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After the Chicago Cubs disrupted the Major League Baseball managerial landscape last offseason with the hire of Craig Counsell, the Cincinnati Reds had an equally shocking managerial hire on Thursday night.
During the final week of the regular season, the Reds made the decision to fire manager David Bell. Bell's firing came while the Reds were set to the finish the 2024 season in fourth-place in the National League Central division. Given that the Reds did not shy away from spending last offseason along with most of their top prospects reaching the Major League level, a fourth-place finish was unsettling for the Reds' front office.
Early speculation in terms of who would replace Bell pointed to former Cubs' manager David Ross. Ross took this past season off from managerial duties after being dismissed by the Cubs last offseason. Given the ties that Ross had to Cincinnati along with his knowledge of the NL Central, Ross made sense as an early candidate.
The Reds wasted no time in hiring their next manager, and Cubs fans may be wishing it was Ross. Instead, news broke on Thursday night that former Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona is coming out of retirement and signing a three-year deal to be the Reds' manager.
BREAKING NEWS: The Reds are hiring Terry Francona to be their new manager, per source. Announcement expected as soon as Friday. https://t.co/JYmdYMD8Ro
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) October 4, 2024
The Cubs may no longer have the best manager in the National League Central.
Francona coming to the National League Central is a problem for the Cubs. Taking into account that when Francona became the Red Sox manager in 2004, followed by the 11 seasons he served as Guardians' manager, Francona's teams only had two losing seasons during that timespan. In that same period, Franco's teams won 3 American League pennants including 2 World Series titles.
The Reds hiring Francona should increase the incentive for the Cubs to be aggressive with their offseason improvements. Between Counsell and Francona, Francona likely is the better of the two managers considering the postseason success his teams have had. But one area where Counsell's Cubs should always hold the avantage over Francona's Reds is spending. That should be validated this offseason.