The Cincinnati Reds announced on Sunday night that they fired manager David Bell with five games left in their season. Bell was nearing the end of his sixth season at the helm in Cincinnati. Despite the Reds’ run of mediocrity in recent years, the move still comes as somewhat of a surprise. Just over a year ago, the team signed Bell to an extension to keep him on as manager through the 2026 season.
#Reds fire David Bell pic.twitter.com/VO390Gznct
— LanceMcAlister (@LanceMcAlister) September 23, 2024
David Bell Fired as Reds Manager
Coming from a long line of major leaguers, much like New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, Bell is the son of former player and manager Buddy Bell, and the grandson of Gus Bell. His brother Mike Bell also had a brief stint in the majors. Bell’s brother, father, and grandfather all played for the Reds at one point or another, but he never did in his 12-year playing career.
Bell was hired as Reds manager before the 2019 season. While the Reds finished over .500 in three of those seasons (2020-21, 2023), they only made the postseason once in his tenure, in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. That resulted in a two-game sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves in the National League Wild Card Series. Across six seasons, Bell compiled a 409-456 record at the helm, a .473 winning percentage.
Going into this season, Cincinnati was considered a possible dark horse as a postseason contender. Largely thanks to a solid offense, they have a run differential of +14 with five games left. But with a 76-81 record, the front office ultimately decided the franchise needed a new skipper moving forward.
Reds President of Baseball Operations Nick Krall will be available to the media Monday morning to go into further detail on the move. Bench coach Freddie Benavides will take over as interim manager for the last five games of 2024.
Photo Credit: © Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
