St. Louis Cardinals: The Cincinnati Reds are a dumpster fire

After Phil Castellini’s comments, it’s clear that the Cincinnati Reds are a dumpster fire — and a team that the Cardinals don’t have to worry about.

Entering the 2022 season, the National League Central was widely expected to come down to the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals.

The Chicago Cubs deserve to have at least some consideration, especially as Seiya Suzuki continues his flaming hot start. But the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds were never expected to contend, with the Reds trading Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suarez, Sonny Gray, Tucker Barnhart and others.

Then Phil Castellini, the Reds’ president and COO, said this in response to a question about selling the team: “Where are you going to go? Sell the team to who? That’s the other thing: You want to have this debate? … What would you do with this team to make it more profitable, make more money, compete more in the current economic system that this game exists in? It would be to pick it up and move it somewhere else. Be careful what you ask for.”

Dumpster. Fire.

Castellini was later given a chance to apologize after his comments went viral, but he didn’t backtrack. He doubled down.

Dumpster. Fire.

Then, later that night, Castellini issued an apology through the Reds’ media relations department. By then, the damage was already done, and all that was missing from this was a Nick Castellanos home run.

Comments like this are sure to resonate among both players and fans for quite awhile. Teams can use these comments against Castellini and the Reds in future free-agent negotiations. It’s not going away any time soon and, as long as he is still a prominent member of the Reds, it will only continue to hurt them.

Thus eliminating at least one team that the Cardinals have to worry about in 2022 and beyond.