Joe Morgan Signed by Reds as Special Advisor: What Does it Mean?

Joe Morgan, one of the Cincinnati Reds greatest players of all-time, is working with his former team again.

Morgan, 66, joined the Reds as a special adviser to baseball operations. The move was announced during a news conference at Great American Ball Park on Wednesday.

In a 22-season career from 1963-84, where he established himself as one of the best second basemen of all time, Morgan batted .271 with 268 home runs and 1,133 RBI. He was a 10-time All-Star (including eight straight with the Reds) and a five-time Gold Glove Award winner.

“The first thing I want to say is I’m not here to make baseball decisions, that’s Walt,” said Morgan. “I’m on the air a lot (ESPN), and I recognize the participation of African-Americans in baseball is going down."

Most of his work will be in community outreach and diversity initiatives programs. He'll also support the efforts of the Reds Community Fund and Reds Hall of Fame.

“It’s easy to talk about not having African American participation,” Morgan said. “But I want to be part of the solution, not just a guy on TV talking about what’s going down. That’s basically why I made the phone call. I was very pleased that Phil felt it was a good thing to do.”

There are times when Morgan will be consulted by General Manager Walt Jocketty on baseball decisions or players on the team.

How much will he impact the decisions Jocketty makes? My guess is not much at all. He'll give his two-sense and fly back to Boston to do another Red Sox vs. Yankee Sunday night game.

If he truly wanted to be a part of the team, he should have been like Eric Davis and Barry Larkin and go to Spring Training and TEACH the players—give them tips on the fundamentals of the game, something the Reds seem to never excel at.

He needs to give the young guns the secrets to hitting that clearly Morgan mastered. Tell players that the Reds used to be the most feared team in the sport, and it's possible to win in this town. The young guys need to hear the old stories of the Big Red Machine. Instill a winning attitude in a franchise that knows nothing but losing the past nine years.

I'm not ripping Morgan for wanting to help out in the community and help increase African-American participation in baseball. Just don't expect him to help the product on the field.

Despite Morgan’s new gig, ESPN released a statement indicating that his role as a national analyst for the network will not change: “Joe has a long history with the Reds. He tells us he won’t be involved with day-to-day baseball operations so we are confident this arrangement will not impact his role on Sunday Night Baseball. ”

Good thing the Reds don't have a single Sunday night game this year.

(BTW how is that possible to not even have ONE Sunday nighter??)