hook

The Cincinnati Reds are stumbling toward the end of another disappointing season, and the organization’s continued failure has reignited questions about who should be held responsible.

Is President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall the biggest problem, or does the blame begin with owner Bob Castellini?

MLB insider Ken Rosenthal gave a clear answer during an appearance on *Foul Territory* on Tuesday. Although Rosenthal acknowledged Krall’s mistakes, he argued that Cincinnati’s ownership is the larger reason the franchise has failed to build a consistent winner.

“I would say it rests with the Reds more on ownership than anything else,” Rosenthal said.

The results certainly support criticism of the Castellini family. The Reds have missed the playoffs in 26 of the last 31 seasons and have repeatedly failed to sustain success. Even when promising young talent has arrived, Cincinnati has been unable—or unwilling—to construct a complete roster around it.

Rosenthal specifically questioned how much freedom Krall has been given to operate.

“Now you can certainly find fault with Nick Krall, particularly at the deadline when they did nothing and they should have done some things,” Rosenthal said. “I don’t know how much freedom he had to make those decisions. I don’t know how much freedom he’s had to make other decisions.”

That uncertainty is important. Krall is the public face of the Reds’ baseball operations department, but ownership controls the budget and can influence the organization’s direction. If the Castellinis limited what Krall could spend or prevented him from making necessary deadline moves, then blaming him for every failure would be unfair.

Rosenthal also compared the Reds unfavorably to other small-market organizations.

“Right now, they’re being run by a guy, Bob Castellini, who has not had success, who has not shown his franchise can be like the Brewers, like the Tampa Bay Rays, like the Cleveland Guardians,” Rosenthal said. “They’ve not been a successful team.”

Rosenthal ultimately concluded, “If you’re asking me if Nick Krall should be back, I’d say that I don’t think he’s the problem.”

That defense, however, may let Krall and Cincinnati’s front office off too easily.

Ownership deserves enormous criticism, but it cannot reasonably be blamed for every questionable personnel decision. The Castellinis may control the budget, but Krall and his baseball operations staff determine how those available resources are used.

Did ownership pressure the front office not to sell at the trade deadline because it feared the public reaction? That is possible. The Reds have often appeared more interested in maintaining the appearance of contention than making difficult, long-term decisions.

But was ownership responsible for signing Jeimer Candelario or Mike Moustakas? Did Bob Castellini personally instruct Krall to trade for Ke’Bryan Hayes? Probably not.

Those moves are part of Krall’s record, too.

The Reds have also spent more on their roster than organizations such as Milwaukee, Tampa Bay and Cleveland in certain seasons. The problem is not exclusively that Cincinnati refuses to spend. It is that other small-market teams have consistently drafted, developed, acquired and retained talent more effectively.

That is where Rosenthal’s argument becomes incomplete.

Krall may not be the Reds’ biggest problem, but that does not mean he has been the solution. He has had several years to build a winning roster, yet Cincinnati continues to suffer from the same issues: an inconsistent offense, questionable roster construction, inadequate depth and an inability to capitalize on realistic opportunities to contend.

The Reds’ failures are not the work of one person. Ownership establishes the culture, provides the resources and sets the organization’s expectations. The front office is responsible for turning those resources into a competitive team.

Both have fallen short.

Rosenthal is right to point toward Bob Castellini and an ownership group that has never produced sustained success. But Cincinnati cannot use ownership’s failures to erase Krall’s mistakes.

The Reds do not need another excuse. They need accountability throughout the organization—from the owner’s suite to the baseball operations department.