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Subject: Terry Francona's Cincinnati Reds honeymoon didn't last long
Message: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. Tito has not twisted the dials in 10 games worth a crud. Too much hype for him and the talent (the Reds have). Simply horrible ownership.
Message: If you see any difference between this year and last year other than starting pitchers let us know. Sloppy base running. Home run or nothing hitting. Losing one-run games. The usual comments: “It's early. Long season. Playing hard. We know we're better,” etc. Bottom line no additions to the offense, so same old same old.
Response: These are just a sampling of the many emails from angry Reds fans.
Yeah, it’s early. And under many circumstances, Terry Francona and this team should deserve fans' patience and understanding.
Forget that. Fans have every right to be ticked off. This 4-7 start – accompanied by some of the same Little League mistakes that doomed the 2024 Reds and cost David Bell his job – is flat out unacceptable.
The Reds fired Bell because they said this type of play wouldn't be tolerated. The Reds sent a statement with Bell's firing and then Tito's hiring that it's time to play the game the right way and win. The Reds tried to tell their fans that they, too, were fed up with not winning a playoff series since 1995.
And then ownership did nothing to improve the hitting and fielding.
The words and the actions don't align. It's been the story of the last two Reds owners. Look at this roster. Jake Fraley. Jeimer Candelario. Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Not much about this roster says the Reds are bringing "championship baseball back to Cincinnati" anytime soon.
The only significant move the Reds made in the offseason was retaining Nick Martinez, who was Cincinnati's best pitcher down the stretch last season. And if the Reds didn't face such an early deadline on Martinez's qualifying offer, they may not have kept him. That move was made before baseball operations head Nick Krall received his 2025 player payroll budget.
I wrote at the time of Bell's firing that he wasn't the problem. He was made the scapegoat. People inside the Reds organization and even other media folks tried to convince me otherwise.
Too many people, both inside and outside the organization, got caught up in the Tito hype. They bought into the narrative that he was the Reds’ savior; that he was all this young club needed to make the playoffs. I found myself getting caught up in it at times. My bad.
The manager can only do so much, whether he's heading to the Hall of Fame or not. How many times have you heard that since Davey Johnson left town after that 1995 NLCS debacle against Atlanta?
The Reds failed in the offseason to provide Tito with a big-league outfield. The organization didn't go get a run-producing, big-league third baseman. The Reds had a chance to get Gold Glove third baseman Alex Bregman, a two-time World Series champion and two-time All-Star.
They passed.
It's certainly not time to hit the panic button. The Reds have pitching, so they should be competitive. But Reds fans don't want to hear that. Who can blame them? Two generations of Reds fans have been repeatedly told the club is supposed to be competitive.
Well, no one remembers a competitive team.
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Terry Francona's Cincinnati Reds honeymoon is over amid slow start
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