Terry Francona, 63, agreed to return as the Guardians manager after leading them to the AL Central title. Phil Long/Associated Press
There were no formal contract negotiations between Terry Francona and the Guardians, just a five-minute conversation among friends.
He told them he wants to keep managing. They gladly accepted.
Francona’s unique partnership in Cleveland will carry into 2023 as the 63-year-old has agreed to return with the club after leading the majors’ youngest team to a division title and the AL Division Series this season.
While Francona hasn’t formally signed a deal, he said Friday that he intends to be back for an 11th season. His health has improved dramatically after major scares, plus Francona wants to see what’s next for the Guardians.
“I love the fact that we have something that could be pretty special here moving forward,” he said. “I enjoyed the heck out of our players this year. I want to see that group grow and I’d like to be a part of that.”
The Guardians wouldn’t want it any other way.
President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti reiterated that there are no parameters on Francona when it comes to his tenure. Essentially, he can manage for as long as he’d like.
“There was never a question in our minds of Tito returning,” Antonetti said. “It was more just on what made sense for him. We’ve made it really clear: We want Tito to continue to manage as long as he wants to manage and it makes sense for him health-wise.”
RANGERS: Texas hired Bruce Bochy as its manager, bringing the three-time World Series champion with 2,003 career victories out of a short retirement to take over a team that has had six consecutive losing seasons.
Texas made the surprising announcement a little more than two weeks after its season ended. Bochy agreed to a three-year contract.
The 67-year-old Bochy hasn’t managed since 2019, when he stepped away after 13 seasons and those World Series titles with the San Francisco Giants. The first championship came in five games over Texas in 2010, and the Giants won again in 2012 and 2014.
Rangers General Manager Chris Young was a pitcher for San Diego in 2006, which was Bochy’s final season with the Padres before going to San Francisco.
BLUE JAYS: Toronto rewarded John Schneider for his strong performance as their interim manager, agreeing to terms with him on a three-year contract to manage the team.
Toronto’s former bench coach, the 42-year-old Schneider went 46-28 as interim manager after replacing Charlie Montoyo in July. Toronto earned the top AL wild card at 92-70 but was swept out of the playoffs in two games by visiting Seattle, blowing an 8-1 lead in the second game and losing 10-9.
ASTROS: Houston right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. sustained a small cut to his throwing elbow after being hit with a bottle during the team’s celebration after winning the AL Division Series.
“Unfortunately, after the victory in Seattle, I caught a spare champagne bottle to the elbow bone,” McCullers said.
He’s OK but had some swelling after the incident so the team chose to give him an extra day to rest.
Up 2-0 in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series, Houston will start Cristian Javier in Game 3 at the New York Yankees on Saturday and McCullers will start Game 4 Sunday night.
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