THE REDS WOULD BE FOOLS TO PASS UP PAUL O'NEILL

 

Yesterday Michael Kay tweeted that Paul O'Neill had talked to the Cincinnati Reds about a manager's job.  It was put out there for the world to see and obviously there were tons of opinions on it. Yankee fans love the Warrior and love him in the booth for YES and I get that.  Here is that Tweet:

Breaking news: sources say Yankees announcer Paul O'Neill has spoken with Reds owner Bob Castellini about the Reds' vacant managerial job.
— Michael Kay (@RealMichaelKay) October 9, 2013

Today we find out that the Reds never initiated the conversation. That comes from Andy Martino of the Daily News, writing: "If the Cincinnati Reds and Paul O’Neill have talked about O’Neill becoming the team’s next manager, the team did not initiate the conversation.  Reds general manager Walt Jocketty told the Daily News through club spokesman Rob Butcher that 'We have not reached out to Paul regarding our managerial vacancy.'"

Now... for my opinion.  I believe that Michael Kay and Paulie spoke and perhaps this came out in conversation.  It wasn't like Kay just put it out there without O'Neill's permission, it was floated.  Now that the parties have been notified, I believe that there will be a dialog if there wasn't one initially. It makes sense.

One thing is for sure, the Reds would be fools to NOT pursue O'Neill.  Paulie is loved in Cincinnati... he's loved in New York, but O'Neill as the Reds manager makes a ton of sense, plus, it brings Paulie back home and back on the field. 

If there is any movement on this story, we'll share it.  In fact, I'm going to ask Mike O'Hara, a BYB contributor and former host of the MLB Fan Cave to write a piece about this, using his investigative instincts... he's a gigantic Paul O'Neill fan... bigger than me.

Be sure to read our interview from Paul O'Neill, exclusive to us here at Bleeding Yankee Blue:

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: PAUL O'NEILL

In that interview, we touched on his time with the Reds, check this out:

BYB: You had a career in the making in Cincinnati with 1 championship already under your belt. Then you were traded to the Yankees in November 1992. What was your reaction?

Paul O'Neill: "Totally bummed. Disappointed in myself that the Reds didn’t want me. After a lot of unnecessary beating myself up, it all worked out for the good..."

BYB: As a kid I always loved Lou Piniella. What was it like to play for him with the Reds?

Paul O'Neill: "Demanding. I respect Lou. He was explosive like me but you can’t doubt his professionalism. He understood we were there to win first and foremost. You never wanted to give Lou anything but your best. He’d notice. He taught me a lot about hitting and wanted me to hit the ball over the fence more. He is pretty much an icon now"

We will keep everyone in the loop on this Paul O'Neill, "Manager" rumor.  I believe there is more to it than we all think... rumors are sometimes out there because they're true.  

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