Terry Francona to Return as Guardians Manager Next Season After ALDS Run

The Cleveland Guardians will have Terry Francona as their head coach in the fall of23.

He confirmed on Friday that Francona would be back after the team's success.

Mandy Bell @MandyBell02

Terry Francona will return as the Guardians manager in 2023. He noted he’s thought more about when the end of his career could be this season, but said this group energized him this year.

“I want to see that group grow. I want to be a part of that.”

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal talked to Francona about his future and he said he was talking to the president of baseball operations and the general manager.

He wants to enjoy what he's doing. It is getting harder to do that because of its physical nature. I don't want to be careless. I would like to be fair to the team.

A number of health issues have been dealt with by the 63-year old. He would not play the rest of the season. Francona spoke about how much he was struggling with his body.

"Everything I do is hard, whether it's getting to the airport or getting to the clubhouse. You've seen me taking pitchers out, that's not even easy. It's just—it doesn't make it very enjoyable and I miss that. It's not like during the season I have a whole lot of life anyway, because I love being at the ballpark, but all I do is go to the ballpark and then come home and get off my feet and lay in bed. And I gotta give myself a chance to have a little bit of a life."

According to Tom Withers of the Associated Press, Francona was due to have a checkup that would help determine his status going forward.

Francona was back in the Cleveland bench for the next season. He made it through the entire regular season.

Zack Meisel @ZackMeisel

Terry Francona made it through 162 games for the first time in three years. One of his daughters called him today to tell him that.

"She actually told me: 'I had the under.' Thanks a lot!"

The Guardians had modest expectations coming into the year, but they were surprised by their performance. They won the American League Central for the first time in a long time.

The average age of the Cleveland roster was 26.42. The team used to make the playoffs with rookies like Oscar Gonzalez and Steven Kwan.

The Yankees won the American League Division Series to advance to the World Series. After signing a long-term extension in April, José Ramrez leads the way for the franchise.

When Francona first joined the Cleveland Indians, the team had missed the playoffs for five straight years but had the foundation laid for what would be an American League pennant-winning squad in 2016 He didn't have to work hard for years before the turn around started.

Cleveland has made the playoffs six times under his management, posting nine winning seasons. He leads the franchise in games managed and wins.