NEW YORK – Boston Red Sox Manager Terry Francona is too busy worrying about his team to be concerned about his own job status.

Boston held a nine-game lead over Tampa Bay in the AL wild-card race on Sept. 4 and seemed set to glide into the playoffs. Then a 4-14 skid left the Red Sox two games in front of the Rays before Boston picked up a half game Friday night when Tampa Bay lost to Toronto, 5-1. Boston’s game in New York was rained out and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Sunday.

Francona is in the final guaranteed year of his contract, and the Red Sox hold an option for 2012 and 2013. Some have suggested his job status is uncertain.

“I guess I better address that a little bit, so I don’t have to address it more,” Francona said Friday. “I don’t feel any different than I ever have. The organization not only has the right, but it’s their obligation to get the right person, the person they think is the best. If at some point they think it needs to be somebody else — other than that, I think it’s disrespectful for me to spend one waking moment thinking about my situation. We need to win games, so that’s how I intend to do it.”

Francona was hired by the Red Sox for the 2004 season and led them to their first World Series title since 1918.

The Red Sox won another championship in 2007.

After peaking at 31 games over .500 (82-51) in late August, the Red Sox have dropped seven games behind the Yankees, who already have clinched the AL East for the 12th time in 16 seasons.

“It doesn’t really matter to me,” Francona said of the job speculation. “I feel like I feel, and I won’t change how I feel regardless of whether it’s a story or not. I have a job to do that I care a lot about. And like I said, if I spent any energy on me, that would be a disservice to the organization, and I don’t plan on doing that.”

Speaking in the third-base dugout at Yankee Stadium before the rainout, Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein said Francona’s status wouldn’t be addressed until the Red Sox are done playing for the year.

“We’re going to take the same stance that we do with players who have options. This is an offseason issue,” Epstein said, according to the Boston Globe. “We’re struggling to turn this around, and we’re going to turn this thing around. That’s the focus, on the field.

“That’s how Tito would want it. That’s how I want it.”

Epstein denied an assertion by the MLB Network’s Peter Gammons on “The Dan Patrick Show” that there was “an increasing disconnect between the manager and the GM.”

“We’re all on the same page,” Epstein said.

With the postponement, Jon Lester (15-8) was pushed back to today’s 4:10 p.m. game, when the Yankees will start Freddy Garcia (11-8).

Tim Wakefield (7-7) and John Lackey (12-12) will start Sunday, with A.J. Burnett (10-11) and Ivan Nova (16-4) going for the Yankees. Both managers were unsure who would start in the 1:05 p.m. game and who would be held back for the 6:30 p.m. makeup.

 

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