Reds’ Managerial Search Enters Second Round

The Reds are well into their search for a new manager, as has long been anticipated. Interim skipper Jim Riggleman took over after Bryan Price was fired and was at the helm for most of the 2018 season, but the club is determined to consider an array of candidates before naming the next full-time dugout leader. As we did last year with other openings of this kind, we’ll use this post to track the early developments in the hiring process in Cincinnati.

Latest Update — Oct. 20

• Per Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi (Twitter link), Giants VP of Player Development and former MLB third baseman David Bell is the now the favorite to be offered the job.
• The Reds informed Jim Riggleman today that he will not return as manager, according to William Ladson on Twitter.

Earlier Update — Oct. 17

• Ausmus and Girardi are also still under consideration, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). Both are slated for additional interviews, MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon adds on Twitter. It seems they’ll join Bell to make up a group of three finalists, per Jon Heyman of Fancred (Twitter link).
• The Reds conducted interviews with the 12 candidates listed below and won’t speak with anyone else, per John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that there’s a growing sense that David Bell “has the inside track,” though he notes that Rocco Baldelli’s interview went “extremely well,” too, placing Baldelli “strongly in the mix.”

Click to view full overview of managerial search:

Have Interviewed

• The Reds interviewed Rays bench coach Charlie Montoyo and Giants bench coach Hensley Meulens, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.
• Rays major league field coordinator Rocco Baldelli met with the Reds representatives last week, making him the 12th candidate for the job in Cincinnati, Rosecrans tweets. The 37-year-old Baldelli, an outfielder with the Rays and Red Sox from 2003-10, has also served as a special assistant for baseball operations and a first base coach in Tampa Bay since his playing career ended. Baldelli is also a candidate in other managerial searches.
• The Reds have interviewed Pirates bench coach Tom Prince, reports C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic (via Twitter). The 54-year-old appeared in parts of 17 seasons as a backup catcher between the Pirates, Dodgers, Twins, Phillies and Royals before retiring following the 2003 season. He began his coaching career as a manager on the independent circuit more than a dozen years ago and has been rising through the Pirates’ ranks since 2007, managing at multiple minor league levels before ascending to his current role of bench coach prior to the 2017 season.
• The Reds have interviewed former Yankees manager Joe Girardi, Fancred Sports’ Jon Heyman reports.  Interim skipper Jim Riggleman and former Red Sox manager John Farrell have also sat down for interviews with the team, as have ex-Tigers skipper Brad Ausmus and Giants farm director David Bell.  “The strong belief for now” is that the Reds will hire one of Girardi, Riggleman, Farrell, Bell or Ausmus. Bell may be the favorite for the job, Heyman hears.
• The Reds sat down with three current coaches recently as part of the interview process: bench coach Pat Kelly, third base coach Billy Hatcher, and first base coach Freddie Benavides. It’s not clear at this point whether any of the trio of former big leaguers is anticipated to have a real shot at the gig. Of the group, Hatcher has by far the most experience in a major-league coaching capacity, having put in nearly two decades with the Rays and Reds. Kelly had been the Triple-A skipper but came up to the MLB staff when Price was fired. Benavides, meanwhile, has been on the staff since 2016.

Not Under Consideration

• Barry Larkin, the Hall-of-Fame infielder who currently works in a player development capacity in the organization, is not under consideration for the opening. Williams does note that Larkin “still has managing as a long-term goal.”
• There was “some communication” between Dick Williams and Eduardo Perez, per Fay.  However, with the 12 candidates now known and no further interviews scheduled, it seems that the two sides never sat down for a more formal chat.