What Did Indians Manager Terry Francona Say to Corey Kluber Following the Trade of the Pitcher?

Indians manager Terry Francona picked up the phone Sunday after the deal became official and the Tribe sent pitcher Corey Kluber packing to the Texas Rangers.

Not many people realize the emotions and how high they run when a team chooses to trade a player who has been a huge part of a franchise for most of a decade.

The Indians had to make a tough decision on Sunday, as the team traded away two-time Cy Young award winning pitcher Corey Kluber to the Texas Rangers for outfielder Delino DeShields and reliever Emmanuel Clase.

While some fans are labeling the move by the Indians as nothing more than a ‘salary dump,’ no matter it does not remove the emotion of losing a pitcher who was also respected in the clubhouse and nearly won the team a World Series in 2016.

So when the trade became official on Sunday, there was going to be some hard emotions as the Indians said ‘good-bye’ to a player who was the ace of their staff for a good portion of the last seven seasons.

One not so easy conversation took place between Indians manager Terry Francona and Kluber, as Francona said via Zack Meisel of The Athletic that he picked up the phone and called Kluber, and as one could imagine it was not an easy chat to have.

“I’m not sure what to say,” Francona said to Kluber.

“The business part of the game happens, and it’s hard to know what is right to say, but I don’t think it’s ever wrong to tell somebody ‘thank you’ and that you care about them and that you will continue to care about them.

“But it’s not the easiest conversation, that’s for sure.”

Part of the success that the Indians have had under Francona can directly be tied to the maturing over the last nine years Kluber was part of the Indians organization.

When Francona took over as the Indians manager prior to the 2013 season, he came to the team with Kluber on the cusp of becoming an ace.

The pitcher went 11-5 in Francona’s first season as manager, and the following season won the first of two Cy Young awards going 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA.

Sunday’s trade of Kluber is just part of the business, but just like in other examples of life, don’t ever assume that saying ‘good-bye’ is easy.