Neugebauer takes over in Cincinnati

[mikereds]

At a short press conference organized by owner Robert Castellini, Mike Neugebauer was announced as the new GM/Manager of the sub .500 Reds.  "We trust in Mike's vision and ideas", said Castellini.  "He's a sports junkie we've had our eye on for a while.  His avid fandom of the LA Lakers and New Orleans Saints has really impressed us.  But his tenacity and energy on the tennis court was what really put him on our radar.  We could've hired a baseball lifer, but this time around we've opted for a fresh set of eyes.  Who better than a guy that's never been to the city of Cincinnati!"

"This will be quite the journey", Neugebauer calmly stated from a Zoom session while dressed in a metal t-shirt and lounge pants.  "We anticipate this will be a rebuild, but we're choosing not to do anything rash.  I believe the vast majority of the incumbent players and coaches should have the opportunity to show what they can do before decisions about the future are made.  We'll tend to honor the contracts we've inherited.  Don't anticipate a major fire sale or mass overhauls.  You don't take sharp turns with a school bus.  I believe in a gradual approach that allows us to assess our progress along the way."

Despite his experience in information technology, Neugebauer is not a big believer in analytics.  "I've seen a lot of mistakes made due to overuse of analytics.  We'll use a combination of statistics and human judgment.  Asking a computer what you should do is often stupid.  You're supposed to tell the computer what to do!  People have it backwards lately."

Neugebauer continued, "We'll try to build a solid defense, complemented by quality pitching and the ability to hit some dingers.  Steal some bases when we like the match-ups but don't rely on it.  During the season we will try to be versatile with our strategies and avoid putting too many eggs into one basket.  I think this alone will help us with our win percentage and get things back on track in Cincinnati."