Reno, NV: Reno Zephyrs manager Júlio Carrillo is entering his 16th PEBA season and 9th with Reno. The last four seasons serving as the skipper. It has been an impressive career for sure and he was the one at the helm when Reno made their first ever post season appearance. All of that of course is in the past, in the highly competitive world of professional sports,the phrase – “what have you done for me lately” – is more than just a catch phrase. Carrillo found his team in last place in the Desert Hills division as they finished with the fifth worst record in the PEBA at 66-96.

On Friday, the 67 year old Zephyrs manager was summoned to the office of general manger Scott Maynor to meet with the GM and the team owner Maximillian Poppington. What was said during the four-hour meeting is unclear but inside sources report that voices were quite loud at times throughout the meeting.

“We are not going to comment on any of the specifics of our meeting,” Maynor reported afterwards. “But it was very productive and we all feel like we had a chance to voice our concerns over what went wrong last season as well as what is expected going forward.”

Carrillo has four years left on his contract and will be owed a whopping 8 million over that time period. It seems unlikely that the team would be willing to eat that kind of money considering their current financial situation. Still, one has to wonder how much blame should be laid at the manager’s feet. On paper the Reno Zephyrs looked like a contender heading into the 2021 season.

Throughout the season the manager was forced to answer some difficult questions from the local media and at times appeared to be quite testy. While it is difficult to place all of the blame on the shoulders of the manager, the typical injury excuses feel more like an act of denial from Zephyrs fans. Injuries happen and players go through slumps. In the end, however, if a team is not winning, the majority of the blame, right or wrong, will be dropped upon the manager. After all, he is the skipper, the leader of the ball club, and if there are consistently more L’s in the win/loss column, it is expected that torch-wielding fans will be swarming the chopping block, calling for someone’s heads to roll.

Some fans believe that ownership has a responsibility to add players in order to maintain a winning formula. It is hard to imagine that any changes will be forthcoming by way of free agency due to the team’s financial difficulties. The trade market may be the only avenue for changes as the team looks to rebound. Reno fans are unlikely to be patient enough to weather a long rebuilding process as they see the likes of Aurora, Bakersfield and Yuma dominate the post season spots.

All of the blame should not be placed upon the head of Julio Carrillo, since it’s the players who have failed to perform at their expected level. When losing begins to snowball, however, and the ship begins to sink and everyone knows that the best skipper’s always go down with the ship. Who knows what the long-term impact will be if the Zephyrs turn in another losing season in 2022. The smart money would be on a total fire sale followed by a long stretch of 100 loss seasons. While long stretches of 100 loss seasons are something Reno fans are certainly familiar with, it is not likely that will be comfortable with it.