There was certainly no shortage of significant sports news coming out of Cincinnati during the past week.
It was announced late Sunday night that the Cincinnati Reds were parting ways with manager David Bell. That bit of news brought joy to many long-suffering fans of the underperforming franchise. However, merely changing managers will not make the team a contender.
The next evening, sports fans in the Queen City turned their attention to the Cincinnati Bengals, who were expected to pick up their first win of the young season, and begin a quest for the playoffs. Who Dey Nation was counting on what many felt would be a certain victory to turn things around for the notoriously slow-starting Men in Stripes. Instead, the fans’ hopes were dashed by the upstart Washington Commanders.
Following are a few thoughts on both of these subjects:
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BELL GIVEN HIS WALKING PAPERS – An ever-growing segment of Cincinnati Reds fans got the news they’ve been dying to hear. The team’s president of baseball operations, Nick Krall, made the decision to fire manager David Bell. Krall undoubtedly had the support of his superiors, who just last year extended Bell’s contract through the 2026 season.
During last year’s season of hope, Reds management was so happy with Bell they signed him through 2026, but this season has turned out to be what Reds fans have grown to expect for the better part of the last three decades or so: frustration, disappointment and failure.
All of the blame does not fall on Bell, but firing the manager when things don’t go well is a baseball tradition. After all, as the old saying goes, you can’t fire the entire roster, so the manager becomes the scapegoat.
Bell does deserve some of the blame. The Reds committed too many physical and mental errors to put together anything close to resembling a consistent season. Some of his lineup decisions were head-scratching throughout his losing tenure, and many felt he relied on analytics a bit too much. Bell was also criticized for how he used his bullpen, but every manager in the game gets second-guessed for those types of decisions.
The Reds suffered key injuries and those have been well-documented, so it isn’t necessary to rehash that unfortunate reality. It is a fact that every team suffers injuries, but the depth of the Reds roster had a difficult time making up for the loss of potential contributors.
That is where the front office comes in, and as I’ve likely said too many times, their personnel decisions are the primary reason for the club’s failures. Bell could only do
his best with the players he had to work with, and despite what some of the Reds faithful may believe, this is far from a talented, contending club.
The Reds did not improve the team during the offseason a year ago, and it’s hard to have a lot of faith they will rectify that during the upcoming offseason. This ownership group is simply not invested in winning, and they seem to believe that a .500 record is good enough. After all, as Reds CEO Phil Castellini proclaimed in his usual condescending fashion, “Where ya gonna go?”
It is obvious to even a casual observer that the construction of the roster was not built for sustained success. The Reds play in one of the most home run friendly parks in MLB, but Krall and his associates have whiffed on acquiring power hitters. Instead, they signed Jeimer Candelario. The team also needs proven veteran starting pitchers, but instead, they brought in Frankie Montas, since dealt away to the Brewers. There were clearly better options, and the cost would have been similar, but Krall appears to be almost clueless when it comes to evaluating talent.
In fairness to Krall, his hands are tied because of the payroll, which is never going to come close to large-market teams. But if smaller market teams such as Milwaukee, St. Louis, San Diego, and Kansas City can enjoy success, there’s no excuse for Cincinnati continuing
to struggle year after year. The Reds need to emulate the Brewers, who continue to make excellent baseball decisions, and change the culture of the franchise. That would likely require the team being sold however, and as long as the Castellinis are raking in the dough, that ain’t gonna happen.
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GOOD LUCK TO THE NEW REDS MANAGER – Speculation is running rampant on who will be Bell’s replacement.
An initial report said the team’s top choice is Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, who was the 2023 National League Manager of the Year after leading the team to a surprising postseason appearance. Things have deteriorated this year in Miami after the team got off to a rough start, and the organization again held a fire sale. The result made Shumaker’s chances of having any success impossible.
The former Reds utility outfielder could be a good choice, despite what occurred this season. But you have to believe if the St. Louis Cardinals decide to fire current skipper Oliver Marmol, Schumaker will likely be heading to St. Louis. You couldn’t blame him if he does; he will likely make significantly more money and have a more competent front office in the Cardinals organization.
Others being mentioned for the position include former Cubs manager David Ross, Reds Hall of Famer Barry
Larkin, former Seattle manager Scott Servais, Washington Nationals bench coach Miguel Cairo, Texas Rangers associate manager Will Venable and others.
Whoever accepts the job has his work cut out. Reds management will have to make some positive moves in the offseason and spend wisely for a change.
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0-3 START WILL BE HARD TO OVERCOME – Hopes were sky-high entering the season for the Cincinnati Bengals, but that balloon is about to burst. After writing about the Reds’ failures and frustrations, it gives this guy no joy in writing about the rough start being endured by their neighbors at Paycor Stadium.
The Bengals have several issues, especially on the defensive side of the ball, and those will be challenging to fix at this point. The line play has been disappointing with little pressure being applied, the overall tackling is abysmal, and the secondary has trouble covering receivers. The defense also has a tendency to make rookie quarterbacks look like instant hall of famers, with the latest example occurring on Monday Night Football, when Commanders QB Jayden Daniels calmly and precisely carved up the Bengals porous defense. Last year, it was CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans winning at Paycor 30-27 in Week 10.
Daniels’ performance was even more impressive, even though Stroud threw for 356 yards on 23-39 attempts. The 2023 Heisman Trophy Award winner from LSU displayed the poise of a veteran while setting an NFL rookie record by completing 21-23 passes for 254 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He added 39 key yards and a score on the ground. Daniels led an offense that picked up critical third and fourth downs the entire game, causing many of the Black and Orange faithful to loudly boo their defensive unit.
The dagger with 2:10 remaining to give the Commanders a 38-26 lead was truly a thing of beauty. While being heavily pressured, Daniels still lofted a perfect pass to veteran wideout Terry McLaurin for a 27-yard strike in the back corner of the end zone. The pass capped off a 12-play, 70-yard drive that lasted for more than seven minutes at a critical stage of the game.
The night got off to a good start for the home team, after Joe Burrow launched a perfect TD pass to Ja’Marr Chase on the opening drive. The duo went on to have outstanding numbers – Burrow was 29-38 with 324 yards and three scores, and Chase finished with six catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns — but it wasn’t enough.
Daniels and company answered by scoring on every possession they had, and five touchdowns and a field
goal were too much for even an impressive offense to overcome.
Why?
The simple answer is that the Cincinnati defense couldn’t get the Commanders off the field. There were no turnovers or punts for either team, but Washington got the big plays when they were needed the most.
Being 0-3 means a trip to the postseason is unlikely for the Bengals, despite having 14 games remaining on the schedule. They likely need at least nine or 10 wins, beginning at Carolina on Sunday against Andy Dalton and the Panthers. If the defense doesn’t greatly improve, there’s not a lot of hope for making the playoffs, no matter how many points the talented offense produces.
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“I never blame myself when I’m not hitting. I just blame the bat and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn’t my fault that I’m not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?” – Yogi Berra
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“The more things are forbidden, the more popular they become.” — Mark Twain