Known as Tito, Francona comes to Cincinnati as one of baseball's most beloved managers. He has a 1,950-1,672 record in 23 years as a big-league manager with Philadelphia (1997-2000), the Red Sox (2004-2011) and the Guardians (2013-2023). He took Cleveland to the playoffs seven times in his 11 seasons and won 921 games.

Terry Francona said he's returning to manage a major league team after a year away from the game because the situation with the Cincinnati Reds "just felt right."