MLB Rumors: Joe Girardi Withdraws Himself as Candidate for Reds Manager

The Cincinnati Reds won't have the opportunity to hire Joe Girardi as their next manager. 

Per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Girardi will keep his current job as an MLB Network analyst after withdrawing from consideration to be the Reds' skipper. 

Rosenthal added that David Bell, San Francisco Giants vice president of player development, is now considered the favorite to be hired as Cincinnati's manager. 

Bobby Nightengale and John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Wednesday that Girardi, Bell and Brad Ausmus were going to go through a second round of interviews with the Reds. 

Girardi has been working as an MLB Network analyst throughout the 2018 season. The New York Yankees decided not to renew his managerial contract after leading the team to the American League Championship Series last year. 

In 11 seasons as an MLB manager with the Yankees and Florida Marlins, Girardi has a 988-794 career record with one World Series title (2009) and was named the 2006 National League Manager of the Year. 

Bell played four seasons with the Reds from 1985-88. He has previous managerial experience with the Detroit Tigers (1996-98), Colorado Rockies (2000-02) and Kansas City Royals (2005-07). The 67-year-old has a 519-724 career record. He's been working in the Giants front office since October 2017. 

Ausmus managed the Tigers for four seasons from 2014-17, leading them to an American League Central title in his first year. The team opted not to extend his initial four-year contract after going 64-98 in 2017. 

The Reds fired Bryan Price last April after getting off to a 3-15 start. Jim Riggleman took over as interim manager and went 64-80 to finish the season. 

Cincinnati hasn't made the postseason since 2013 and has lost at least 94 games in each of the past four seasons.