With Dusty Baker out as Cincinnati Reds manager, at least one former Reds player has thrown his hat in the ring for a chance to take over as skipper for the promising National League Central ball club. Former Reds outfielder Paul O'Neill has expressed interest in managing the Reds, a team he played with for eight years before he was traded to the New York Yankees in 1993.
O'Neill told ESPN on Wednesday that he would very much like to delve into managing a baseball team. O'Neill, who pursued a career as an analyst on the YES Network for Yankees games following retirement, said the Reds would be a perfect fit because he still lives in Cincinnati with his family during his down time.
"I would love to sit down and find out what their thoughts are," O'Neill told ESPN Wednesday. "There are basically two organizations in my life, the Reds and the Yankees. Anytime you live in the city, you understand and see what happens in an organization."
O'Neill, 50, eventually won four World Series rings as a player with the Yankees following the trade, and would like to help Cincinnati to its first title since 1990 when he was an active player on the team.
He believes the Reds have what it takes to win now.
"It is not a rebuilding situation," O'Neill said per ESPN. "They are a very, very good team. I think anybody would be interested in taking a good team and winning a World Series."
O'Neill told ESPN that he and Reds owner Bob Castellini haven't talked about the possibility of him managing the club yet, but they have kept in touch about various things over the years.
O'Neill, who has a deep connection with the Reds and Yankees organizations, was praised by Yanks manager Joe Girardi, who recently signed a four-year extension to stay on the bench for the Bronx Bombers.
"I think Paul really knows the game," Girardi said on Wednesday, according to ESPN. "I think Paul is a guy that loves the game and has a passion for winning, and I think he would be a good manager."
O'Neil appeared in 2,053 games over his career split between Cincinnati and New York, and hit .288 during his career with 281 homers and 1,269 RBIs. O'Neill is a five-time World Series champion, five-time All-Star and won the AL Batting Title in 1994.
The Reds are a team on the upswing, having made the playoffs three out of the last four years and winning the NL Central two out of the last four seasons, but after an early postseason exit once again, Baker was let go.
The Reds went 91-71 in 2010 and won the division before being swept out of the NLDS in three games by Philadelphia. Cincinnati missed the playoffs the following year but had its best year since 1976 with a 97-56 record and first place finish in 2012, only to once again be ousted in the first round, this time by St. Louis in five games. This season, after going 90-72 and snagging the second wild-card spot in the NL, the team was once again ousted early by losing the one-game playoff to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the wild-card round.
While the Reds struggled in October under Baker but flourished the rest of the season, O'Neill is hoping he has what it takes to push Cincinnati over that hump and deep into October.
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