Cleveland Indians Pick Up 2019 and 2020 Options on Terry Francona
By Tim Haberin
After their run to the World Series, the Cleveland Indians have exercised their 2019 and 2020 club options on manager Terry Francona.
Terry Francona was already under contract to manage the Cleveland Indians for two more seasons, but after an American League pennant-winning campaign, the franchise has elected to keep him in the dugout even longer. The Indians announced that they have picked up their options on Francona for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
The veteran skipper has been a rousing success in Cleveland, leading the club to an overall 352-294 record (.545) since taking over in 2013. The Indians have finished above .500 in all four seasons and won at least 90 games twice (2013, 2016). Those two years saw the Tribe make the postseason for the first time since 2007. Francona won AL Manager of the Year honors for his work in 2013, and it seems a good bet he will follow suit again this season.
Yes, Cleveland squandered a 3-1 lead in the World Series, setting the stage for the Chicago Cubs’ first championship in 108 years. Francona came agonizingly close to soaking up all the accolades and admiration that Joe Maddon and Theo Epstein now enjoy. But “Tito” deserves a lot of credit for the tremendous job he did with this year’s Indians squad.
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This was a team that everyone seemed to be overlooking when the playoffs started. After all, two of their best starting pitchers – Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar – were injured and would unlikely be available throughout October. With starting pitching even more important in the series format of the postseason, many wrote Cleveland off as doubtful to advance very far. Surely the high-powered offense of Francona’s old club the Boston Red Sox would make easy work of them in the ALDS.
Not so fast. Propelled by timely hitting and a lights-out bullpen spearheaded by midseason trade acquisition Andrew Miller, the Indians swept the Sox and dispatched of the Toronto Blue Jays in five games in the ALCS. Not wishing to make the same mistake as the Baltimore Orioles’ Buck Showalter in the AL Wild Card Game, Francona leaned on the best arms in his bullpen to carry the team.
Perhaps he leaned on them a bit too much as some of the effects of that heavy use showed near the end, but you could make the same argument about Maddon after Aroldis Chapman served up a game-tying home run in the eighth inning of Game 7. It all worked out for him, but the narrative could have easily flipped.
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Nevertheless, Francona still has two world championship trophies in his cabinet from his Boston tenure, and he remains one of the most respected managers around the league. It’s no surprise at all that Cleveland wants him to remain its standard-bearer for the next several seasons. While the Cubs’ long wait is mercifully over, Francona’s and the Indians’ goal is still the same: deliver the franchise its first World Series title since 1948.