The Cincinnati Reds came into 2024 with heightened expectations. When those heightened expectations weren't met, it was somebody had to pay the price.
A year after debuting several young stars, the Reds were primed to compete for the playoffs in 2024, especially in a down year for the National League Central. But with a week to go in the regular season, Cincinnati has already been eliminated from playoff contention.
The Reds are 76-81 as of Sunday night. They were shut out by the Pittsburgh Pirates and rookie ace Paul Skenes earlier in the day. And in the evening, they decided to make a substantial organizational change.
Cincinnati announced that it was firing manager David Bell after six seasons with the club. Bell compiled a 409-455 record during his managerial tenure, but never made the playoffs outside of the COVID postseason of 2020, when his team was swept by the Atlanta Braves.
“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,” Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall said in a statement.
The move may not have been a surprise based on the Reds' results on the field this season, but it was a sharp change of direction from last summer. On Jul. 28, 2023, they signed Bell to an extension through the end of the 2026 season,
With talented stars such as Elly De La Cruz, Hunter Greene, and (hopefully) a healthy Matt McLain at their disposal in 2025, the Reds could once again be seen as a team on the rise.
Moving on from Bell was a statement that the expectations in Cincinnati are to challenge for October. We'll see a year from now whether those expectations prove prescient.
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