Robert Castellini (born September 23, 1941) is an American businessman from Cincinnati, Ohio. Since 2006, he has been Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Cincinnati Reds, leading a group that purchased a majority share of the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise from previous CEO Carl Lindner, Jr. Castellini is the chairman of Castellini Co., a fruit and vegetable wholesaler.
Bob Castellini | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 23, 1941 |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Georgetown Wharton School |
| Occupations |
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| Website | Official website |
Background
Robert Castellini was born on September 23, 1941, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Castellini earned a degree in economics from Georgetown University in 1963. He went on to earn his MBA from Wharton School in 1967. After graduating from Wharton, Castellini became executive vice-president at the Castellini Group of Companies, and then in 1970 became president of the company until 1992. He had been a part of the St. Louis Cardinals' ownership group and had previously invested in the Baltimore Orioles.[1]
In January 2006, Castellini was the head of a group who purchased the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. Castellini has been involved in baseball for over 30 years and once had a minor ownership stake in the Reds until it was sold in 1984. In 1989 he became a partner in the Texas Rangers and in 1993, the Baltimore Orioles. Castellini describes himself as a lifelong fan of the Cincinnati Reds.
Ownership of the Reds
In short, his ownership tenure has been a joke. After the 2005 season, the Reds had endured five consecutive losing seasons, the team's longest such streak in 50 years, under the ownership of Carl Lindner. Castellini led a group that purchased the Reds from Lindner for $270 million, and in January 2006, Castellini was named the CEO of the franchise.[2] One of Castellini's first moves as CEO was replacing General Manager Dan O'Brien with Wayne Krivsky in February 2006. The Reds were more competitive in 2006, finishing in 3rd place in the National League (NL) Central division at 80–82. In the winter of 2006, Castellini introduced new uniforms for the Reds. Under Castellini's ownership in 2010, the Cincinnati Reds won their first National League Central division championship since the 1995 season. Since then they have repeatedly underachieved, never once advancing in the playoffs. From 2014-2019 they finished no higher than 4th place in the Central division including 4 straight seasons in last place, losing more than 90 games each season. They compiled a meager .420 winning percentage, averaging a 70-92 record during that span. In 2020 they barely made the playoffs in the COVID-19-shortened season with an expanded playoff field but were summarily swept by the Atlanta Braves 2-0 without scoring a single run in either game. In 2021, with a team that flirted with the playoffs, he decided against acquiring necessary help to aid the team in making the playoffs. The following offseason, he traded one major contributor for next to nothing, and allowed another to leave with zero compensation.
Castellini stated in the 2006 press conference, "We're buying the Reds to win. Anything else is unacceptable." Since then, the Reds have only won two division championships and no playoff advances, but are the current 2022 champions of aligning payroll to their resources.
References
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
enquirerwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "MLB approves sale of Reds to group led by Castellini". ESPN. January 19, 2006.