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Notes: Allen rattles the cage
Chief operating officer calls Reds' performance 'unacceptable'
By Owen Perkins / Special to MLB.com
DENVER -- The temperatures were approaching 90 degrees in Cincinnati on Sunday, but with Reds chief operating officer John Allen spending the day in Denver, the heat was on in Colorado. Allen met with manager Dave Miley, conveying the message that the path the Reds are on "isn't acceptable."
With the club 13 games under .500 and having lost four games in row to last place teams, upper management didn't want to wait another day to get its point across.
"I can't or will not pinpoint any one person or any one phase of the game," Allen said before Sunday's contest with the Rockies. "There's more than one phase that just isn't going well. I want to convey the message and make sure it's understood that [this] isn't acceptable.
"This team is better than what we've seen thus far," Allen continued. "I think we all expect a little more. I don't want to put pressure on specific games. It's a long season. We all know it's a marathon. But this is a pretty important series. The focus just hasn't been there. Again, I'm not pinpointing individuals, it's not my role to do that. But my role is certainly representing ownership and senior management needs to make sure they understand. They're all professionals, we know that. But I just to reinforce that the performance is not what any of us want."
Allen remained vague about any personnel who could be a target of concern, repeating six times in five minutes, without prompting, that he would not pinpoint individuals or name any names, but he emphasized that he was in Denver on behalf of principal owner and CEO Carl Lindner and that the only person he had met with was Miley.
"My role is to reinforce what needs to be done," Allen said, stressing that he was not in town to second-guess baserunning, situational hitting, or pitching, but nevertheless calling into question the team's overall focus and effectiveness.
"Certainly the status quo end result isn't acceptable," Allen said. "We have very professional players in this locker room, and I know this has been a lot of misery for them, trying to understand why."
If it was a question of talking baseball, going over the day-to-day nuts and bolts of the ballclub or challenging game decisions, general manager Dan O'Brien might have made a more suitable messenger. But Allen's appearance had the effect of raising the stakes significantly.
"It's just a notch up the food chain, so to speak," Allen said, explaining his presence instead of O'Brien's. "I think everybody knows I represent Mr. Lindner and ownership. I think it's important that they understand also that it's all the way to the top that we're concerned about this situation. When I say top to bottom, I mean top to bottom, including Mr. Lindner, myself, the other owners, we're certainly very concerned. None of us thought this is where we'd be. We've got to fix it."
With 55 games down and 107 remaining, Allen stressed that the situation is salvageable, but that "it's got to change quickly," expressing hope that as players return from the DL in the near future, perhaps they could give the club "a shot in the arm."
In the absence of an immediate boost from within the Reds clubhouse, it was evident that Allen was prepared to find another vehicle for change. He planned to speak with the coaches during the team's three-hour flight home to Cincinnati after Sunday's game.
"I'm not coming here carrying a big stick," Allen said, though it was hard to escape the feeling that an axe had been raised and could fall at any time if the status quo did not improve.
"We're not sitting there twiddling our thumbs saying 'oh me, oh my, what are we going to do?'" Allen concluded. "We do care. We're involved. It's not getting done right now."
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Originally Posted by CincyRedsFan30
