CLEVELAND — Terry Francona has missed parts of the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to health concerns. On Wednesday, he said he is ready for a full season in the dugout. 

What You Need To Know

  • Terry Francona expects to return as Guardians manager in 2022

  • Francona missed the last two months of the season after having surgeries foot surgery

  • He would become the first manager in club history to manage the team for at least 10 seasons

  • The Indians had a run of eight straight winning seasons snapped in 2021

The manager of Cleveland’s MLB team said Wednesday he expects to be back in 2022 as the team changes its nickname to the Guardians. 

The 2022 season will mark Francona’s 10th as Indians manager and 22nd as a skipper in MLB.

The Indians had eight straight winning seasons before 2021, and Francona had compiled a winning record this season before departing. Cleveland finished below. 500 for the first time since Francona was hired.

Although Francona has spent 21 of the last 25 years in a big league dugout, health came first, according to Francona. 

“I felt like if I could have been (healthy), it might have been a little harder,” Francona said. “I came to the realization it was time for me to step away for my own health. I would say the one really good thing was when they would play home games, I would know when somebody would hit a home run about six seconds before they hit the home run. I really enjoyed that. I’d hear the fireworks and then see the next pitch with the delay and there it was, a home run.”

Francona said as he continues to recover, he will come into Spring Training “excited” for the 2022 season. 

“I needed to get these surgeries done so I could take the winter to get stronger,” Francona said. “It’s been two years in a row where I haven’t been able to finish a season. That’s not good for anybody, that’s not fair to the organization and it’s hard on me.”

Team GM Chris Antonetti said he was smiling as Francona discussed his plans to return in 2022. 

“Having him to continue to lead us moving forward is a huge impact to our organization,” he said. “We’re really grateful he’s in a place physically and mentally where he’ll be able to do that because two and a half months ago, we had to make some really difficult decisions.”

Francona stepped away from the Indians on July 29. He handed the reins to bench coach DeMarlo Hale who finished the season. 

Francona gave credit to Hale and the entire coaching staff closing out the season. 

“I was beyond proud and I thought it was not surprising in the least but I thought they did terrific,” Francona said. 

 

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