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Barry Larkin should be shoo-in for Cincinnati Reds’ manager

By Josh Sippie

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With the season winding down and playoff eliminations underway, MLB clubs are going to start firing managers and looking for replacements. Most of those firings will come from teams that had looked like playoff contenders before tanking. The Detroit Tigers are one such team. Brad Ausmus figures to be let go after the usual-powerhouse Tigers failed to maintain relevance.

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Another team in that situation is the Cincinnati Reds.

Red’s owner Bob Castellani had backed current manager Bryan Price at the all-star break. However, since that time, the Reds have fallen 12 more games under .500. Now, Castellani is saying that he will evaluate Price at the end of the year. The translation to that evaluation? Usually a firing.

You will not find a more clear-cut candidate for Red’s management than Barry Larkin, one of the best players to pass through the organization. Ken Rosenthal has indicated that it is a distinct possibility that Larkin gets the job. The Reds are contenders seemingly every year but this year they were abysmal and became sellers at the deadline.

Now, a new crop of Cincinnati Reds have to be coming through the Majors and that is prime time to get a new manager in the fray. Something has to inspire these Cincinnati Reds to not repeat what happened this year. The problem with that is that these are not the same Reds. They traded away Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake and Jay Bruce and Aroldis Chapman are likely to follow.

And yet, the Cincinnati Reds still have Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Todd Frazier. That is a good core of the lineup and it would give Barry Larkin a lot to work with.

But it is not just the crop of the Reds that makes Larkin a good choice. The fact that he is Barry Larkin is the best advocacy in his favor. Larkin is beloved in Cincinnati. Very few command as much respect in a city as Larkin does in the Queen City. That in and of itself would inspire players and fans alike to back the club and refocus their playoff intentions. The NL Central is no easy mountain to climb. The St. Louis Cardinals are always going to be the big dogs. However, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs are on the rise as well.

That leaves the Cincinnati Reds with a massive task.

Who else better to relate to the Reds’ players than a former Reds’ player? But Larkin is so much more than a Reds’ player. He is a Reds’ legend. Every player wants to be a legend. Now they can play under one.

Next: Brian Wilson must shave!

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