Cincinnati Reds set to hire Terry Francona as manager, win World Series five more times

The future Hall of Famer will take the helm of the underachieving Reds. Can he be the difference?

A fresh-faced Terry Francona assumed the managerial position of the Boston Red Sox prior to the 2004 regular season and promptly led them to their first World Series title in 86 years in epic fashion.

A fresher-faced Terry Francona posted losing seasons in four consecutive years from 1997 to 2000 in his first stint as a big league manager, that time with the Philadelphia Phillies (who fired him).

An even fresher-faced Terry Francona logged 219 PA as a member of the 1987 Cincinnati Reds, spending time in the corner outfield and at first base in his lone year with the franchise. As fate would turn out, that will no longer be his lone year with the franchise.

According to reports across the baseball industry late Friday, the Reds are set to fill their managerial void by hiring Francona, the three-time MLB Manager of the Year and two-time World Series winner, to replace the recently fired David Bell.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan was one of many to confirm the news via his sources.

After those four frustrating seasons in Philadelphia to wrap the last century, Tito landed with Theo Epstein, Pedro, Manny, Ortiz, & Co. in ‘04 to help craft one of baseball’s great stories. The Sox ended their longtime curse, felled the Yankeed after trailing 3-0 in the ALCS, and notched the first of their trio of World Series titles of this new generation. Francona was at the helm of two of those (also in 2009) before a slumpy 2011 season prompted Boston to opt against renewing his contract.

Tito landed in Cleveland in short order, and across eleven seasons with the Guardians went 921-757 with four AL Central titles and an ill-fated trip to the 2016 World Series. With 1950 career wins, he ranks 13th on the all-time wins list among MLB managers, and after health issues forced him into retirement following the 2023 season he now seems poised to continue to climb that list.

In hiring Tito, the Reds are sending a shot across the bow to the baseball world, though it may be an own, self-inflicted one. You don’t go hire a guy with that kind of resume only to give him a limited roster with little to no resources. So, their hire of the most accomplished manager out there on the market surely means they’re telling themselves they’ve got to begin getting their financial and personnel decisions more correct, right?

I would certainly like to believe that this means business for Cincinnati, even if I don’t expect them to suddenly throw hundreds of millions of dollars at Juan Soto and Corbin Burnes. What I do expect, though, is that this move begins an active three-ish year window where prioritizing wins at the big league level will come at the expense of the deep farm system they’ve built up over the last few years, even if that farm’s sheen isn’t quite as bright as it was a year ago. There’s still ample good talent there (as there is on the 40-man roster), but picking and choosing which ones will be part of the core (and which ones will be shipped elsewhere for core pieces) will now coincide with a manager seeking pennants, not ejections and milquetoast press conferences.

Welcome to Cincinnati (when official), Terry. Glad you’re back to good health and thirsty to turn around yet another once-proud baseball franchise.