CLEVELAND, Ohio — On his way to Cooperstown for likely MLB Hall of Fame enshrinement, Terry Francona is making a stop in Cincinnati to become the Reds new manager, after having been the Cleveland Guardians manager for 11 seasons before stepping down in 2022 in part for health reasons.
Cleveland sports fans would likely rather see new offensive offense coordinator Ken Dorsey for the 1-4 Browns leave for the Cincinnati Bengals. And maybe take General Manager Andrew Berry with him after he failed to resign Clevelander Kareem Hunt who gained 100 yards Monday night for the Kansas City Chiefs in their win against the New Orleans Saints. Helps to have a healthy, solid, playable, well-coached offensive line blocking, which Berry also failed to have on the roster. Need Joe Thomas back as player/OL coach.
The Reds will be the fourth Major League team Francona has managed, starting with the Phillies (1997-2000), Red-Sox (2004-2011) and Indians-Guardians (2013-2022).
At 65, Francona signed a 3 year deal with a fourth year option in 2028. It’s actually a return to the Reds for him. In 1987 Francona was an outfielder for the Reds under manager Pete Rose, the legendary player passed away Monday Sept. 30, at 83 from heart issues.
At a Monday press conference introducing him as the Reds new manager, Francona had this to say about the unexpected new opportunity at bat as manager:
“I honestly didn’t see myself managing again. I had a really good year away from the game. I needed to step away. I didn’t step away because I didn’t love the game. I stepped away because I didn’t think I was doing the job up to the caliber I thought was necessary. A lot of it was health, and it was getting in the way.”
“When the Reds reached out, I started looking at the team a little more closely, and they came out to visit and it just felt right. And if felt right from pretty close to the beginning of the meeting.”
In terms of his health, may Terry Francona continue to feel as right as he made Cleveland fans feel for 11 years.
