Cincinnati Reds Rumors - Joe Girardi, Brad Ausmus, David Bell managerial candidates

From the moment the Cincinnati Reds fired Bryan Price after their dismal 3-15 start to the 2018 season, we knew there would be a large pool of big-name candidates available to be the next manager of the club. John Farrell, for instance, won a World Series as manager of the Boston Red Sox, and was already a scout within the Reds organization. Similarly, Joe Girardi - longtime manager of the New York Yankees with a World Series title under his belt, too - was without a managerial job, and was clearly interested in getting back into one of those coveted 30 spots.

As FanCred’s Jon Heyman revealed earlier today - and as The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans confirmed - Girardi will indeed be interviewed by the Reds for their vacant position, joining Farrell and others on a lengthy list of impressive names the team will consider.

Girardi is obviously the headliner of that group, but Brad Ausmus - former Detroit Tigers manager - also appears to have made the cut for an interview, too. He skippered the 2014 Tigers to a 90 win season and an AL Central title only to be bounced in the ALDS by the Baltimore Orioles, and three lackluster seasons afterwards was canned as the Tigers embarked on a big-time rebuild.

David Bell, on the other hand, doesn’t come with any big league managing experience, but is certainly a name most around the game in Cincinnati will surely recognize. He’s a Cincinnati native thanks largely to his Bell family lineage, and he managed in the Reds minor league system for several years before branching out and, ultimately, ending up as the bench coach for the St. Louis Cardinals for several years. There were even whispers that he could be a candidate back when Price was hired following the 2013 season, and there are ample connections between Bell and the current Cincinnati front office (and ownership) that will make him a very, very serious candidate as this process evolves.

Of course, there’s been zero mention of another World Series winner who’s on the market - Mike Scioscia, formerly of the Los Angeles Angels, stepped down after a near two-decade run at their helm, and might well get back into managing as soon as this winter. And while he doesn’t have a World Series on his ledger, Buck Showalter does have over 1550 wins as a big league manager to his credit and was let go by the Baltimore Orioles earlier today, too, meaning they both join Dusty Baker as free agents with lengthy, lengthy managerial records on the open market at this time.

All of these folks will presumably be vetted over the next few weeks, as President of Operating Baseballs Dick Williams previously mentioned that he’d like to have a manager in place by the end of October, as he mentioned after revealing that the team had already interviewed Billy Hatcher, among other internal candidates.

Stay tuned!

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Jim Riggleman. There, I mentioned Jim Riggleman’s name in this article about who could be the next manager of the Cincinnati Reds, though I’ll let it be known I did so reluctantly.