Cincinnati Reds Rumors - Narrowing down the managerial search

One of the biggest stories of the Reds off-season is the search for who will be the full-time replacement for Bryan Price as the manager. More names of potential candidates from outside the organization have come out over the last few days, and Jon Heyman of Fancred sports reported today that the Reds seem to have narrowed down their search. While Joe Girardi, Brad Ausmus, and John Farrell have been interviewed lately and all have major league managing experience, David Bell is the one the Reds are reportedly focused on at the moment.

Bell, a Cincinnati native, has no major league managing experience but spent several years in the Reds’ minor leagues as a manager and has also spent time in the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and San Francisco Giants’ organizations. Heyman also notes that John Farrell and Jim Riggleman are the other possible finalists for the position. Both have recently spent time in the Reds’ organization. Farrell, who won a World Series in 2013 as the manager of the Boston Red Sox, spent the 2018 season as a scout with the Reds. Riggleman has been the bench coach for the Reds since 2015 and was named interim manager after the Reds fired Bryan Price in April.

To go along with the news that Heyman reported earlier today, Mark Sheldon of mlb.com reported yesterday that the Reds are slated to interview two more outside candidates this week. Sheldon notes that the Reds will meet with Hensley Meulens and Charlie Montoyo. Neither candidate has managerial experience in the majors, but they have spent several years in the San Francisco Giants and Tampa Bay Rays organizations, respectively. Meulens has been with the Giants for the last 8 seasons, most recently as their bench coach, and Montoyo spent 2018 as the bench coach for the Rays after spending 3 seasons as their hitting coach. He also managed the Durham Bulls from 2007-2014.

Stay tuned over the coming days and weeks as the Reds find the manager to lead them to the 2019 World Series.