Reds to interview John Farrell for managerial opening; Barry Larkin not a candidate

There’s been surprisingly little news surrounding the future of the Cincinnati Reds managerial position as the Jim Riggleman-led club slogs unenthusiastically towards the end of the 2018 season. That changed in a hurry on Tuesday, however, as multiple sources confirmed that the Reds have, in fact, been active already on that front.

The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans and MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon both confirmed that the Reds will interview former Boston Red Sox manager (and current Reds scout) John Farrell, while also surprisingly noting that team legend Barry Larking - who has publicly pined for the job in the past - will not be interviewed for the opening at this time.

As you can read up ^^ there, each of Pat Kelly, Billy Hatcher, and Freddie Benavides have been interviewed already, which clearly means the Reds have been vetting their internal candidates now while apparently waiting until after the season ends for any interviews of candidates outside the organization. At least, that’s assuming they’ll actually interview anyone from outside the organization.

Easily the most surprising aspect of this news is that Larkin won’t be a candidate at this time. As The Enquirer’s John Fay noted, Larkin will stay on with the organization in his current role as a roving instructor, meaning it’s not at all that the two sides aren’t willing to work with one another. Rather, it seems that the two simply are in agreement that now’s not the best time to begin exploring that kind of relationship-stressing job change, with Larkin himself actually carrying that opinion.

Finally, though, it appears there’s beginning to be a bit more clarity in how this entire process will take shape.