Bryan Price's Fall as Reds Manager Should Give Derek Johnson Perspective

Over five years after his dismissal as Cincinnati Reds manager, Bryan Price is back in the major leagues.

He's the new pitching coach for the San Francisco Giants. Price’s return to the major leagues brings about thoughts on his tenure in Cincinnati and raises a thought about Derek Johnson.

Looking back on Price’s tenure at the helm of the Reds, there’s no doubt it ended in failure. He was 279-387, good for a .419 win percentage, and is one of the few Reds managers to be fired during the regular season. The question is, did he get a fair chance?

Price replaced Dusty Baker who led the Reds to multiple playoff appearances. The move was brought out a belief that Baker wouldn't be able to take the Reds on a deep playoff run. Price had no managerial experience. He also took over right at the end of the Reds contention window. Seemingly, the needs the roster had going into each offseason were either half-addressed or not at all. Suffice it to say, Price got a raw deal.

We’re not talking about a bad coach, though. Price excelled at running the pitching staff for the Reds. Anyone who could get the best out of Mat Latos should be celebrated. It’s probably what fed the belief that he could run the entire team. And there was the weird verbal attack on C. Trent Rosecrans in a postgame press conference that left a bad taste in our mouths. Being a good pitching coach and being a good manager are two very different things.

This leads to current Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson.

Johnson has shown an innate ability to run a pitching staff. He has transformed many pitchers as they have made their way to the major leagues. Some may believe he can manage. Some suggested the Brewers could come calling after losing Craig Counsell to the Cubs. Milwaukee ultimately went with Pat Murphy, but the question has to be asked, will Johnson look to move to a manager spot if a team comes calling?

He should look at what happened to Price. It's a cautionary tale.

Would you rather be the king of a small kingdom, or the jester in a large one? The situation matters—especially when taking a managerial job. Johnson’s talent for developing pitching may be his greatest strength, should he gamble that he can be a manager? Seeing how Price went from pitching guru to managerial pariah should give Johnson perspective moving forward in the when other teams, or even the Reds, come calling for their open manager post.

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