CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland Guardians president Chris Antonetti addressed the future of Terry Francona as the club’s manager ahead of Wednesday’s afternoon matchup with the Minnesota Twins.
During his press conference, Antonetti was asked if Francona had made clear his status for next season, answering: “I have nothing new to share on that, beyond what Tito has shared with you already.”
Over the last few weeks, the future of Francona as the Guardians’ manager has been speculated, analyzed, and verbally floated - even by Francona himself.
The 64-year-old skipper first addressed his possible retirement on Aug. 22, saying he had been in talks with Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff about his future. Francona - who has missed parts of the last two seasons due to health concerns - would also cite plans for multiple offseason surgeries, before stating the following in a Tuesday interview with MLB Network Radio:
“I’ve been pretty clear with people. I don’t want to have the last month be a send-off or a pity party because that’s not how I feel. But, it’s time, and my body is telling me that, my head is telling me that and I don’t want to stay on for the wrong reasons. I hope I have too much respect for not just the game, but for this organization to do that. So, I’ve been pretty clear with the guys I work for and told them to start preparing.”
When asked how - and when - a new managerial search would begin if needed, Antonetti chuckled before responding: “We need to get through games. We have a season left in front of us. Tito sharing what he has shared has allowed us to think about things, and about what that plan will look like, what that process will look like. In terms of actually earnestly beginning a process, that won’t start until after our season ends.”
Francona is currently in his 11th season as Guardians manager.
