The Reds announced that they have parted ways with manager David Bell. Bench coach Freddie Benavides will act as the club’s interim manager for the remainder of the season.
In a statement released to the media, president of baseball operations Nick Krall said that “David provided the kind of steadiness that we needed in our clubhouse over the last few seasons. We felt a change was needed to move the Major League team forward. We have not achieved the success we expected, and we need to begin focusing on 2025.”
Bell’s tenure ends just short of six full seasons as Cincinnati’s manager. Three of Bell’s six seasons saw the Reds finish with a winning record — their 31-29 record in the shortened 2020 season that led to a playoff berth, an 83-win campaign in 2021, and an 82-win season in 2023. That latter season hinted at bigger things ahead for the Reds, given how the team seemingly had an overload of young position-player talent all breaking out at the same time. The organization even awarded Bell for his role in the Reds’ progress, as Bell was signed to a new contract extension in July 2023 that covered the 2024-26 seasons.
However, it perhaps shouldn’t be ignored that the Reds waited to give Bell a new deal until he was only about two months away from the expiration from his previous contract. That might’ve been the first hint that the Reds’ ownership and front office was only willing to give Bell so much leeway in continuing as the club’s skipper, and the disappointing nature of the 2024 season sealed Bell’s fate.
The announcement of Noelvi Marte’s 80-game PED suspension in early March was the first sign of trouble for the Reds, and the bad news continued during Spring Training when Matt McLain had to undergo a shoulder surgery. McLain ended up missing the entire season recovering from that surgery and then a stress reaction in his rib cage suffered during his rehab work. Christian Encarnacion-Strand didn’t play after the first week of May due to a wrist injury that required surgery, thus leading to a lost year for yet another of the Reds’ promising young infielders.
Injuries continued to deplete the roster at other inopportune times, including a near rotation-wide slate of injuries that hit the pitching staff in August. Beyond the injuries, other would-be cornerstones like Spencer Steer or Alexis Diaz provided only average levels of production, and offseason acquisitions like Jeimer Candelario and Frankie Montas also disappointed.
It all added up to an underwhelming season in Cincinnati, and while Bell is hardly the only culprit behind the Reds’ lack of success, the organization will now shake things up in the dugout. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (X link) has already reported that Marlins manager Skip Schumaker is under consideration to be the Reds’ next field general, and Schumaker has past ties to the club as a former Reds player in 2014-15. Schumaker won NL Manager of the Year honors in leading Miami to the playoffs in his first year as skipper in 2023, but the Marlins’ decision to part ways with GM Kim Ng (who hired Schumaker) and then shift into rebuild mode has all but confirmed that Schumaker is leaving South Florida at season’s end.
Bell finishes with a 409-456 record over his time as the Reds’ manager. That lone postseason appearance in 2020 ended in a two-game (and scoreless) sweep in the wild card series, and Cincinnati still hasn’t won a playoff round since the 1995 NLDS. The pandemic’s impact on Bell’s managerial career can’t be understated, as the organizational loss of revenue over the 2020-21 seasons led ownership to suddenly change course after a payroll increase in the 2019-20 offseason, and the Reds started to heavily rebuild following their winning record in 2021.
Viewed through this lens, the Reds have done well to get back to playing competitive baseball so soon after the misery of a 100-loss season in 2022. Krall has done well in reloading the organization with premium prospect talent, and Bell’s work in helping some of this young talent adjust to the majors shouldn’t be overlooked. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Reds take that expected next step in 2025 if the team enjoys better health and the younger players fare better with more experience under their belts, and indeed a new voice in the dugout might be a key piece in helping Cincinnati turn the corner.
Benavides is a longtime member of the Reds organization, dating back to when the club selected him in the second round of the 1987 draft. The first two of Benavides’ four Major League seasons were played in a Reds uniform, and after retirement, he spent close to a decade working in Cincinnati’s farm system before joining the big league coaching staff in 2016. Benavides has been acting in the bench coach role since Bell was initially hired following the 2018 campaign.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Well this is wonderful news
Some Bells can be unrung
Genuinely the best news I heard as a reds fan since we extended Votto wow it truly sad being a fan of this team
The best news a Reds fan could hear is they finally got a GM that thinks starting pitching is important.
That’s exactly why the reds didn’t have sustainable success votto taking up too much of the teams payroll. I don’t want to hear about how they should have spent more either. Teams have a budget and if your a small market like the reds the smartest thing to do with high priced veterans is deal them before free agency. See Cleveland and Tampa if you want to know how to run a franchise. If you’re unfamiliar with them see brewers Milwaukee as well.
Well, see articles in “Cowboy State Daily” about Dave Ricketts, the Cubs owner. The same guy who founded “Ameritrade”.
Multi billionaire who over the past 2 years purchased multi properties in the Jackson Hole area with the intentions of making them a “Little Jackson Hole”
Yes , it’s their money and they can do what they want with it. However, I’m tired of hearing how the Dodgers, Yankees, Padres etc. spend, spend, spend, because they have the money. Because they are BIG MONEY MARKETS. All of the owners except for approximately 2 or 3 are Billionaires!
They spend their money on what and how they see fit! Majority of them don’t see fit to reinvest on their baseball teams! THEN CRY POUR, POUR PITIFUL ME!
PLEASE, don’t fall for it.
No that’s it? Poor leadership is why reds can’t be successful; had nothing to do w votto contract. In fact, if they had more of a winning charisma about them, votto would have put up even better numbers
Says the Dodgers fan
First of all, Joe was the founder of Ameritrade, but he has no voice in running the Cubs. The Cubs owner and CEO is Tom Ricketts. Not sure who you’re talking about. Secondly, what does that have to do with the Reds firing their manager?
We have the poorest owner in sports. If I remember right, the next poorest is 2 or 3 times larger than Castellini.
It’s poor, stupid
Cleveland Milwaukee and Tampa have, combined, 1 world series win since 1954. Theyve had good seasons meshed with horrible ones
If you want to win, stop labeling yourself a small market team and do whatever it takes to win the WS. Stop the “next year and in a few years we’ll be good” talk and be a win now team every year.
SD is not a big market team.
They spent like one under the previous owner (May He Rest In Peace).
I gotta be honest your comments about the manager being the problem is just false. Bell took over a crap team with promise. He had done nothing short of being a steady presence and while he couldn’t squeeze every drop out of this team…. is it really on him. Give me a few bullet points that show he was a problem.
He was not the only issue, but just watching his post game interviews showed his mentality. When people didn’t perform it was always about how they are really good players, just struggling.
No accountability on his end.
Main reason he was let go? Managers are hired to be fired.
I do believe that different leadership may make this team better. But this is a much deeper problem than a manager.
You should try being a White Sox fan to experience real pain.
I can see the inept White Sox Org signing this guy. He cannot manage apparently, but he will be cheap.
He is not that bad…
@brf, The only job in Major League Baseball he could get, is the one he had for past 6 seasons. Terrible hire and even worse keeping him on for 6 seasons. Shows reds have no desire to build a winning franchise
What doesn’t he do well? I’m curious. I think you “fans” just copy and paste each other. GL true Reds fans. Your team will be just fine once the players learn to play. They’re kids. Oh and you might have to sign some ppl. Montas and Candalerio aren’t needle movers if you’re actually trying to contend.
Tell that to MIL, Frankie’s been great!!
You can’t say that yet because you don’t know what’s next. Girifol is out there as a cheap replacement. Be careful what you wish for.
I called it, that Bell would be the fall guy for Krall’s failures.
Bell could only play what management gave him. On the other hand, he played failing players a lot because they hit or pitched a certain way and refused to play younger players in a lot of cases.
As the poster ahead said, you don’t know what’s coming, so wait and see.
You were unhappy with six years of mediocrity?
For Whom The Bell Tolls
Wonder if Rocco Bal-dummy is next.
(In all seriousness, I like how Rocco composes himself as a person, but I think Twins fans are ready to bid adieu to him, too)
The twins are so close to the playoffs why would they fire Rocco?
The 2008 Brewers would probably wonder the same thing.
I read earlier today that the Twins are 12-1 against the White Sox this season. They’re 69-74 against all other teams.
Sure, the Twins might be on the fringe of the playoffs, but they’ve lost 22 of their last 33 games and Rocco continues to mismanage the bullpen (putting in unreliable options in high leverage situations) and platooning guys that don’t need to be.
Us Twins fans have seen enough and think it’s time to see some new blood at the helm of the dugout.
Baldelli is a keeper
It wasn’t Rocco that let Bowman walk (twice) and signed Cole Irvin. It was Falvey. It wasn’t Rocco that sold Danny Coulombe for pennies. It was Falvey. It wasn’t Rocco that gave the Orioles Yennier Cano as a THROW IN with Cade Povich to get Jorge Lopez. It was Falvey.
Wait, time out. I’m an Orioles fan. I’m sure Rocco demanded all of those moves. Falvey just went along. Rocco should be fired and Falvey should get an extension. The Twins need him on the other end of the line when Mike Elias calls.
Falvey is a strong GM. Look at all the young Twins talent. It isn’t his fault ownership made him cut payroll by $30 million last off-season
At least you guys have won a playoff series in the last 30 years
Because the Twins, KC, and Boston let Tampa and Detroit stay in the playoff race….The Twins and Red Sox need better management.
The Twins have been a playoff team for most of the year but are in a downward spiral. Today they are on the outside looking in. A collapse like that could be costly for him.
As a Twins fan, I would love for this to become a reality. Falvey can go as well. Oh, and the Pohlads. Ugh. Just clean house already.
Twins are 42-60 against >.500. At some point it’s either the roster(likely), or the manager (probably).
If you took a poll, I bet most fans would want to fire their manager. A lot of what makes a manager successful is behind closed doors, where the fans can’t see. Communication is a big one. How he interacts with the players and in a lot of cases, he is a puppet for the GM. The front office basically tries to tell the manager what to do by giving him data that says here is what you should do in a given situation. Look, I know it sounded like sour grapes, but Joe Madden was right when he said that they’ve removed the human element from managing a team.
Rocco is great. It’s not his fault ownership made them cut payroll $30 million last off-season.
MNs payroll went from 150% of Cleveland to 120%. Still largest in the division.
120%? Cleveland’s Payroll this year is $107 million (up $15 million from last season); Twins is $131 million. Where are you getting your numbers?
Also Baldelli has won the division 3 out of the 6 years he’s been there.
Neither Rocco or their FO are elite in their field imo, but both are capable. Falvey/Levine have botched a lot of trades but the young core and farm system look good. Rocco does a little too much pinch hitting for my liking and I cringe every time Duran comes in the 8th. Every team goes through some ups and downs in a year. The roster seems to be built for Rocco’s preferred style.
I disagree. The Twins were terrible before Levine came along and Rocco took them to another level (he’s won the division 50% of his seasons). Despite cutting payroll nearly $30 million, losing his staff ace and relying on rookies the Twins still have a good shot at the WC. There are few teams that have a solid of a young core as the Twins do and they have even more on the way. And I’m not even a Twins fan.
RodBecksBurnerAccount;
In those 6 years the ALC was far and away the worst division in MLB. This years improvement is skewed some by the White Sox in the division. The Twins were 12-1 against them.
They did win a playoff series by winning 2 playoff games in 2023. The other 2 years they got swept in the playoffs.
The Twins had to cut payroll due to the Bally financial mess. Other teams in MLB had the same thing happen to them. Only the Twins and their media are moaning about it.
How would you characterize the way they’ve played baseball the last 2 weeks of this season?
I’ll give you this – they can hit (and much better since Derek Shelton left to manage the Pirates).
All good teams typically have a lot of wins vs bad teams and around or below a .500 winning percentage vs good teams.
Yes, I never denied it was in connect to Bally. And that’s BS “only the Twins are moaning about it.” I am a Ranger fan. How do you think Ranger fans feel about having to cut payroll after winning a World Series because of Bally?
Every team in the league has had a bad 2 weeks. They’re 8-11 in September. Their bats have cooled off and the injuries in their rotation have caught up to them. Their rookie pitchers are fading hard.
I disagree with your assessment of Baldelli. I see a lot of bullpen mismanagement with the Twins.
And if their roster is amazing as Twinkie fans say, then they’ve been underperforming.
Yes, when you lose your ace (Joe Ryan), best player (Correa) for half the season, and then have to rely on unproven rookies for 3 spots in the rotation in the second half while you’re trying to make a playoff run you’re going to see regression.
I don’t see Baldelli mismanaging the bullpen. Has the bullpen had to be overused because of the influx of rookie starters in the second half not being able to pitch later in the games? Absolutely. Is that the fault of the manager? No.
Wonder what manager is next to be fired
Toronto, probably. Rockies almost certainly. I don’t see many other obvious situations—we all know Skip Schumacher is going to opt out, so he doesn’t count.
Rockies wouldn’t fire bud black they would make him retire
Imagine if Bud Black ever managed a good team. They’d probably be perennial World Series contenders.
As is, his career record shows he turns bad teams into mediocre ones and mediocre ones into 90 win wild card contenders.
Rockies won’t fire Bud Black because when ownership does nothing to improve the team, year after year, he says nothing. If you’re an ownership happy to make money & lose, a manager who STFU is worth his weight in gold.
They would promote him to AGM.
Rockies are not firing Bud Black. However, Bud Black’s contract is up after this season. So there is the possibility there is a change regardless. Buddy just took over the franchise lead in games played and wins, so he may decide to move on.
Definitely can see Toronto’s manager gone. Rocco Baldelli in Minnesota if he don’t make the playoffs. Atlanta’s manager might be gone, that squad too talented to miss the playoffs completely. I get Philly beating ya but not New York, Arizona, and San Diego too…
One can hope Oli Marmol
I doubt Marmol is on the hot seat. The front office seems to think he’s doing exactly what they want him to do.
As this implies, the real change ought to start higher up. The Cardinals Way has become stale and increasingly ineffective. Time for fresh ideas.
troy
The Cardinals Way works fine; Watch some Padres games.
The Cardinals Way just doesn’t seem to work on making their own hitters except for a couple guys. They need to revise their drafting/international signings concepts when it comes to batters.
Marmol should be fired but the cardinals have gone from a top organization to a bad one with this front office
Flags fly forever replacing the manager of the year now look at where the padres are
I’d like Snitker to be fired, but there is more of a chance of Sparky Anderson rising from the grave to take the Reds job.
What’s wrong with Snitker? It ain’t his fault half of the team is injured and the Mets are somehow good.
He’s a terrible in game manager and that was before the injuries. Now it’s glaring. Constantly leaves the starter in too long. He continuously “goes with his gut” which is 80% of the time wrong. He refuses to shake anything up. I can pick out at least 8 games this season he has screwed up with his mismanagement. Allowing Elder to pitch to Harper in the NLDs last year should have been a fireable offense.
Ah, so typical knee-jerk reactionary nonsense. Any substantial complaints about Snitker?
I just want a good hitting coach for the Bucs. Please Ben.
Sorry, not in the budget.
So he screws up “80% of the time” and you can pick out a whole 8 games the he supposedly messed up. 8 is NOT 80% of 162, just for future math reference.
I cannot stand fans that expect perfection. You will never find a perfect team. Even the Dodgers and Yankees screw up now and then.
And to the two of you saying that fans are demanding perfection or 162-0 – psssh, that’s such BS no one is expecting that. What is being expected is some semblance of actual strategy to maximize wins, especially when your team is depleted by injuries and underperforming players.
Oh and here are some more for you. Him constantly batting Albies 2nd with his career OBP of .322 and free swinging (because he’s a fast middle infielder like it’s 1983) Also, his refusal to move Olson down in the lineup this season when Olson was absolutely dreadful for months. Last year when Murphy was actually playing well he treated him like a back up. Murphy only got regular playing time when Travis went down with a concussion. Then murphy went on a tear. The catcher you got in a big off season trade and then signed to a long extension was barely playing. Also, just for fun look up the game he punted way back in 2021. May 16th vs. Milwaukee. They won the WS in spite of him. You people are clueless
Olson & Arica aren’t hitting. Hitting coach departs, I predict
Snitker? Really? His seat is ice cold. This has to be a joke.
You must not watch Braves games.
Likely more than you. Luckily you’re in the vast minority. His job is safe. Team got crushed by injuries, probably more than any other team this year. The fact they’re even anywhere close to the WC shows he did a pretty dang good job with that roster.
There’s more than just rumblings about Snit being fired. No, it won’t happen b/c of the injuries and a firing wouldn’t be a part of the the Braves Way, but Snit has had more than his fair share of gaffes this season, and the Braves radio are quick to point them out. Some of his bullpen choices have been awful, and though I know that’s a typical gripe about a manager, he likes to go against the data, which doesn’t usually end well. The season was saved by the rotation (mainly, AA’s 2 acquisitions: Sale/Lopez), and thank goodness Schwellenbach stepped up (who had that on their rookie arm breakout on their bingo card)? Regardless of the outcome, I think ’25 is Snit’s last year, when he’ll be 70 y/o.
The point is the Braves should of won 95-100 games easily. They shouldn’t have the Mets, Padres, and Diamondbacks a better record. That team probably has the absolute worst record they possibly can do talentwise….Snitker should lose his job for that kind of underperformance.
Could snit control losing Ronald and strider and Ozzie and Riley? Could he control his entire team except marcell and sale get worse? If you think so, he should be fired but if not shouldn’t
I agree, Snitker underperformed my spring training thoughts by 15 games. Plus AA pulls off the robbery of the year by getting Chris Sale for Vaughn Grissom who now you couldn’t trade for a bag of chips…
Snitker is a good manager. As is Aaron Boone. But every fan wants 162-0, regardless of injuries, etc.
No one can explain why he is a good manager other than he is in charge when they win. I on the other hand can name numerous examples of his incompetence and not just this year.
Just go back to the Phillies game a few weeks ago where he let Morton pitch against the phillies order for the third time while he was at 100 pitches and against Marsh who had beaten him before. Meanwhile, the Braves have one of the least used bullpens in the majors. Bummer has been one of their better pen guys and he hardly gets used. He is on record as saying that he doesn’t go with matchups or who would be great for that spot. He literally tells guys the morning before the game that they’re going to pitch at some point in the game. That is an old outdated Bobby Cox philosophy. That didn’t work well then either. The level of cluelessness in your comments
is hysterical. .
This is totally illogical. No-one can evidence his competence but you “on the other hand” can prove his incompetence?!
PLEASE let the next manager fired be Derek Shelton!!!
I’d give Shelton one more year because he finally has a competitive roster with skenes and jones
No, just no. He’s incompetent
Shelton is so incompetent…he couldn’t manage a cats liter box
Shelton’s problem and there too many to mention, he tries to be a player’s manager and friend and when you are friends with your players, you lack handing out discipline
Please be Derek Shelton.
It won’t be the just (foolishly) extended Alex Cora, but perhaps Boston could throw him in some trade as a garbage type addition on an unsuspecting team, which has swallowed all the hype that has been spouted about him from all the media rubbish printed regarding him over the years??
Which GM’s most badly need a scapegoat to cover for their terrible decisions?
So if you didn’t have Carpal Tunnel you surely do now. Just for stating the obvious longhand and the whole novel has nothing to do with this situation. Feel better? Fact is Bell got an extension and then got fired. He could care less. But Reds fans should because they are already paying a guy NOT to manage the team next year so you know the next guy will be cheap. So you got what you wanted but are you any better off? Stay tuned.
Shelton
Sure hope the next firing is Shelton. Replace him with Indy mgr who has a winning record and bring along his hitting coach.
The other problem with the Pirates other than having a manager who misuses his players and bullpen is a GM who fired Indy’s hitting coach last season after he corrected Hayes’ swing and approach at the plate yet keeps the worst hitting coach in all of baseball employed on the major league team
The Bucs have regressed offensively in each of the past 4 years under Andy Haines and this year they set the all time franchise record in strikeouts for an entire season
Fernando Ringworm Jr.;
One of the best posts I’ve seen in quite a while.
Yeah well you and Samuel both think it’s 3rd grade English class and the number of words matter. The site doesn’t say 300 words or more only that you say it so people understand it. You two phony English teachers need to figure it out. The more times Samuel tells everybody he’s an author, The more he proves he’s not. Nobody has any problem figuring out what I mean.
No. And if you say so you’re a liar. I drove him to the airport for free. And they didn’t trade him because nobody wanted him. So you not only write BS you read BS and make stuff up too. You’re a Fiction Writer.
Man I liked David but it was time for him to go
Yeah, the only time he ever seemed to care was when he was getting ejected… it didn’t feel like he was doing much to light a fire other than that.
They’ve been stuck in this mid to high 70s wins for half a decade now. I’m surprised they pulled the trigger at this moment.
He was a sacrificial lamb to protect the guys higher up the food chain
Don’t even let him finish the season. There’s only 6 games left.
My baseball-loving family members in SW Ohio will be happy to hear this. They were not pleased with his last extension…
The list for Skip Schumaker contenders lengthens…
What’s so special about Schumaker anyways? The Marlins had a decent first half in 2023, but how much is directly attributable to him, and how much is luck and typical new manager bounce?
They had a so-so roster in 2023 and traded away anyone of value in 2024.
Schumaker is a quality baseball man – steeped in The REAL Cardinals Way.
There’s a lot of places Schumaker would go before Cincinnati.
A job also has to be open in those places.
That being said, ownership will be a drawback. Barry Larkin was lobbying for the job on air a few weeks back, I just have a feeling…
Larkin is Reds royalty, fans would be on board if they signed him
At least until they see how he manages. Pete Rose even had his managing criticized. Comes with the territory.
Has he managed before? I know he’s called games as a play by play person but I don’t recall him managing in the majors. He’s worthy enough of a chance, treat him like any other manager.
Not in the majors, but in international competition. That’s not much. He works with young players also.
Organization thanked Bell for his time n energy then unceremoniously kicked em out the door w/wk left … that’s donkey kick to the nads. I rmbr his dad, Buddy playing 3rd for Rangers.
I also remember his dad managing some losing Rockies teams and getting fired.
Maybe the Reds should see if Clint Hurdle is available.
That’s all they need, beanball wars.
Nah, Hurdle is a re-tread, do something different….Personally I think the youth on the Reds would listen to Ken Griffey Jr….He’s still on payroll for 3 million a year for a couple more years.
I remember his grandfather starring for the Reds and playing for the 1962 Mets who are probably not going to be as famous now that the White Sox are approaching the all-time loss record.
How does he have 2 months left to go on expiring the previous deal if the extension covered 2024 and 2025 and 2026? It doesn’t make sense.
I was wondering about this myself.
It’s not very clearly written, but the 2 months is how close he was to his contract expiring before they finally gave him the extension.
He signed the extension in July 2023 for ’24-’26.
In a results oriented league, losing more than you win over 6 years, gets you fired.
Well it’s obvious that the Pirates aren’t results oriented.
They are, just not using wins and losses as the results they measure. It’s all about those revenue sharing checks in Pittsburgh.
Why with 1 week left? Pointless.
It fit the owners schedule most likely, or they’re on the road to finish the season.
Praise Jesus! It’s about time. Now send Kroll packing as well and any other remnant of the Dick Williams clown show and tabula rosa!, clean slate. Go hire proven leadership with a winning resume no matter the cost. Resurrect this once great franchise from the pit of irrelevancy and restore it to all its former glory, forever and ever amen ..
There’s always hope lol
Reds need to fire their full medical staff and player development staff next. Then krall can resign
White Sox Hire David Bell
He is already used to managing for a penny pinching miser, so he has that going for him, and if you keep the expectations to a minimum you won’t be disappointed
The White Sox job is an entry level position, what the manager does won’t matter they will still suck. So I say just keep Sizemore and see if ya see improvement…. Save money until a manager will make a difference….
Schneider is probably next. Schumaker is just a formality. I wonder if the Red Sox knew that the team would completely peter out in August if they would still give Cora an extension.
Rsox—Cora never should have been extended. He should be shown the door. This is a guy who lets his starters go no more than five innings and burns out the bullpen arms by the All Star Break. He does it every year. He is totally clueless as to how to manage the pitching staff.
Cora struggles managing 162 games, but if ya happen to survive a cooked bullpen he is a decent post-season manager. He manages as if every game is game 7 which is different. Everyone in the rotation had a career load in innings pitched this year it seemed. Houck notably hit a wall….Boston needs a #1 and #2 who can go 180+ innings a season.
Iy wasn’t long ago (April) that the REDS fans were wanting to trade from their enormous depth of infielders and hoping to bring in every all-star under the sun. That they didn’t have enough playing time for them all. And that the signing of Jeimer Candelario was the icing on the cake. Whoops…
Terry Francona
At the very least, call Tito. He might at least give a good recommendation of someone unexpected.
Fine by me. His teams are always poor at basic execution, never good defensively , make way to many base running mistakes over and over, and that has to be placed on somebody. Shumaker would be just fine with me.
Ron Washington
Reds are one of those cases where its the ones that can’t be fired which are the ones that will have to change for them to compete. As long as Castellini is at the top of that FO pyramid, I truly believe that the results on the field will not change much.
Rockies and Angels also come to mind.
White Sox and A’s.
I clown on the White Sox as much as anyone. But at least those 2 have made the postseason in the ’20s decade without the need for expanded playoffs.
Don’t get it, it’s not like he had a great contending team to manage. I think he got the most out of what he had.
Simple. Fall guy for incompetent management.
Fall guy for injuries is more like it.
good teams can overcome injuries by having depth in the minors
Reds had to lead league in injuries. They are surely a contender. If rays or dodgers management team controlled this roster- it would surely make playoffs
If you watched the Reds at all you know there was all sorts of problems with the management. Reds ran into more outs than anyone, had the worst defense in MLB and Bell refused to bench guys that suck. Bell repeatedly played Marte at 3B and Espinal at DH AT THE SAME TIME. Put the defensive specialist at DH and the god awful fielder at 3B. He also never ever let his bullpen feel comfortable in a role and yanked them around left and right. He was a very bad manager.
Continually played Benson, pulled starters too soon, never had a consistent batting order…just a disaster overall
Chris Sabo
They were never going to do well with their constant payroll slashing
Good riddance !
Don Mattingly?
Isn’t there another Bell left in the family that can manage?
If not, try one of the younger members of the Boone clan.
He got his Bell rung?
He got the Gong
Reds have a surplus of middling infielders that should produce some decent trade for pitchers.
This seems to be a front office issue with the team – they need some coaches to help team be more selective at the plate and need to get more depth at SP/RP.
They are not far off from being a contender – I point to front office they better plug the holes in the offseason cause no manager is going to turn them around enough without it.
I have never understood firing someone in the last week of the season. I get firings from May-July or even August because there is precedence that turnarounds can happen under new management. But if Connie Mack came back from the grave to manage the Reds this week, they still aren’t going to the postseason. So what is the point?
Gives the interim manager an audition whilr
E leading a coaching staff. Players get the opportunity to speak freely with the old manager out of the clubhouse. I think there’s merit for the firing now.
They can get a head start on the hiring process, including interviewing candidates.
Skip Schumaker is on the Reds radar for sure. Once the Marlins season ends, within hours he’s going to get a call from the Reds. Kind of like what the Tigers did with AJ Hunch a few years back when his suspension got lifted when the world series ended. So the Reds had to get Bell out of the picture. Good luck to Bell I guess. He was better than Bryan Price but he had to go.
I am not saying Bell shouldn’t be fired. I thought he should have been canned in 2022. But why not just wait until the season is over. Especially since Schumaker won’t be available until then anyway. Who knows? Maybe they asked him if he wanted to finish out the year and he declined. Otherwise it just makes no sense to me.
They just played their last home game of the season, and the result was their 81st loss. Which now guarantees they won’t finish above .500. The timing makes sense.
The point is to prep the players and anticipate a change. Day one isn’t next year, it’s now.
Ok the pirates are up next .bye bye Shelton
Pirates need to sign some quality free agents. Their pitching and pitching prospects are top notch !
or at the very least, Andy Haines
They need to fire shapiro and atkins in Toronto….their
time is way past it’s due date…..
Observing the team from afar, I have always thought Bell said the right things in his postgame interviews. Always stuck up for his players and seemed to emphasize the right things and identify where they failed. Comes from a good baseball family going back to grandpa Gus Bell. So he should know the game. Not sure why there is so much animosity towards him from the fans. Seemed to be a player’s coach as well. Well, onwards, I guess.
a manager can only do so much with the talent he has to work with and has a supporting staff that that should get their share of the blame too
They should ask Phil Castellini “Who are you going to go to?”
Nick Krall should be announcing his own termination. What a chump.
It will be interesting to see what coaches are sent packing at season end too.
Bye bye Shelton goodbye
You manage like a stooge with a face full of pie
Bye bye Shelton goodbye
It’s time for you to go good bye
You were a big part of Nutjob Nuttings BIG LIE
Bye bye Shelton goodbye
It’s time to get a job wearing a necktie
AND MAKE IT TIGHT and Cooke like you did managing the pirates
Prodigal son….Pete Rose.
People are hating on him. He was not bad if you look at the talent that the reds had. They need to rebuild the front office, not the team/manager.
I haven’t followed the Red as closely as I’d like, but hey Reds’ fans: How do you expect to win when so many of your best players were hurt? I’ll add that I thought signing Candelario was a waste of cash….
Hey Reds I will send Brendon Hyde your way
I want to help you all out!!!
Just in time for them to hire Joey Votto to manage the club
They love hiring internally so why not ??
A very, very long due decision. In my opinion, should have been done right after the 2022 season and before the three-year extension. The new skipper could have worked from the beginning with the new crop of players.
Reds roster and farm is loaded with young talent. Time to bring in a leadership group that has a winning mentality, and then can develop the talent while keeping them healthy
What roster is that? It’s certainly not at Louisville or Chattanooga.
A combination of the whole organization. There’s more than enough talent to win 90 games or more at the mlb level. Management just has always had a loosing ora from top to bottom. Then these same players go to better organization and have more success. Look at India and Lodolo for example. Two premier talents that still can’t put it together bc they can’t stay healthy nor consistent. Thats an internal issue of loosing mentality, poor injury prevention and poor player development
Who? What talent? There is no premium talent hiding in the shadows in the minors.
Wasn’t Bell’s fault the Reds could’t compete this season, but it sure feels right to see him thrown under the bus. Lookig forward to seeing Benevidas’ lineup over the next week.
He was terrible. Terrible manager that has lost at every level he has managed.
We can only hope that Shelton is next.
David Bell made the team’s overall win% decline during his tenure with the club. When he started, the club’s all-time win% was .505 but that number dropped to .504. The guy liked challenges but was not good at it, only successful about 46% of the time.
As for managerial tendencies, he was about 20% more likely to steal 2nd base than the league average. And he was about 60% likely to steal 3rd base. He was not a Sac Bunt guy, being 17% below league average. He was slightly below league average for IBBs and was on-par with league average for substituting the pitcher.
Braves going to fire a hitting coach. Can’t see them standing pat with that team.
They can have Pat the Bat.
Nick Krall should be terminated also. He was unable to pull any big trades the past three years at the trade deadline
I don’t thing he even tried. The Reds needed reinforcements at the 2023 deadline and he just sat on his hands. What a joke..
Despite telling Reds’ fans “We’re buying the Reds to win. Anything else is unacceptable, ” the Reds have the 22nd most wins during his ownership (record: 1,193–1,297), five winning seasons (tied for 22nd in the league), and are one of only seven teams to fail to make their league’s championship series.
Bell was here for six years and given a contract extension for three this year. How is that possible if he was so bad or not right for this kind of team? Who do we blame? The guy who cashed the paychecks or the guys who signed the paychecks? (hint, see above stats)
So does bell get paid out his whole contract?
Hopefully it’s not mark de Rosa.
A
Consistency out coached, sat hot bats playing the lefty righty theory without fail, played Benson every day because the metrics said his bat speed was a better option and gave up on guys too soon because of it and endless questionable bullpen moves. It was time.
Good riddance
I am not convinced a manager makes any difference at all in the outcome of a season. There is no quantifiable measure of a manager’s impact on the team’s record. I think it’s very easy for fans (especially those who have lost their gratitude for the team and/or the game itself) to micro analyze every decision, but it’s ultimately up to the players to perform. The manager will never once bat, pitch or field. When the talent level just isn’t there, there’s simply no way for the team to win.
Then why have one. They absolutely matter my friend.
One of the worst (if not the worst) managers in franchise history. Even his minor league record woth the team is an alltimer in terms of futility. Bad hire, bad manager. Great family, bad hire. Reds fans forget what winning baseball looks like and thats the saddest part. People defending him as if 6 full seasons wasnt enough.
“ Krall has done well in reloading the organization with premium prospect talent”
Haha name a few then. Major steps backwards for the “prospects” Krall aquired.