CINCINNATI — Sitting in seat 27 C, Cincinnati Reds general manager Brad Meador had his notes strewn across the small seatback table on his flight to Tucson, Ariz. last Tuesday night.

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.