CINCINNATI -- The Reds and new manager David Bell are still working on assembling a coaching staff for next season. But one person who won't be working under Bell is former interim manager and bench coach Jim Riggleman.
Riggleman took over a 3-15 club when the Reds moved on from former manager Bryan Price. After encouraging results from May to mid July, Cincinnati slid in the second half and went 64-80 under Riggleman's stewardship. Riggleman was one of 12 to interview for the manager's job that went to Bell.
"In terms of building the new coaching staff, we just felt like we wanted to build a staff that's primarily driven by new voices and a decent amount of change in terms of the way things were going on in the clubhouse," Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams said. "It's hard to ask a guy to go from the manager role to a coaching role on the same staff. I think it can send a conflicting message to the players. We have the utmost respect for Jim and what he's done. I just think it would have put he and David in a tough spot."
Williams declined to say if any other coaches from the 2018 staff would be invited back.
"We're communicating with those guys as things get finalized. A fair amount is still in flux," he said.
Bell was formally introduced as Reds manager on Oct. 22.
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There was no timetable for when the Reds would fill out the coaching staff. It appears the team would like to speak with coaches on the Dodgers and Red Sox after they just completed the World Series on Sunday.
"We're having conversations daily, internally and with targets and references. It's something we'll be working on every day for the foreseeable future," Williams said. "There are still guys we want to consider that we haven't had access to until recently. It will take a little while."