Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona, a three-time American League Manager of the Year, has … [+]
Has the countdown to the end of Terry Francona’s managerial career already started?It sounded like it Tuesday night, prior to the Cleveland Guardians’ game with the Los Angeles Dodgers, when the 64-year-old Francona seemed to be dropping hints that this could be the 23rd and final season of his career.
In his usual pre-game session with reporters prior to Cleveland’s game with the Dodgers at Progressive Field, Francona said he has talked to Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff “at length” about Francona’s future. Given his stature in Cleveland, and around baseball in general for that matter, Francona can probably be the manager in Cleveland for as long as he wants.
How much longer does he want the job is now the issue.
“We’ve had a lot of talks about moving forward,” said Francona, who is in his 11th year as Cleveland’s manager. The Guardians have reached the postseason in six of those 11 years, including 2016 when Francona guided them to Game 7 of the World Series, which they lost to the Chicago Cubs.
Through it all Francona has battled multiple health issues that have forced him to periodically leave the team for various amounts time in recent years.
“This job is really hard,” Francona said. “Not that it’s a bad job. It’s a great job. But it’s hard. The older you get, it kind of wears on you.”
This year has been a grind for Francona and his team. After a sensational 2022 season when the overachieving Guardians, the youngest team in the majors, who hustled and small-balled their way to a division title, and within one win of the ALCS, Cleveland has been stuck in a rut for most of this season. Although they are in second place in the AL Central, they are six games under .500 (60-66) and five games out of first place.
Injuries to key pitchers decimated the Guardians’ rotation. Two rare (for Cleveland) free agent signings – first baseman Josh Bell and catcher Mike Zunino – were major flops who were eventually traded (Bell) and released (Zunino).
The Guardians’ inability to draft and develop major league caliber hitters continues to haunt them. And the narrow margin of error for Cleveland, in individual games as well as seasons, has undoubtedly had its effect on the state of mind of Francona, who says he feels “old and beat up.”
“I know what my job is,” he said. “Sometimes doing it is a little harder.”
In making his should-I-stay-or-should-I-go decision, Francona, a three-time AL Manager of the Year winner with Cleveland, said he wants to be fair to the organization, and to the players, but also to himself.
If and when Francona does step down, he already knows how he doesn’t want to go out.
“We’ve all seen coaches, I’m probably talking about college coaches,” he said, “about going somewhere and somebody asks them point blank and they say no – and then an hour later they’ve got a six-year deal. I don’t ever want to be like that.”
Tuesday’s session with reporters clearly wasn’t a retirement announcement. It felt more like an “I’m thinking about it” announcement.
“There will be a time to ask any questions about what I’m going to do,” Francona said. “But I don’t think that’s now. We’re getting there, and there’s a time to do it appropriately.
Counting Cleveland’s 8-3 win Tuesday night over the Dodgers, who came into the game with a record 17-2 in August, Francona, who also managed the Phillies for four years and the Red Sox for eight before coming to Cleveland, now has a career managerial record of 1,934-1,653 (.539). His career record in 11 years managing Cleveland is 905-738 (.551).
Perhaps hoping to send a message to their manager, the Guardians played one of their better games of the year Tuesday in beating the Dodgers 8-3.
“If this is it,” said Cleveland first baseman Kole Calhoun of Francona potentially walking away from the game after this season, “I hope we can give him a hell of a ride going down the stretch.”