Reporter makes Pirates fans feel a lot better about possible Terry Francona miss

After a fifth straight losing campaign with Ben Cherington and Derek Shelton at the helm of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the former committed to bringing back the latter for season number six in 2025. That decision aged like milk when Shelton was canned earlier this month.

Meanwhile, one state over, the Cincinnati Reds fired manager David Bell in the final week of the 2024 season (after a loss to the Pirates, no less) and hired his replacement back in October – and exceptionally good one at that.

The Reds hired future Hall of Fame manager Terry Francona, who resurrected the small-market Cleveland Guardians from the depths of irrelevance in the 2010s and made them consistently competitive despite their significant payroll limitations. (Sound familiar, Pittsburgh?)

Naturally, it reflected poorly on the Pirates when the small-market Reds managed to bring Francona, a Western Pennsylvania native, out of retirement. If he was available for hire, shouldn't the Pirates have given him a call?

As it turns out, even if they had, it probably wouldn't have mattered.

Reporter makes Pirates fans feel a lot better about possible Terry Francona miss

According to Will Graves of the Associated Press (via the "Mike Drop" podcast hosted by Mike J. Asti), a "very reliable source" told him that Francona would "never" work for Pirates owner Bob Nutting. It's not hard to see why.

The Pirates are losing baseball games like it's their job. Then again, you get what you pay for, and one quick look at this team's payroll tells us that Nutting is paying just enough to field a last-place team.

Even considering the frequency with which the Pirates lose, some losses sting more than others. Take, for example, Monday's 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Francona's Reds. Sure, losing to a division rival always hurts – but let's be honest, no one in the National League Central is looking at the Pirates as a "rival."

Monday's loss was a stinger for plenty of reasons – a wasted start by Mitch Keller, defensive miscues and yet another bullpen meltdown, to name a few. But what stands out about this loss is that it came against a fellow small market team that actually, you know, tries to win games.

This is not to imply that the players on the Pirates' roster want to win any less than the Reds players do. The difference between these two teams lies with the decision makers at the top, starting with ownership. The Reds, like the Pirates, rank in the bottom-third in the league in total payroll; unlike the Pirates, though, they are over .500, due in large part to the moves they have made off the field.

Francona started his tenure 4-0 against the Pirates as manager of the Reds before a much-needed two-game rally to cap this latest serues. Still, the Reds have outscored the Pirates, 22-9, under his leadership. And the worst part of all is that Cherington still has a job because Nutting seems perfectly content with the status quo. It's no wonder why Francona (or anyone) wouldn't want to work for him.

More Pirates content from Rum Bunter