Terry Francona fills Cincinnati Reds managerial opening

[Ely Sussman]

The former skipper in Philadelphia, Boston and Cleveland is returning to the dugout on a three-year deal.

Arguably the most high-profile of all MLB managerial candidates is off the market. As first reported by MLB.com's Mark Feinsand on Thursday night, Terry Francona is in agreement with the Cincinnati Reds to replace David Bell, who the club fired two weeks ago.

Francona is a slam-dunk future Hall of Famer. He amassed 1,950 regular season wins and 44 more in the postseason during his stints with the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Guardians/Guardians. He led the Sox to the 2004 and 2007 World Series titles. Citing health concerns, the 65-year-old ended his Guardians stint after the 2023 season and didn't have a full-time baseball gig this past year.

According to The Athletic's C. Trent Rosecrans, Zack Meisel and Jenna West, the Reds had interest in outgoing Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, who spent the final two seasons of his playing career (2014-2015) in Cincy, "though they didn’t reach the interview stage with him before hiring Francona."

It isn't yet known whether the Marlins tried for Francona. The Reds also missed qualifying for the postseason, but finished 15 games better than the Fish did in 2024 and likely would be considered a more appealing vacancy to somebody with prior major league managerial experience.

This news leaves the Marlins and Chicago White Sox as the only MLB teams who are openly searching for new managers. Last year's Craig Counsell fiasco is a reminder that other changes are possible around the league (teams can covertly negotiate with outside candidates to replace their incumbent skippers).

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[THOMAS JOSEPH]

Great to hear that Tito is healthy and returning to the dugout. Another star courtesy of the bountiful Montréal Expos farm system.