The Reds do not have a new manager yet, but the reported candidates are starting to pile up.
Earlier today we ran down the list of 13 names who have been mentioned in one forum or another, and now you can add another.
According to Michael Kay (the long-time Yankees TV play-by-play man) of ESPN Radio 98.7 FM in New York, former Red Paul O'Neill has been in contact with Reds ownership.
However, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com later tweeted that the report was not true.
Update: #reds deny the O'Neill report through a team spokesman
— Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) October 10, 2013
Although he has spent the last 20 years playing for then working with the Yankees, O'Neill's association with the Reds goes back much farther than that.
He grew up a fan of the Cincinnati nine in Columbus and was selected by the Reds in the fourth round of the 1981 draft.
O'Neill made his major league debut with the Reds in 1985 and spent eight seasons with the club, batting .259 with 96 home runs and 411 RBI.
He was the starting right fielder for the 1990 World Series champions and had his best season in Cincinnati the following year when he hit 28 home runs and drove in 91. He made his first All-Star Game in '91 and finished seventh in the NL in homers and third in doubles with 36.
O'Neill was traded to the Yankees with a minor leaguer for Roberto Kelly following the 1992 season, and he spent the last eight years of his career in pinstripes. He won the AL batting title with a .359 average in 1994 and was part of four World Series champions before retiring after the 2001 season and joining the YES Network as an analyst.
