Today: The Reds made things official on Friday morning, confirming they signed Francona to a three-year contract with a team option for the 2028 season. October 3: The Reds are hiring Terry Francona as their next manager, per a report from . The club has not yet confirmed the news, but Feinsand indicates an announcement is expected as soon as tomorrow. Per , Franconas contract is a three-year deal. Francona, 65, is among the most decorated managers in the leagues recent history. After a four-year stint managing the Phillies in the late 90s, Francona joined the Red Sox as manager prior to the 2004 season and piloted the club to their curse-breaking World Series championship in 2004. He went on to spend eight seasons in Boston, making the postseason in five of those years (including another World Series championship in 2007) while never posting a below-.500 season. He parted ways with the Red Sox prior to the 2011 season, however, and spent the next year away from managing with four top-5 finishes in AL Manager of the Year voting to his name in addition to a pair of World Series rings. He returned to managing just a year after departing Boston, Derrick Walton Jersey however, and spent the next 11 seasons in Cleveland. Franconas tenure with the club was nothing short of magnificent, as he piloted the small-market franchise into consistent contention despite considerable payroll restrictions. During Franconas tenure as manager, Cleveland enjoyed postseason baseball in six seasons while rattling off eight consecutive winning seasons and even reaching Game 7 of the World Series in 2016. While the club ultimately fell to the Cubs in extra innings and was unable to capture another AL pennant during Franconas tenure, their 2017 campaign was almost as impre sive in some ways as Francona led them through a 22-game win streak thats the longest in AL history and second only to the 1916 New York Giants 26-game win streak in MLB history. Franconas 11 seasons with Cleveland saw him win three Manager of the Year awards as he captured the honor in 2013, 2016, and most recently in 2022 when he piloted the Guardians to an unlikely AL Central division title and within one game of the clubs first ALCS since 2016. Franconas time with the Guardians came to an end when he following the 2023 season amid long-standing health i sues. At the time of his departure from the managers chair, Francona indicated to reporters ( ) that his priority for 2024 was to go home and get healthy and see what I mi s about the game. Clearly, the veteran skipper has decided that he mi ses being at the helm of a big league dugout as he will now return to Ohio as manager of the Reds, his first NL job since departing the Phillies in 2000. He joins up with Cincinnati following a disappointing season that saw the club take a step back from last years 82-80 effort with a 77-85 season despite major breakouts for both star shortstop and hard-throwing righty . Injuries to key pieces like and likely played a role in the clubs struggles but whatever hopes the club may have for health-related improvement next year wasnt enough to convince the front office to retain , who mi sed the playoffs in five of his six seasons with the Reds. The clubs managerial search included younger names such as former Cubs skipper and departing Marlins manager , but the Reds will instead lean on Franconas decades of experience in order to turn things around for the organization. With Francona now in place, the Reds have now addre sed perhaps the biggest question mark facing them this winter as they look towards the offseason with plenty of other hurdles that will need to be addre sed. Chief among those could be their TV revenue situation, as Diamond Sports is planning to cut ties with the club, which could leave their financial picture uncertain headed into 2025. Thats a frustrating situation for any club, but perhaps especially for a Reds team that already runs among the leagues lower payrolls and figures to lose to the open market later this winter on the heels of an excellent 2024 campaign that saw him help shore up both the clubs rotation and bullpen throughout the year. Ryan Broekhoff Jersey