The Cleveland Indians’ Most Important Addition For Next Year? Terry Francona

After missing most of the 2020 season due to health problems, Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona expects to be back in 2021. That’s good news for Francona and great news for the Indians.

Because they need each other, now more than ever.

Francona needs to get back to doing what he does best, which is managing a major league team, and the Indians, more than ever, are going to need the best of Francona in 2021.

An optimist would say that what Francona is returning to has Manager of the Year possibilities written all over it, but only for a manager the caliber of Terry Francona.

A pessimist would say: Is this any way to welcome back a loyal employee?

Consider what Francona will be facing in 2021. He will be rejoining a team that in 2020 finished below the league average in virtually every offensive category, finished in the bottom two in the American League in runs, runs per game, home runs, RBI, and OPS+, and was in the bottom three in total bases, OPS and slugging.

Additionally, gone from last year’s team will be the leadoff hitter, the No. 2 hitter and the No. 4 hitter in the lineup. Back from last year’s team will be most of the outfielders who as a group in 2020 combined to hit .196, with 11 home runs. That’s total. From all the outfielders.

Put another way: In 2020, there were 41 major league players who hit more home runs than all of the Indians’ outfielders combined.

If that wasn’t bad enough, it gets worse. Francisco Lindor, the Indians’ leadoff hitter, maybe one of the five best position players in the game, and a potential future Hall of Famer, will almost certainly be traded during the offseason.

The No. 2 hitter from last year, second baseman Cesar Hernandez, won a Gold Glove and led the American League in doubles. He’s a free agent, which in Cleveland means he’s gone. No. 4 hitter Carlos Santana had the worst year of his career, but did lead the league in walks. The Indians held a $17 million club option on Santana for 2021, which in Cleveland means he’s gone.

Also gone is Brad Hand, the major league leader in saves, going a perfect 16-for-16 in that category. His club option was for $10 million. The Indians, as expected, declined it, put Hand on waivers, and nobody claimed him.

The Indians will probably non-tender one or two peripheral players, to further reduce payroll. Not only aren’t they expected to sign any big free agents, they probably won’t sign any medium ones, either.

Indians president Chris Antonetti said the team lost “tens of millions of dollars” during the COVID-19 season. So when it comes to a roster sweetener, Cleveland is putting all of its eggs in the Lindor trade basket, hoping that they can get a reasonably-priced, major league-ready impact outfield bat, with multiple years of control as part of the package for their unaffordable all-star shortstop.

If not, well, they’ve still got arguably the best starting rotation in the American League, if not the major leagues, led by unanimous Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber. Zach Plesac, who has Cy Young contender stuff, Carlos Carrasco, Aaron Civale, and Triston McKenzie will likely round out the rotation, with whom the Indians, as they did in 2020, will either sink or swim.

The team’s most valuable addition next year, however, will be Francona, whose skills as a dugout wizard will get a full test with what appears to be another good-pitch, no-hit, half-baked roster.

In the eight years since Francona came to Cleveland, the Indians have never had a losing record, and they’ve reached the postseason in five of those eight years, including four of the last five. And in the one year they missed, they won 93 games.

The 2021 season, however, figures to be Francona’s biggest challenge yet. One of the league’s weakest offensive teams doesn’t have the financial wherewithal to address that situation. So, everything’s riding on that elite pitching staff, and that elite manager in the dugout.

In 2020, three teams from the AL Central reached the playoffs, the Twins, White Sox and Indians. The White Sox are clearly in ascension. The Twins are holding steady.

The Indians?

Well, if you don’t like the horse, bet on the jockey, and Francona’s rode home enough winners in his career to be a competitive advantage for an Indians team that doesn’t have many.

If push comes to shove, Francona can always borrow that famous line by Chuck Dressen when he was managing the Dodgers back in the 1950s: “Hold ‘em for a few innings fellas, and I’ll think of something.”