Photo Credit: Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
When news broke that the Cincinnati Reds had hired two-time World Series champion Terry “Tito” Francona to replace David Bell as manager, it was quite a surprise. The Reds don’t make moves like this. They’ve definitely never had a manager like this. What world are we living in?
It’s hard to imagine the Reds could have hired a more qualified person for the job. In 23 years as a manager in the MLB, Francona has reached three World Series, and won two. His teams won 90 or more games twelve times. His career 1,950 regular-season wins rank thirteenth all-time. His 44 postseason wins rank seventh. He is, simply put, a managerial rock star.
So…good news, right? The Reds appear to be getting serious. David Bell might be a nice guy and a local hero, but it takes a little more than that to win a championship. What Bell lacked, Francona has in spades.
At least, that’s the bill of goods being sold to me. But let’s face it: being a manager in the MLB today isn’t what it used to be. These aren’t the days of John McGraw and Connie Mack; in 2024, we live in the Age of Analytics. The manager is no longer a central figure. Today, he’s more like a supporting character.
Managers in the past were like master strategists, while today, they’re more like master psychologists. More and more game day decisions are coming from the top (aka, the front office) down through the manager and out to the players. It’s not the manager’s job to tell the “what” anymore – these days, they explain the “why.”
So basically, if you’re expecting Francona to arrive in Cincinnati and immediately turn the Reds into a 95-win team, you’re dreaming. Tito might be able to coax some marginally better results from a handful of players, but expecting sweeping changes is a bit harebrained. There’s only so much a manager can do.
However, as long as the Reds are willing (and they are certainly able), they can give Francona the tools he needs to turn the Reds from a theoretical contender to a legitimate one. This is how the Reds can make Terry Francona’s tenure an unmitigated success.
1) Let Francona hire his own coaches
There’s already some good news on this front: since making the Francona hire official, the Reds have already shown four assistant coaches the door, including all three of their hitting coaches and an infield coach. It’s not quite “job well done” yet, but “job well started” indeed. The best way for the Reds to give Tito the tools he needs to win is by letting Tito pick out those tools in the first place.
As for who Tito brings in, that’s anyone’s guess. In his last season in Cleveland, Francona’s hitting coach was Chris Valaika, a name that should be familiar to any die-hard Reds fan. Valaika spent six years in the Reds organization, and he has been the Guardians’ top hitting coach since 2022. The Guardians, much like the Reds, have to get by without the monster payrolls of the Yankees or Mets or Dodgers. For what it’s worth, the Guardians haven’t been a substantially better hitting team under Valaika than the Reds have been since 2022 by most metrics, but they have had a consistently better batting average. Batting average is an obviously flawed statistic, but for a team that’s had trouble making regular contact, prying Valaika away from the Guardians doesn't seem like a bad move.
If Valaika can’t be had, maybe Dave Magadan can be. While Magadan hasn’t coached since 2022, he and Francona teamed up in 2007 to help lead the Boston Red Sox to their second World Series title since 1918. Magadan, like Francona, has an old-school approach to the game. Can another meeting of the minds between these two lead to similar results?
It’s possible, but successful hitting takes a lot more than a change in approach – often, it requires better players. If the Reds are going to make strides in 2025 under Francona, then they’ll have to make those necessary investments.
2) Fix the outfield
There’s no other way to say it: last year, the Reds outfield was an unmitigated disaster. It must be overhauled.
There’s not a single outfielder on the team who’s earned the right to be an everyday player except maybe Spencer Steer, and that’s more because of his positional versatility than his must-have bat. If the Reds want to give Tito the tools to win, that starts with bringing in some new, bona fide pieces.
You know who’d look really good in the Reds outfield? Anthony Santander, the switch-hitting right fielder who slugged 44 home runs this year for the Baltimore Orioles. You know who else would look good? Jurickson Profar, the San Diego Padres left fielder who’s also coming off a career year. Marcell Ozuna has crushed 79 home runs over the last two seasons with the Atlanta Braves – he’d look right at home in Cincinnati, wouldn’t he?
All three of the players above will be free agents in the offseason, and all three could make an enormous impact in a Reds uniform. These are the kinds of players the Reds should be targeting – not Jeimer Candelario, not these never-been-much-more-than-mediocre types. It sounds simple, but it’s true: better players will produce better results. The Reds can’t ask Francona to fix everything on his own. The front office needs to do its part too.
3) Figure out what to do with Jonathan India
Jonathan India might be one of the more prominent Reds at the moment, but baseball isn’t a popularity contest. When the Reds hired Francona, it was a signal that mediocrity will no longer be tolerated. Does that mean India’s days in Cincinnati are numbered? Not necessarily.
Despite his reputation, India hasn’t been much more than an average ballplayer since making the big-league roster in 2021. He doesn’t make a lot of hard contact, he doesn’t field his position well, and he’s a middling baserunner. The one thing India does well is take walks, but since there’s a dearth of viable hitters in Cincinnati behind him to drive him in, India’s found himself stranded on the basepaths far too often.
This past season, this open question was taken out of the Reds hands somewhat when second-year infielder Matt McLain was lost for the season in spring training. With superstar Elly De La Cruz likely cemented at shortstop for the foreseeable future, McLain seems to be an ideal complement at second base. But where does that leave India?
Before the 2023 season, there were reports that India was getting work in the outfield, and if he’s going to be on the Reds opening day roster next year, the outfield could be his future. McLain gives the Reds a much stronger presence at second base, both at the plate and in the field, so long as he’s recovered from his season-ending injury. If India can make the transition to one of the corner outfield spots, then the Reds just killed two birds with one stone.
If all else fails, the Reds could also look to trade India as well. The former Rookie of the Year still has enough trade value to get a quality piece in return, and with McLain ready in the wings to take over, the Reds would be making a deal from a position of relative strength. If India can’t help fix the Reds outfield woes himself, he can help by being part of a trade package.
The Reds didn’t hire Terry Francona, and he didn’t come out of retirement, to finish the year hovering around .500. The time for winning is now, but the Reds still have a ways to go to get there.
And yet, if you squint hard enough, you can see the outline of a contender. There are pieces in Cincinnati that harken back to some of the greatest players Francona has coached in his career. Elly De La Cruz can be Tito’s Francisco Lindor. Matt McLain can be Tito’s Dustin Pedroia. Hunter Greene can be Tito’s Pedro Martínez. Tyler Stephenson can be Tito’s Jason Varitek. Maybe Rhett Lowder can be Tito’s Corey Kluber.
But it’s not enough to stand pat. The Reds, as currently constructed, aren’t good enough to win a title – but with a little work, they could be. The Reds just have to give Tito the tools.