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CLEVELAND (AP) — Terry Francona signed a four-year contract with the Cleveland Indians. He hopes to stay even longer.

“I don’t want to be a rental manager,” Francona said Monday as he was introduced as the club’s 42nd manager. “I didn’t want to come in worried. I want to be part of the solution. I want to stick around.

“I didn’t come here to go to pasture.”

Francona, who led the Boston Red Sox to two World Series titles, was hired over the weekend by the Indians. He was chosen over Sandy Alomar Jr., who served as the club’s final six games after Manny Acta was fired. Francona takes overs an Indians team that collapsed from contention by going 5-24 in August and finishing 68-94, the third time in the past four seasons they have lost at least 90 games.

Francona and Alomar were the only candidates to interview for the job. Financial terms of Francona’s deal were not immediately known.

Francona spent the past year as a TV analyst, stepping away from the game after the Red Sox following the team’s historic September collapse in 2011.



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