During the off-season, the Red Stockings hired O. P. Caylor to become the manager of the team, the first time in club history that the club did not have a player-manager.
Oliver Perry Caylor (December 14, 1849 – October 19, 1897) was an American baseball newspaper columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cincinnati Commercial before becoming one of the principal figures in the founding of the American Association in 1881 as well as the catalyst in the formation of the modern-day Cincinnati Reds.
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Caylor resigned after the 1886 season due in large part to his combative nature that put him at odds with the press and new club ownership.