Terry Francona will come out of retirement to manage the Cincinnati Reds, MLB Network and ESPN reported Thursday night.
The Reds plan to hire Francona, who left the same position with the in-state rival Cleveland Guardians, after the 2023 season.
Francona, who battled health issues late in his tenure in Cleveland, said at the time. I have no intention of running a business again. ”
He has dealt with stomach, hip and shoulder ailments, as well as blood clots and staph infections. He missed the 2017 All-Star Game due to heart surgery and then missed parts of the 2020, 2021 and 2023 seasons due to health issues.
Still, the 65-year-old is set for his fourth major league managerial job. He will try to rebuild a Reds club that missed the playoffs this year with a 77-85 record but features promising young talent in Elie Delacruz and Hunter Green.
The Reds fired manager David Bell entering the final week of the regular season.
Francona is best known for leading the Boston Red Sox to two World Series championships (2004 and 2007), the first of which ended the club’s 86-year championship drought. .
Francona has a career record of 1,950 wins and 1,672 losses with three pennants as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies (1997-2000), Boston (2004-11) and Cleveland (2013-23). His 2016 Cleveland team lost to the Chicago Cubs in the World Series.
Francona played as an outfielder and first baseman in the majors with the Montreal Expos (1981-85), Chicago Cubs (1986), Cincinnati (1987), Cleveland (1988) and Milwaukee Brewers (1989-90). played as. In 707 games, he had a batting average of .274, an on-base percentage of .300, a slugging percentage of .351, 16 home runs, and 143 RBIs.
–Field level media
