Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona looks on from the dugout during the fourth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field in 2023. / Aaron Josefczyk-Imagn Images
On Thursday, the Cincinnati Reds hired World Series champion manager Terry Francona to be their manager. It was a shocking fit given that Francona had just retired a year earlier after stepping down from the managerial post with the Cleveland Guardians.
The 65-year-old Francona has managed 23 years in the big leagues with the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox and Guardians. He won two titles in Boston (2004, 2007) and also got to the World Series with Cleveland in 2016. He brings instant credibility to the Reds clubhouse, even if his age could prevent him from doing the job for a long period of time. He's also dealt with health problems in the past, missing portions of the 2020, 2021 and 2023 seasons.
Though there are certainly questions about that stuff, the general consensus is that people are very excited about the hire and what it means for the organization moving forward.
Per Jeff Carr of Reds on SI:
You don't get Terry Francona to come to Cincinnati if you plan on cheaping out
That's probably fair to say. Francona likely wouldn't have come out of retirement for a gig where the ownership group wasn't invested in winning. Cincinnati has a ton of young position players that are all cheap and under team control, but they need to go out and find some reliable pitching. Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott are nice building blocks, but will they be in the market for a Corbin Burnes or Max Fried in free agency? And could they trade some of their young players for pitching?
Furthermore, Charlie Goldsmith, who covers the Reds, noted the following:
Terry Francona was the most established manager on the free agent market.
Him taking the job is someone from outside of the organization buying into the trajectory of the team.
A huge win for the Reds.
The Reds finished fourth in the National League Central this year. They haven't made the playoffs since the COVID-shortened 2020 season.