Following a disappointing 2024 campaign in which the Cincinnati Reds ultimately finished with a 77-85 record to place fourth in the National League Central, they let go of manager David Bell, per MLB.com's Mark Sheldon, with a week left in the season. Now just a couple weeks later, the Reds apparently have found their new manager.
Cincinnati has hired former Philadelphia Phillies manager Terry Francona to take over the managing duties in the clubhouse for 2025. This came as quite a surprise to some because Francona had previously stepped away from the game following the 2023 season with the Cleveland Guardians due to health-related issues at the time.
He had also dealt with on-and-off illnesses even in the seasons prior to that, which made many wonder if he would ever return to the game. But to see him all well once again and back in the thick of things after just a one-year hiatus is great news for both Francona and the baseball world.
Former Phillies manager Terry Francona making surprise return to the dugout with the Reds
Francona began his managerial career with the Phillies back in 1997, taking over from Jim Fregosi after the latter posted three consecutive losing seasons following their World Series appearance in 1993. However, Francona didn’t end up faring much better, as the Phillies produced four more losing seasons thereafter.
In the end, Francona posted a 285-363 record with the Phillies and they never finished higher than third in the NL East between 1997-2000. That led to his firing upon the conclusion of the 2000 season.
However, Francona’s managerial career officially took off after joining the Boston Red Sox ahead of the 2004 season. In his eight seasons with the ballclub, he led them to five playoff berths and two World Series championship titles. More impressively, all of those Francona-led teams finished with a greater than .531 winning percentage and ranked third or higher in the AL East every year.
Francona eventually took that success into his tenure with the Cleveland Indians (now known as the Guardians) from 2013 to 2023. During those eleven seasons, Cleveland never finished below third in the AL Central, while capturing the division title four times and reaching the postseason on six occasions.
Although they came just short of a World Series title in 2016, Francona nonetheless helped them become notable powerhouses in the league for a long period of time. For his career, he ranks 13th overall on the all-time wins list for managers with 1,950 during the regular season and seventh overall all-time during the playoffs with 44.
The Reds will now hope that his magic can rub onto them as well, after successfully reaching the postseason just once during the past decade. As for the Phillies, this could mean bad news for them as Francona has the ability to convert the Reds into a force to be reckoned with for the future, just like he did with his previous two teams. The National League just got a little tougher with the addition of a managerial legend.