Revisiting an Intro Presser in Cleveland That Actually Proved Worthwhile

Coaches in Cleveland are hired and fired more frequently than it’s recommended to change the batteries in your home smoke detector. That annoying, audible chirp that wakes you in the middle of the night is a reminder that another soon-to-be-next-ex coach will be greeting the media with the familiar promise of a turnaround, all in hopes of “winning” the introductory presser, one that now feels as routine as an oil change or doctor visit.

Yet, with the coaching turnstiles moving as swiftly as Jimmy Haslam when offered a chance to pay someone to not work for his football team, the Indians are lagging behind. In fact, 12 men have patrolled the sidelines as head coach of the Browns and Cavaliers — six each, including a pair of interim coaches, respectively — since Terry Francona was introduced as the Tribe’s manager in October of 2012.

The Cavs, at least, won a title before deciding that Tyronn Lue was no longer a fit for the job (and his "introductory presser" was no more than being shoved up on stage after LeBron James swiped left on David Blatt). Meanwhile, the Browns, unable to stop the perpetual wheel of madness, will soon add to their total. That means fans, reporters and talking heads will be, once again, tasked with grading that individual’s first day, an exercise that has rarely proven to be worth the time that could have been used to finish binge watching "The Witcher" on Netflix.

With another familiar press conference looming, let’s revisit that fall day back in 2012 at Progressive Field. It was then that the Indians unveiled Francona, and the two-time World Series winner as manager of the Red Sox discussed what he saw in the future for Cleveland, a stretch that has certainly had its frustrations — so much bunting! — but has also resulted in seven consecutive winning seasons, four trips to the postseason and one World Series appearance.

"The large part of the allure was my relationships already existing here," Francona said that day. "I believe in that so much. It doesn't necessarily ensure that you're going to win every game you play, but I like the idea of going through whatever we have to go through with the people that are in place here."

Here are a handful of Francona’s quotes from his introduction on Oct. 8, 2012 and, more important, some thoughts on how those words look today.

On the challenge of taking over the Indians

“I did get asked that a lot, 'What are you doing? Why don't you wait for a team that's guaranteed almost?' That really did surprise me. Then I figured that the people that were asking didn't know me as well as they thought. I actually look forward to this challenge.”

Well, that’s good, because … [glances at their to-do list] … there was no shortage of challenges when taking over a franchise that was stuck in neutral for years. Specifically, Francona uses the word “challenge” when asked about the club’s position as a small-to-mid market team, a … uhhhh … nice way of saying the front office has no need to ever learn the particulars of MLB’s competitive balance threshold. No one would blame him for ever feeling frustration over losing talented players to payroll constraints but he’s never allowed that to publicly be an excuse.

On the state of the Indians roster entering that offseason

“I thought some of the young position players are exciting. ... You start looking at (Michael) Brantley and (Jason) Kipnis, Asdrubal (Cabrera). You’ve got your catcher (Carlos Santana). … When you talk about pitching — you're going to hear me say this — when you think you've got enough, you go get more, or you try to. You try to have depth, because no team has enough pitching.”

Carlos Santana. Catcher. What a time to be alive.

It is interesting to hear Francona speak without much knowledge of players that he would later trust as leaders, particularly Brantley and Santana. All four of those players would play a role in pointing the franchise in a much more appealing direction, while Josh Tomlin and Yan Gomes would later emerge to help form the pillars of Francona’s clubhouse for many years. That sort of player empowerment, once established, has well served Francona's leadership style.

As for their pitching, who knew they were in the midst of building a pitching factory or their starters would later become the strength of the club? Of course, pitching depth would also play a factor when Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar were injured prior to the 2016 playoffs, leading to one of the most unexpected runs to the World Series — highlighted by 2 1/2 healthy starters — anyone could imagine. Flash forward, their depth has now played a role in adding youthful depth and … [sigh] … payroll flexibility through the trades of Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber, something that becomes possible when you’ve got enough pitching.

Wait. Did he say no team has enough pitching?

On assurances from ownership that they would spend money

“I didn't ask for that. I don't want to say it's none of my business, but that wasn't one of the questions. We're going to work together and figure out how to tackle challenges. I don't need to be the general manager nor the owner. I'm perfectly content being the manager. I don't know what the payroll is.”

Hoooo boy. The elephant in the room.

Francona certainly didn’t take the Tribe job blind to the payroll limitations. In fairness to club ownership, they did permit commitments to Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn (oof), and those two signings following the hiring of Francona helped bring credibility back to a club that was lacking in that department. And despite how those marriages flamed out, the Dolans also dug deep into the couch cushions to allow the team to sign Edwin Encarnacion to the largest deal in franchise history prior to the 2017 season and later gave the thumbs up to paying the rest of Jay Bruce’s salary after Brantley’s injury in 2017, giving them an advantage over other teams chasing Bruce’s services via trade.

But you can’t take the kudos without accepting the criticism, and there is perhaps no more reason to be critical than the past two offseasons, where directives from above have mandated a reduction in payroll, all in the midst of possibly wasting the final years of control of one of the game’s top stars, Francisco Lindor. We don’t ultimately know where this year’s payroll will land — RosterResource.com projects it to be around $97 million as of now — but they project to be well below where they opened in 2019, and that reduction from 2018 was already reason enough to criticize and question what ownership’s biggest motivation may be when baseball's longest title drought continues to linger.

So, did Francona know what he was getting himself into? That seems safe to say, but my guess is he probably wouldn’t object if you surmised that the lack of spending in some years has privately led to an occasional bout with frustration. The day any manager stops caring about seeing his front office and ownership push to make the team better should likely be their last as skipper.

On accepting a four-year contract from the Indians

"I didn't come here to go to pasture. … I don't want to be a rental manager. … I want to be a part of the solution, so, I want to stick around.”

Stick around? Francona has stuck like peanut butter to his own glasses.

It’s funny to reflect on now, but at the time, there was some worry about how long he would be invested. Some health scares are the only thing that has briefly semi-called that into question. However, Francona’s most recent extension prior to last season put him in a position to potentially become the longest tenured manager in franchise history by the end of the contract (2022), having already claimed the third-most victories as a manager of the club (638).

How far away are the Indians from competing?

“Competing? In about two minutes. We're going to compete. We'll always compete. We may not win every game, but we won't back down from anybody. As far as challenges go -- Chris (Antonetti) and I, and Mark (Shapiro) and Mike (Chernoff) and the guys I'm meeting -- we're going to hit the ground running.”

Fact check: Actually true!

It may have taken a hell of a final 10-game stretch and one massive pinch-hit homer by Jason Giambi to get the Indians to clinch the top Wild Card slot in 2013, but the oh-so-brief appearance in the postseason still counts (shhh, nobody tell Kenny Lofton). And while they may have taken until 2016 to get back into October, the team has remained competitive in every year under Francona until at least the end of September. That’s done a lot to raise the bar of expectations — a great thing — but it’s also distanced the memories of second-half collapses and stretches of tough-to-watch baseball in the years leading up to Francona. That was difficult to envision when he was first asked about a competitive time frame, but his desire to “always compete” has mostly held true, a rarity amidst the annual Cleveland coaching pressers.

On a chance to work with younger players in Cleveland

“Dealing with young players is really fun. For me, in spring training, sometimes the last four innings of the game are more exciting than the first five, when you have young kids coming into a game that maybe you brought over from the other side of the complex.”

Two things feel like they can be true about Francona’s work with younger players throughout his Indians tenure. First, there might be no more recognizable Francona expression to reporters that cover him on a daily basis than, as it has been dubbed, his proud papa smile. That is the grin that spreads across his face when preparing to brag about a player, particularly ones he’s seen grow from wide-eyed youngster to proven veteran. It’s that facial expression that makes his comment about the enjoyment of working with young players seem as believable as his ability to crush $44 worth of ice cream at 3:30 am before Game 5 of the World Series. However, the second truth focuses on his faith in young players, something that certainly doesn’t seem to come overnight for any rookie and fuels detractor complaints about stubbornness when it comes to playing the vets.

Perhaps the best way to sum it up: It may take a little while to earn Francona’s trust, but once it’s been acquired, the limits are seemingly boundless.

His statement to the fans

“I’ll spend all my energy ensuring that these players play the game with respect and correctly. If you do that, we're going in the right direction. You start putting talent together, and you play the game with respect -- and by that I mean running balls out, getting signs, maybe things fans don't necessarily see, little things, caring about each other fiercely on the field, having each other's backs -- that's what the good teams do. We'll start doing that real soon.”

Francona’s tenure has certainly had its flaws. He's not infallible, and he'd be the first to admit it. That said, had visions of the next seven seasons revealed the reality of what was to come in the years following Francona’s introductory presser — not counting the ones that featured Lindor bunting — it would have been tough to find many that would have found it to be unsatisfactory.

The presser was far from Francona’s first, thus he kept the promises within obtainable territory and later followed through on his words. That may serve as a terrible way to remember to swap smoke alarm batteries, but it’s proven to be a worthwhile way to select a manager.

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