Reds name Bryan Price manager, Press Conference at 3:00 p.m. at GABP

At a press conference at 3:00 p.m. today in the field level interview room at Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati Reds President and Chief Executive Officer Bob Castellini and President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Walt Jocketty will introduce Bryan Price as the club's new field manager.

 Price, 51, has agreed to a 3-year contract through the 2016 season to become the 61st field manager in club history and the 51st since 1900. He replaces Dusty Baker, who went 509-463 (.524) in Cincinnati the last 6 seasons.

 "I have spent a lot of time with Bryan since the season ended, and I was convinced after the first meeting he is the right person to help us move this organization forward," Jocketty said. "We've all seen his work here with our pitching staff. He has proven himself to be an excellent communicator and leader and clearly is one of the most respected people not only in our clubhouse but in baseball in general."

 Castellini said, "I am impressed with Bryan as a pitching coach, leader and person. We're very confident he'll take the helm as manager of the entire team and lead us in the right direction."

Since Price became pitching coach prior to the 2010 season, the Reds' staff has ranked seventh, 12th, third and fourth in team ERA after finishing 13th and 15th the previous 2 seasons. Over the last 2 years, the Reds' 187 wins and 3.36 ERA rank third in the Major Leagues.

Price's 2012 and 2013 staffs were 2 of the most successful in franchise history. In each of those seasons, Reds pitchers established club records for strikeouts while becoming the first staffs in Major League history to produce in consecutive seasons at least 6 pitchers with 100 strikeouts.

 Last season, Reds pitchers led the National League in strikeouts, the 17 team shutouts were the most since 1973, and the starters' ERA of 3.43 was the staff's best since 1974.

 In 2012, Reds relievers led the Major Leagues in ERA (2.65), saves (56) and opponents' batting average (.219) while producing the second-highest strikeouts-per-9-innings ratio in baseball history (9.90). The starting staff that season became only the ninth in Major League history to include 5 pitchers who made at least 30 starts each. Bronson Arroyo, Homer Bailey, Johnny Cueto, Mat Latos and Mike Leake started 161 of the 162 Reds' games that season.