'It just felt right': Francona has high energy, expectations for Reds

Slimmed down and refreshed from a year in retirement from managing, Terry Francona didn't know if he wanted to do the job again.

In need of a new skipper, the Reds didn't know if they could get Francona to join the club.

Both sides got their answers rather quickly once president of baseball operations Nick Krall and general manager Brad Meador visited Francona at his home in Tucson, Ariz., last week and they spoke for around five hours.

“My palms were sweating. I wanted to put my uniform on. It just felt right," Francona said.

The Reds introduced Francona as their new manager at a press conference on Monday at Great American Ball Park. The three-time Manager of the Year winner, a likely Hall of Famer and two-time World Series-winning skipper, was ready to move quickly to lead Cincinnati and get the most out of its players.

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Francona, 65, has already reached out to every player on the roster and members of the coaching and support staff. He has a three-year contract through 2027 with a club option for ‘28.

Although known as a players' manager with a positive attitude, Francona also planned to set expectations for accountability that was viewed as missing under predecessor David Bell.

“I firmly believe that players enjoy being coached, as long as there is always a solid reason and you’re ultra organized. And that we will be," Francona said. "My promise to the organization and to the fans is I will spend all my energy ensuring they spend all of their energy trying to play the game correctly and with respect.”

With 23 seasons of managerial experience with Philadelphia (1997-2000), Boston (2004-11) and Cleveland (2013-23), Francona's teams have reached the postseason 11 times -- including three World Series.

But health issues began piling up in recent years with the Guardians, forcing Francona to step down after the '23 season. He felt his irritability and impatience from not feeling well was a sign that it was time to go.

"I didn’t step away because I didn’t love the game," Francona said. "I stepped away because I didn’t think I was doing the job up to the caliber I thought was necessary.

“A lot of it was health. And it was getting in the way.”

After the Reds dismissed Bell on Sept. 22, Krall and Meador started assembling a list of managerial candidates and spent time talking to the players individually during the final road trip at Cleveland and Chicago.

Meador spoke to several people in Cleveland, where Francona still had a front-office advisory role, and his name quickly separated from the pack at the top of the list. Krall asked Marty Brennaman, the Reds’ former broadcasting icon and a good friend of Francona's, to help connect them.

Krall found Francona was interested. He and Meador decided to fly to Tucson right after the season to talk in person.

“When we sat down and started talking, it just seemed really natural," Krall said. "Great conversation right from the beginning and I felt good almost out of the chute. When Terry started using, ‘We, we, we,’ in the conversation, I was like, ‘We’re on the same page here.’ We walked out of there and it was a similar feeling right out of the gate.”

Said Francona: "They were sitting on my couch and my couch is broken. Nick was sinking down in the couch. It just felt good. The last 11 years for me in Cleveland, I loved the people that I worked with. And these guys reminded me so much of them that it just felt comfortable right away.”

The elephant in the room, of course, was would Francona be healthy enough to withstand the grind of managing again?

“The more he talked, the more he got on the edge of his seat, the more you could see, ‘OK, this guy is ready to manage again.’ That took that question out of it," Meador said. "We talked about health. He did offer to jump up and do jumping jacks if we needed him to.”

“Thank God, they didn’t ask me to do that," Francona interjected.

On Thursday, the Reds closed the deal. Francona then started calling the players and got even more excited.

“And this is a week after a long season. I had to remind myself that," Francona said. "I’m all wound up and ready to go right now. These guys just got done playing a long year. And they were terrific to a person.”

By February at Spring Training in Goodyear, Ariz., it will be time to get to work on the field. The Reds have not won a World Series since 1990 and haven't won a playoff series since ‘95.

Excluding the 2020 pandemic-shortened year, they haven't reached the playoffs during a full season since 2013.

After a surprising season of contending in ‘23 with a young roster amid a quick rebuild, the club disappointed in ‘24 under Bell while going 77-85.

Francona was brought in with an expectation of contending immediately with a young roster that features All-Stars like Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Greene, along with Matt McLain, Jonathan India, Tyler Stephenson and Spencer Steer.

“One of my biggest goals is to have our players feel like they’re cared for more than ever before, but at the same time, asking more of them on the field than has ever been done before," Francona said. "We need to find ways to value what it takes to be successful and win more than every other team we play against.”