The Reds need to be aware of the Steroid connection

With the announcement that Walt Jockerty has joined the Reds as a Special Advisor to Bob Castellini has everyone talking about Wayne Krivsky's job security.  Because of that, they're missing much more disturbing signs.

This off-season, the Reds hired Dusty Baker as their manager.  Ignore the debate over his managerial skill and focus on what happened on his watch in San Francisco.  At best, he was woefully ignorant of steroid usage by his players.  At worst, he turned a blind eye in exchange for wins.  Now, I don't think Baker was anywhere close to as involved in the steroid problem as someone like Tony LaRussa (more on him in a minute), but I have little doubt he knew a good number of his players were using steroids.  That gives us a manager that is willing to look the other way while his players cheat to help the team win.

The San Francisco Bay appears to be one of the focal points for the steroid problem in baseball.  Both the Giants and Athletics benefited from this on the field to extraordinary proportions.  The Giants had a GM who knew what was going on and ignored it.  The A's seemed to encourage use to help them overcome their payroll constraints.  From Barry Bonds to Mark McGwire, the bay was a haven for steroid users.  In fact, another manager from the bay seems to have been more involved then Baker - Tony LaRussa.  

Look at a list of players who careers blossomed under LaRussa - Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Jim Edmonds, Albert Pujols, etc.  I'm not going to get into the details here, but just do a search for Tony LaRussa and Steroids.  Shortly before the Reds hired Dusty Baker, there were reports of the Reds were interested in talking to LaRussa about the manager job.  At best, LaRussa was an enabler.  At worst, he was intimately involved in usage by his players.  Not the kind of person you want to be associated with your club.

Now, from the same team, the Reds hird Walt Jockerty.  A GM who directly benefited from hiring a steroid-enabling manager and watching LaRussa and McGwire spread steroid usage to players Jockerty acquired off the scrap heap to turn them into superstars - Jim Edmonds, Albert Pujols, Chris Carpenter, etc.  

In short, the disturbing trend of the Reds hiring or talking to people whose backgrounds are filled with HUGE question marks in the steroid controversy.  Doesn't that scare you as a Reds fan?  What do I tell my nieces and nephews?  What do we do if Matt Belisle goes 24-4 with a 1.73 ERA?  

Were the Cincinnati media not totally incompetent, Castellini would have a developing PR problem.  As it is, the media is gushing over his moves and, once again, ignoring the steroid question.