Three Qualities the Next Cincinnati Reds Manager Must Have

The Cincinnati Reds fired manager David Bell, kicking off their offseason to-do list early.

There are three qualities the next manager must have:

Accountability

This may seem like a “no duh” idea, but it really seemed to be lacking in the Reds clubhouse in 2024. Bell was known as a player manager. Another way to describe that kind of manager is “hands off.” Do the Reds need a micro-manager? No. But they do need someone who will call out the flaws and help coach a player in a different direction if what he is doing isn’t working. It seemed like the majority of messages Bell had was “keep working at it and it will be fixed.” At least that is what he said in press conferences. The Reds need a new voice of someone who will fix consistent problems with on-field performance.

Transparency

Baseball fans have more information at their fingertips than ever before. They have many ways to consume a game and many angles with which to view a game. The average fan can be a much smarter fan than in year’s past. The next manager needs to understand this and not try to feed us narratives that ignore the questions surrounding a player/game/performance. Basically, cut the crud and be real with the fan base.

Adaptability

I mentioned this in the accountability point, but it felt as though there were certain philosophies and certain strategies that the Reds employed and never tweaked. The base running philosophy was torn apart by good teams, yet the Reds kept trying it. The contact play got them into trouble more times that it got them out of trouble. Bell’s answer on most of those was something to effect of “that’s just who we are and it’s what we do.” There is talent on this team, but it felt like it was left to its own devices, mostly. The Brewers, Royals, Tigers, and Guardians are all midwestern teams in smaller markets that seemingly have much better teams than the Reds. Talent-wise it may be close, but how that talent is employed is where the vast differences lie.

Ultimately it felt as though Bell was not going to get the best out of the players on this team. That cannot be the ultimate feeling for the next manager.