The Opener: Division Series, Mets, Showalter
As the baseball world gears up for the second round of the playoffs, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:
1. Division Series begins tomorrow:
With all four Wild Card Series matchups having been settled on Wednesday, baseball fans are already looking ahead to the four matchups of the Division Series, which will begin tomorrow. The Braves, Orioles, Dodgers and Astros all secured byes through the Wild Card Series, meaning each club is fully rested as they gear up to face their first opponents of the postseason. First up on the schedule at 12:03pm CT tomorrow is the Orioles, who will take on the Rangers at Camden Yards. Next up at 3:45pm CT will be the Astros, who figure to face the AL Central champion Twins in Houston. The NL, meanwhile, features a pair of division rivalries. At 5:07pm CT the Braves will square off against the Phillies in Atlanta before the night concludes at 8:20pm CT with the Dodgers facing the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.
2. What’s next for the Mets?
The Mets had a tumultuous evening yesterday, as GM Billy Eppler abruptly stepped down from his role as the club’s second-in-command under new president of baseball operations David Stearns. Eppler’s sudden resignation was brought on by an MLB investigation into both Eppler himself and the Mets regarding so-called “phantom IL” stints, when teams place healthy players on the injured list in order to give the player a physical and/or mental resist while freeing up their 26-man roster spot temporarily. The practice widely utilized around the league, though it’s technically against MLB’s rules.
In any case, the situation is sure to have effects going forward not only on the Mets, but on the league as a whole. It’s likely that the Mets and/or Eppler himself are at risk of facing fines or other disciplinary action from MLB, depending the results of the league’s investigation, while the league’s other clubs will surely watch the situation with interest, as it may signal a crackdown on the widespread practice by the league. In the more immediate term, the Mets now figure to look for someone to fill Eppler’s shoes in the Mets front office, with Stearns now in position to choose his own number two.’
3. Showalter eyeing Anaheim:
The Angels recently parted ways with manager Phil Nevin, whose contract with the club expired at the end of the season. GM Perry Minasian recently indicated that the club’s search for a new manager was still in a very preliminary stage, noting that they had not yet established a timeline for the new hire or even assembled a list of potential candidates. One candidate has thrown his own hat into the ring, however: recently-fired Mets manager Buck Showalter has reportedly expressed interest in the vacancy in Anaheim.
On the surface, the pairing seems to be a good fit given Showalter’s desire to return to the dugout in 2024 and the tumultuous situation the Angels are facing, with the likely departure of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani this offseason, perhaps calling for a more experienced hand to guide the club as they look to avoid missing the playoffs for the ninth-consecutive time. Organizations looking to fill managerial vacancies around the league appear to be gearing up to begin external interviews in earnest next week; could one between Showalter and the Angels be among them?
West Notes: Angels, Rockies, Neris
The Angels have operated with a six-man rotation for the past several years, though that could change in 2024, as noted by Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. GM Perry Minasian told reporters recently that the size of next year’s rotation is something they’ve “discussed at length” and that they’re comfortable with a five-man rotation next season, saying that the club feels “the arms we have in-house can handle it.”
Minasian’s comments would seem to imply that the club doesn’t expect to make any external additions in terms of starting pitchers this offseason. Of course, a five-man rotation is made possible by the absence of two-way star Shohei Ohtani, though as Fletcher notes the comments aren’t necessarily indicative of the Angels’ opinion on his likelihood to re-sign in Anaheim. After all, Ohtani isn’t expected to pitch until the 2025 season after undergoing elbow surgery.
If the Angels indeed rely on their current group of starters next year, the rotation figures to be fronted by lefties Patrick Sandoval and Reid Detmers, while righty Griffin Canning and veteran southpaw Tyler Anderson look to occupy the middle of the club’s rotation. The fifth (and, potentially, sixth) starter spots seem more unclear, with Chase Silseth, Jose Suarez, Jaime Barria, and Kenny Rosenberg among those to draw starts for the club this season who could get a look next year.
More from around MLB’s West Divisions…
- The Rockies have a bit of a logjam between first base, right field, and DH headed into next year, as noted by Luke Zahlmann of the Denver Gazette, as he listed each of Kris Bryant, Charlie Blackmon, Elehuris Montero, Sean Bouchard, and Michael Toglia as each vying for playing time at the three positions. Bryant and Blackmon figure to be regular players, though that would leave just one spot for the other three, a situation that Zahlmann ties to the club’s desire to add additional starting pitching depth this offseason. Dangling a player from that mix in trade talks could allow the Rockies to complement a rotation that currently figures to enter 2024 with plenty of question marks, and Zahlmann even notes that top prospects like Zac Veen and Jordan Beck could be dangled “in the right deal.” Of course, the 103-loss Rockies would surely require a quality starter with multiple years of control if they were to part with any of their top-100 prospects in a trade for pitching this offseason.
- Astros right-hander Hector Neris was fined by MLB for his role in a benches-clearing altercation between Houston and Seattle in late September, per GM Dana Brown (as relayed by The Athletic’s Chandler Rome), though Brown added that he does not believe Neris will be suspended for the incident. Neris shouted at and charged toward Rodriguez after striking him out during last week’s 8-3 win over the Mariners, causing both benches to clear. That Neris figures to avoid a suspension is great news for the Astros, as he’s been nothing short of dominant this year. The 34-year-old righty sports a 1.71 ERA and a 3.83 FIP across 71 appearances with the club this year. Neris figures to hold a $8.5MM player option for the 2024 campaign, so long as he passes a physical after the end of the season.
Blue Jays Notes: Belt, Ryu, Rivera
With the Blue Jays having been eliminated from the postseason last night at the hands of the Twins, Toronto is beginning to shift its focus toward the coming offseason. That includes left-handed slugger Brandon Belt, who yesterday expressed uncertainty regarding whether or not he’ll continue playing in 2024.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Belt told reporters (including Keegan Matheson of MLB.com) following the club’s defeat in Minnesota last night. “This could be the end for me… I just don’t know yet. It’s something I need to talk to my family about and see what their thoughts are on it and see how I feel about it in a couple of months, then go from there.”
Belt, a veteran of 13 major league seasons, debuted with the Giants back in 2011, won World Series rings with the club in both 2012 and 2014, and made his only career All Star appearance back in 2016. 2023 marked the first season of his career he spent outside the Giants organization after he signed a one-year, $9.3MM deal to join the Blue Jays this past offseason. While the 35-year-old has been effective as ever at the plate in recent years, with a .258/.369/.503 slash line since the start of the 2020 season that includes a 138 wRC+ effort this year, the veteran has dealt with injuries more and more frequently in recent years.
Belt has been limited to just 278 games thanks to injuries over the last three seasons, which saw him wind up on the IL a whopping seven times with issues ranging from a fractured thumb to knee and hamstring issues. While Belt’s effectiveness at the plate would surely draw interest from a variety of clubs, particularly given the lack of impact bats available in free agency, given his age and injuries it’s understandable that the slugger wants to ponder his future before committing to a return.
Other pending free agents also spoke to reporters yesterday (including Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet), with lefty veteran Hyun Jin Ryu among them. Ryu just wrapped up the final year of his four-year, $80MM pact with Toronto. After kicking off his time with the Blue Jays by finishing as a finalist in AL Cy Young award voting during the 2020 season, Ryu posted roughly average numbers (4.37 ERA, 4.02 FIP) in 2021 before missing most of the 2022 and 2023 seasons thanks to Tommy John surgery.
Overall, the 36-year-old southpaw posted a 3.97 ERA and 4.02 FIP in 315 innings of work with the Blue Jays, including a 3.46 ERA across eleven starts this season after returning from surgery. Ryu confirmed to reporters yesterday that he hopes to continue pitching in MLB in 2024, and even in a deep free agent class for starting pitching options, it seems reasonable to expect Ryu to find a big league deal somewhere. While the veteran’s injury history is fairly lengthy, he’s been effective when healthy since debuting with the Dodgers back in 2013, with a career 3.27 ERA and 3.53 FIP. That said, it would be reasonable to expect the veteran to be limited to one-year offers given his recent surgery and middling peripherals since returning back in August (4.91 FIP, 4.70 SIERA).
While the future of both Belt and Ryu in Toronto is currently up in the air, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi did reveal one member of the Blue Jays who won’t be returning for 2024: longtime third base coach Luis Rivera, who is retiring after 11 years in the role with Toronto. After playing in the majors for 11 seasons, Rivera managed in the minor leagues for both Toronto and Cleveland before settling into his role as third base coach of the Blue Jays.
Chunichi Dragons Reportedly Release Cuban Right-Hander Yariel Rodriguez
Per reporter Francys Romero, Cuban right-handed reliever Yariel Rodriguez has been granted his release by the NPB’s Chunichi Dragons. Rodriguez figures to apply for MLB free agency in the near future, which could put him on the radar to sign with a big league club ahead of the 2024 season. The Dragons have not confirmed the report.
Rodriguez, 26, pitched in Cuba from his debut during the 2015-16 season until joining the Dragons in 2020. He was mostly a starter in Cuba, pitching to a 3.30 ERA with a 17.6% strikeout rate in 464 1/3 innings of work across six seasons, and maintained that role early in his NPB tenure. Overall, Rodriguez sports a 3.03 ERA and 25.4% strikeout rate since the start of the 2020 campaign, though he reached a whole new level of success in 2022, when he converted to full-time relief. In 54 2/3 innings of work with the Dragons that season, Rodriguez posted a microscopic 1.15 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate that was far and away the best of his career.
Most recently, Rodriguez started for Team Cuba during the 2023 World Baseball Classic. In two appearances for the team, Rodriguez allowed just two runs on five hits and six walks in 7 1/3 innings of work while notching ten strikeouts. Rodriguez did not otherwise play professionally during the 2023 season after leaving the Dragons back in March to work toward signing with a major league club. The Dragons maintained at the time that Rodriguez was still under contract with the club before placing him on the restricted list.
If Rodriguez does indeed get the opportunity to sign in the big leagues this offseason, he’ll be one of the more interesting relief options on the open market thanks to his youth and strong numbers in Japan. This offseason’s free agent relief class is headlined by southpaw Josh Hader, with fellow lefties Matt Moore and Aroldis Chapman also representing some of the best available, while the right-handed market features the likes of Jordan Hicks, David Robertson, and Joe Jimenez.
Jorge Lopez Elects Free Agency
The Orioles announced this morning that right-hander Jorge Lopez has cleared waivers and elected free agency. He’ll test the open market this offseason alongside a bevy of right-handed relief options who figure to be available this offseason.
Lopez, 30, made his MLB debut back in 2015 with the Brewers and bounced around the league as a swing option for several years, struggling to a 6.04 ERA and 5.15 FIP from 2015-21 while playing for Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Baltimore. Prior to the 2022 campaign, the Orioles moved Lopez to the bullpen full time, and the early returns on that decision looked to be nothing short of revelatory: the righty was among the most dominant relievers in baseball for Baltimore in 2022, earning his first career All Star appearance while posting a 1.68 ERA with a 2.99 FIP and 27.6% strikeout rate across 48 1/3 innings of work.
On the back of those career-best numbers, the Orioles shipped Lopez to the Twins for a prospect package that included right-hander Yennier Cano and lefty Cade Povich. While the trade was a controversial one at the time thanks to the young Baltimore squad’s impressive run to that point in 2022, the move proved prescient. While Cano has broken out as an elite set-up man for the Orioles in 2023 and Povich is one of the club’s best pitching prospects, Lopez regressed with the Twins last year, posting a 4.37 ERA and 4.35 FIP in Minnesota that was 10% worse than league average by measure of ERA+.
While the Twins brought Lopez back to open the 2023 campaign, his struggles grew even worse this year. After 35 1/3 innings of 5.09 ERA baseball, Minnesota agreed to a change-of-scenery swap with the Marlins that sent Lopez to Miami in exchange for veteran righty Dylan Floro. Lopez continued to struggle in Miami to the point where the club designated him for assignment, leading him to return to the Orioles. His return to Baltimore saw his 2023 struggles continue, and he ended the season with a 5.95 ERA and 5.76 FIP in 61 appearances.
While Lopez’s huge success with the Orioles last season will surely pique the interest of clubs, his struggles this season figure to give even the most intrigued clubs some level of pause. It’s certainly possible he’ll be limited to minor league offers this offseason and have to earn his way back onto a major league roster for 2024 during Spring Training.
Mets Notes: Alonso, Vogelbach, Ottavino
The future of Mets first baseman Pete Alonso has been a focus of speculation in recent months, given reports that the club discussed a trade with both the Brewers and Cubs ahead of this year’s trade deadline. Of course, later reporting indicated that the Mets didn’t plan to actively shop Alonso this offseason, while new president of baseball operations David Stearns himself threw some cold water on the rumors by indicating during his introductory press conference that he expects Alonso to be the club’s starting first baseman on Opening Day 2024.
A new wrinkle has emerged regarding Alonso’s future plans, as Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported this morning that Alonso has changed representation ahead of his final offseason under club control, moving from Apex Baseball to Boras Corporation, the agency run by high-profile agent Scott Boras.
The change in representation seems to lessen the odds of the Mets and Alonso coming to an agreement on a contract extension before he hits free agency next offseason, as it’s been relatively rare for high-profile Boras clients to sign extensions the offseason before hitting free agency. The deal between right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. and the Astros prior to the 2021 season and the pact between the Red Sox and shortstop Xander Bogaerts back in 2019 show that proclivity is hardly universal.
What’s more, Heyman notes the recent success the Mets have had in working with Boras, as the sides agreed to $100MM+ deals for veteran ace Max Scherzer and center fielder Brandon Nimmo in free agency the past two offseasons. Nimmo’s case is worth particular consideration, as the former 13th-overall pick made it to free agency last offseason after spending his whole career with the Mets, much as Alonso has, before ultimately re-signing with the club.
More from Queens…
- On the heels of manager Buck Showalter’s recent departure, Mike Puma of the New York Post discusses a major point of contention between Showalter and the front office over the summer: playing time for slugger Daniel Vogelbach. Showalter reportedly wanted to explore other options at DH against right-handed pitching early in the season, including cycling regulars through the position to get them a partial day off, thanks to Vogelbach’s lack of power production: he slashed just .219/.364/.314 over his first 43 games. Showalter met resistance from GM Billy Eppler regarding that desire, however, with Eppler insisting on Vogelbach remaining in the lineup. Vogelbach, 30, is headed into his final season of arbitration eligibility in 2024.
- Though right-hander Adam Ottavino recently indicated that he intends to return to the Mets next year by exercising his $6.75MM player option for the 2024 campaign, the 37-year-old veteran recently spoke with less certainty regarding his impending option decision, telling reporters (including Puma) that while he likes the Mets, he wants to see “how things shake out” in the early offseason before coming to a decision. Ottavino posted a solid season for the club, with a 3.21 ERA and 4.52 FIP in 66 appearances, though that performance was a considerable step back from the 2.06 ERA and 2.85 FIp he posted in 2022.
The Opener: Wild Card, Counsell, Moreno
With the first round of the playoffs now in the rearview mirror, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. Wild Card ends in four sweeps:
None of the newly-minted three-game Wild Card Series will actually reach a third game this year, the second of MLB’s new postseason format. Each of the Twins, Rangers, Phillies, and Diamondbacks completed two-game sweeps yesterday, ending the 2023 campaign for the Blue Jays, Rays, Marlins, and Brewers respectively. With the Wild Card Series wrapped up, the four winners can look ahead to the Division Series, where the Astros, Orioles, Braves, and Dodgers await them for a five-game set.
Yesterday’s games were characterized by excellent pitching performances, with three of four winning pitchers registering quality starts and the fourth, AL Cy Young award candidate Sonny Gray, striking out six in five scoreless innings of work. NL Cy Young award candidate Zac Gallen, meanwhile, allowed two runs on five hits and three walks over six innings. The night’s longest performances came from Rangers veteran Nathan Eovaldi, who struck out eight across 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball, and free-agent-to-be Aaron Nola‘s seven scoreless innings for the Phillies. Nola was also assisted by the night’s strongest offensive performances. Veteran catcher J.T. Realmuto slugged both a double and a homer, but the star of the Phillies offense last night was 25-year-old second baseman Bryson Stott, who continued a strong sophomore season in 2023 with a grand slam off Marlins lefty Andrew Nardi.
2. Counsell’s decision looms:
Brewers manager Craig Counsell is widely considered to be among the best managers in today’s game, but entered the 2023 campaign on an expiring contract. While Brewers ownership has expressed a strong desire to see Counsell return to the manager’s seat in 2024, the sides agreed to postpone discussions of a new contract until after the club’s season came to an end. With Milwaukee having been swept out of the NL Wild Card series by Arizona last night, the NL Central champions are surely now going to turn their attention to whether or not Counsell will helm the team next year.
If Counsell departs the Brewers but would like to continue managing in 2024, he’d immediately become the most attractive managerial candidate on the market, with a fair few options at his disposal. The Guardians are seeking a replacement to the widely-respected Terry Francona, while the Giants and Angels have each parted ways with the managers in recent days. Still, no team has fueled speculation regarding Counsell’s future more than the Mets. The club just hired former Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns to take over the organization’s helm, with Stearns’s first act in his new role being to fire manager Buck Showalter.
3. Arizona hopeful Moreno avoided concussion:
After a scary incident on the field during last night’s win over the Brewers, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins) that rookie catcher Gabriel Moreno has not yet been placed into the concussion protocol after being hit in the head by the backswing of Brice Turang‘s bat. Lovullo said the club is still “finding out” what his status is, but that after Moreno entered the dugout following the second inning, team trainers insisted he be taken out of the game. Moreno noted after the game that he was feeling “a little bit dizzy” but that he was feeling better by the end of the game.
The loss of Moreno for the coming five-game set against the Dodgers could be devastating for the Diamondbacks. After coming over from the Blue Jays in the Daulton Varsho trade this past offseason, Moreno has combined excellent defense behind the plate with a solid offensive performance as he slashed .284/.339/.408 in 380 trips to the plate this season. If Moreno misses time, the club figures to use glove-first backup Jose Herrera as the starting catcher while he’s away. The only other catcher on the 40-man roster is former-White Sox backstop Seby Zavala, who was claimed off waivers in early September and is ineligible to participate in the postseason. Adrian Del Castillo and Ali Sanchez are the club’s top catching options from the Triple-A level this season.
Injury Notes: McCarthy, Pham, Giants, Hoskins
The Diamondbacks announced this evening that outfielder Jake McCarthy had been removed from the club’s playoff roster prior to tonight’s opener of the Wild Card series against the Brewers, with infielder Jace Peterson taking McCarthy’s place on the roster. Per Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic, McCarthy sustained an oblique injury during batting practice just before the game. McCarthy will be ineligible to play in both the Wild Card series and the NLDS, though he could return to the club’s postseason roster for the NLCS in the event he makes it that far.
McCarthy had a breakout season for the Diamondbacks last year, with a .283/.342/.427 slash line in 99 games with the club. Unfortunately for both Arizona and McCarthy, he struggled to live up to his rookie campaign during his age-25 season this year. Over 312 trips to the plate in 2023, McCarthy hit just .243/.318/.326 as his power nearly completely evaporated- after slugging 27 extra base hits including eight home runs in 2022, he managed just 14 extra base hits with two home runs this year. Replacing McCarthy as a left-handed bat off the bench is Peterson, who has batted .211/.304/.307 in 133 games this year split between Oakland and Arizona.
More injury news from around the league…
- Sticking with the Diamondbacks, fellow outfielder Tommy Pham has been dealing with injury struggles of his own, telling MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert that he’s currently battling turf toe and left open the possibility that he would receive an injection to help alleviate the pain before the game earlier tonight. Pham’s slashed a solid .256/.328/.446 over 129 games with the Mets and Diamondbacks this year but has largely been limited to playing DH since the start of September, perhaps due in part to his current ailment.
- During the end-of-season press conference for the Giants today, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi provided updates on a pair of injured players. As relayed by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, outfielder Austin Slater is set to undergo arthroscopic elbow surgery this offseason after several years of discomfort in the area. Slater, who slashed .270/.348/.400 in 89 games for San Francisco this season, figures to be ready for Spring Training in February. Pavlovic also relays that right-hander Alex Cobb is set to get a second opinion on the hip impingement that left him on the injured list for the last few weeks of the season in the near future. Cobb, who turns 36 later this week, was the club’s only regular starter behind ace Logan Webb and performed well in that role when healthy enough to take the field, posting a 3.87 ERA and 4.01 FIP in 151 1/3 innings of work.
- Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who has been out all season due to a torn ACL, threw out the first pitch prior to the club’s win over the Marlins in Game 1 of the Wild Card series this evening. That might not be his only part in Philadelphia’s postseason run if the club makes it back to the World Series, as MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki noted today that Hoskins is set to head to the club’s stay-ready camp in Clearwater, Florida to begin facing pitchers in live batting practice. The news represents a major step in Hoskins’ recovery and leaves the door open for Hoskins to return at the end of the club’s postseason run if they can make it that far, much like how teammate Kyle Schwarber made it back from a torn ACL of his own to DH for the Cubs during the 2016 World Series.
Zaidi: Marco Luciano Will Have “The Chance” To Be Giants’ Everyday Shortstop In 2024
With longtime shortstop Brandon Crawford‘s contract having run its course, the Giants will be looking at a new starting shortstop in 2024 for the first time in over a decade. While the club pursued Carlos Correa in free agency last offseason to take over the reins at short, the club now appears poised to stay internal as they look for their future shortstop. As relayed by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told reporters as much during his end-of-season presser today, saying that “As we sit here now, we want to give Marco Luciano the chance to be the everyday guy next year.”
“If anything, his call-up was slowed down by the injury he had this year,” Zaidi added. “We would have liked to see him up here a little bit more, but he’s worked his way up and earned this opportunity and we’re really excited about what we saw the last couple of weeks.”
With that vote of confidence, it seems fairly safe to assume that the club won’t pursue significant upgrades up the middle, instead placing Luciano at short with Thairo Estrada, who was among the club’s most valuable hitters in 2023 alongside Lamonte Wade Jr. and Wilmer Flores, remaining at second base. Luciano hit .231/.333/.308 with a 37.8% strikeout rate during his time in the big leagues this year, though of course that was a minuscule sample size of just 45 plate appearances. More representative of the talent that made Luciano a consensus top-40 prospect in the game entering the 2023 campaign is his .259/.356/.479 slash line in 292 career minor league games, including a .223/.334/.442 slash line in 320 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A this year.
The shortstop position was far from the only thing Zaidi addressed during the presser, of course. Zaidi noted (per Pavlovic) that he hopes to create a more athletic roster with improved defense this offseason, citing both Luciano and fellow rookie Tyler Fitzgerald as possible pieces of the puzzle in that regard. Fitzgerald slashed .219/.265/.469 in 34 plate appearances at the big league level this year while playing both third base and center field. In 121 games between the Double-A and Triple-A level in 2023, Fitzgerald slashed an impressive .292/.365/.511.
Zaidi also discussed the club’s managerial search following the club’s dismissal of Gabe Kapler last week. As relayed by Pavlovic, Zaidi indicated that the club plans to begin the interview process next week with internal candidates before expanding to asking for permission to interview candidates from other organizations. As the club looks for a new manager, Zaidi also indicated that the Giants are heading into 2024 with uncertainty about his own future as things stand, confirming to reporters (including Danny Emerman of KNBR) that he’s headed into the final year of his contract in 2024.
Terry Francona Officially Steps Down As Guardians Manager
The Guardians announced this afternoon that Terry Francona has officially stepped down from his role as the club’s manager. The news was of no surprise, as Francona’s retirement from managing has long been expected. As noted by Zack Meisel of The Athletic, Francona will remain in the Guardians organization, though his exact role going forward has yet to be determined.
The news brings to an end a brilliant managerial career. Francona’s career as a manager first began with the Phillies, for whom he managed from 1997-2000, though Philadelphia never reached the postseason or even posted a winning record during his time at the helm. A few years later, Francona emerged as the manager of the 2004 Red Sox, the team that famously won 98 games under his leadership before going on to win the franchise’s first World Series since 1918. After breaking the Curse of the Bambino, Francona went on to manage for another seven seasons in Boston, making the post season four more times, including a second World Series championship in 2007. He finished his tenure as Boston’s manager with 744 wins, good for a .574 winning percentage.
Francona then sat out the 2012 campaign before joining Cleveland as the club’s manager in 2013. In eleven seasons as the club’s manager, he piloted the club to nine winning seasons and six playoff appearances despite the club consistently ranking toward the bottom of the league in terms of payroll. The club’s most successful stretch under Francona came from 2016 to 2020, when the club made the postseason in four of five seasons, including a 2016 run that lasted until Game 7 of the World Series, while posting a 415-292 record, good for a winning percentage of .587.
Overall, Francona wraps up his managerial career with a 1950-1672 (.538) record over 23 years as a big league manager. During his time in Cleveland, Francona won AL Manager of the Year three times: in 2013, 2016, and 2022. He also finished 2nd in 2017 while recording top-5 finished on four separate occasions in Boston. He’s one of just nine managers in the history of the award to win on three or more occasions.
As Francona told reporters (including those at ESPN) this afternoon, he’s not yet sure what role he wants to play going forward as he moves into a new role in Cleveland. “I need to go home and get healthy and see what I miss about the game,” Francona said, though he added that he doesn’t expect to manage again.
As for the Guardians, they’ll turn their attention to deciding who will be tasked with attempting to fill Francona’s shoes going forward. As noted by Ryan Lewis of the Akron Beacon Journal, the club has already begun the interview process. Giants bullpen coach Craig Albernaz is among those who have been rumored as potential candidates for the position. Also reportedly under consideration was Guardians first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr, though Lewis notes that Alomar declined to interview for the role.