Terry

Francona

Murphy received 27 of 30 first-place votes, with Terry Francona and Rob Thomson collecting the remaining three to finish second and third, respectively. The Brewers’ skipper earns the honor for the second straight year after guiding Milwaukee to an impressive 97-win campaign. He’s gone 190-134 (.586) during his two seasons at the helm. He’s just the third manager to take home the honor in back-to-back seasons since 1983, joining Bobby Cox and Kevin Cash.

It’s shaping up to be one of the tighter races in recent memory, with Francona appearing to hold a slight edge after guiding Cincinnati back to the postseason for just the second time since 2013. Murphy will look to capture the honor for the second straight season after leading the Brewers to a 97-win campaign. Thomson guided the Phillies to 96 wins and an NL East crown in his fourth season at the helm, yet has never finished higher than fifth in voting despite consistent success. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, November 11.

Francona is just the 13th manager in MLB history to earn 2,000 wins as a manager. He has the Reds over .500 and within three games of a playoff spot in his first season with the team. Congrats to Tito on the milestone.

It sounds like several Reds’ players are dealing with the same thing, so it’ll be interesting to see their lineup once it’s finally released. Reds’ general manager Nick Krall did tell reporters that they had enough players to play on Friday night, so that’s encouraging at least.

Francona was reported as Reds manager back on October 3rd but we now have the details of the contract, and the move became official with a press conference on Monday. The 65-year-old Francona stepped down as Guardians manager after the 2023 season but returns to the dugout after missing just one year. He has a 1950-1672 career record while managing just three teams over a 23-year career, which is a nice change for the Reds since they went .409-.456 in six years with David Bell as manager and never finished above third-place in the NL Central.

Francona took 2024 off after 11 years managing the Guardians. The Reds will be his fourth stop as a manager. Francona takes a 1950-1672 career record, two World Series and three Manager of the Year awards to Cincinnati.

The 64-year-old Francona didn’t say he was retiring; while he has no plans to manage again, he didn’t want to rule it out completely. Francona spent 23 years managing Philadelphia, Boston and Cleveland, amassing a 1,950-1,672 record and winning two World Series with the Red Sox.

Francona has dealt with numerous health issues the past few years and appears poised to step away after 11 years at the helm for Cleveland. He also spent eight years with the Red Sox, guiding the franchise to their first two World Series titles in 2004 and 2007. If this is truly his last season, he still has a few weeks left to get the Guardians back into the postseason for one more shot at the organization’s first World Series title.

Great news. Francona missed three games after feeling lightheaded on Tuesday and being advised to rest, but he’s ready to return to the dugout. Bench coach DeMarlo Hale has been filling in as manager during his absence.

Francona was hospitalized on Tuesday to undergo some additional testing, which fortunately came back normal, and is expected to return to Cleveland’s dugout at some point later this week.