The most successful postseason manager in the history of baseball has agreed to a contract extension to stay with the Red Sox through at least 2011.
Francona, who has a .710 winning percentage in the playoffs (minimum 20 games), acknowledged that talks got a little rocky at some points but in the end, it got solved.
He’ll be among the upper echelon of managers in terms of highest salary, as he certainly deserves after leading the team to two World Series titles in four years and bringing stability to a position often known for it’s instability.
As I mentioned earlier this off-season, I think Francona is one of the greatest managers in the game.
The ESPN/Associated Press story had some great nuggets about Francona:
Epstein studied that and decided that Francona had learned a lot from managing a team with mediocre talent.
“But for that experience in Philly, he wouldn’t be the manager that he is today for us,” Epstein said. …
Despite being the most successful manager over the past four years, Francona, who prefers to deflect praise to his players, hasn’t gotten the national recognition that comes with such accomplishments, third baseman Mike Lowell said.
“I think he was underpaid for a couple of years, too,” Lowell said. “He’s not that outspoken guy where he says what he did, but he has his own way of allowing guys to maximize their talent. I actually view that as a strength.”
It’s great to hear that Francona’s going to be around at least through 2011 and potentially for the next decade should his option years be picked up. While I can’t sit here and project out the next four years, I can’t fathom a scenario where the Sox feel it’s time to move on from Francona. There is an adage that after too much time, the players stop responding to managers and their styles. This is true of most managers, but not great managers. I firmly believe Francona is a great manager and look forward to him breaking Joe Cronin’s record as longest tenured manager (1935—1947).
Cy Young winner joins Red Sox
The 2005 A.L. Cy Young winner is now a member of the Red Sox, having inked a minor league deal with the club. If Colon makes the big-league roster, he’ll earn a little over a million dollars. Having someone who went 21-8 with a 3.48 ERA in his Cy Young year with major innings (he’s always been a workhorse until recently) is a bonus to the staff, but only if utilized correctly.
Colon has struggled majorly the last two years with injuries and reports are that he’s lost all speed on his fastball, making him eminently hittable. The reports have him hitting 88-91 which is doable if he has strong secondary pitches, but Colon has so far lived and died with his fastball. Teams were scared off by his work in the Caribbean Series (as they should be) and now he’s settling for a minor league deal.
Having veterans who clearly know how to pitch is definitely a great thing. But Colon’s at the point where he should be looked at as a fallback. I have no problem with him coming in to camp to push Clay Buchholz for the No. 5 spot in the rotation, but I’ll be deathly scared of the decision-making prowess of Francona and Epstein if they’re actually banking on him defeating Buchholz to open the season in Pawtucket.
Colon should be a safey net. If Buchholz or Lester completely blows up in April, you bring Colon up. If Colon is still with the club after May 1 (I’m assuming he has the standard May 1 opt-out clause if he’s not in the major leagues) and injury strikes, you call him up. If the Red Sox want to send Buchholz down in July just to limit his innings and Schilling’s not back yet, you call Colon up. It will allow the Red Sox to get a viable glimpse at Colon at the Triple-A level without harming the Sox’s chances at repeating as World Series champions. Last year showed us how important it is to get off to a fast start.
Job security for a manager and more pitching depth. Not a bad day at work.
Loading ...
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
[...] deal is minor league in nature, including no guaranteed money. Fire Brand of the American League puts the potential cash outlay should Colon make the major league roster at around a [...]
It’s about time Boston got to signing Francona. This should have been made in the off-season. He has done a very good job with that team since he was their manager. At first, I thought it was an interesting hire when he got hired, but he has proved everyone wrong.
You meant to say, “the most successful postseason manager in the history of Boston baseball,” didn’t you? Because much as I like Terry Francona and how he’s shepherded the Olde Towne Team to the Promised Land twice in four years, I wouldn’t exactly bump Casey Stengel and his a) five consecutive World Series rings, or b) seven rings out of ten pennants to one side just yet.
As for Tortilla Fats, well, good luck to him. If he has anything left—a dubious proposition considering he has indeed lived and died with the fastball that isn’t so fast or mobile any longer—he could well enough be a solid insurance policy. If.
—Jeff
Well, he didn’t get the Torre-like deal I thought he’d get, but ots a good deal. I think this solidifies that the Sox will be a force for a few more years… maybe even a dynatsy…!??
As for Colon, if he bumps Jules into the pen, it would give us depth in both areas, I just hope he doesn’t slow down Buchholz’s development…
An spring training injury report on Baseball Prospectus today by Will Carroll…
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7166
Interesting and kind of sad situation with Anibal Sanchez, I forgot that his problems (Labrum surgery) started after the no-hitter…kind of scary to think back on Clay’s shoulder problems last fall, not to long after going deeper then the club would have preferred to get the no-hitter. Not saying his fatuigue or issues were directly a result of that outing, just makes you glad the team was cautious and will continue to be so…sounds like Anibal is still having problems. At the time of the deal Anibal was the piece I was most upset about losing, Hanley seemed to have the maturity/defense issues and he was all projection as his minor league totals certainly did not suggest his current MLB output (although he was young for the levels he was playing at and I did think he would be good).
“Job security for a manager and more pitching depth. Not a bad day at work.”
—
That’s awesome.
Life is good as we Sox fans live high on on the hog here in Hog Heaven, located on Easy Street in Fat City.
Bravo Theo, you have made 99% of fans, coaching staff and team very happy. Good decision.
Congrats and Salud, Tito. Ever more success to you. May you and your crew win 1,000 more games.
And please, Tito, please don’t even think of bringing up S. Colon based on his “potential”. We have solid depth beyond Buckholz/Tavarez as 5th and 6th man . . . Hansack, Snyder, Pauley, Burns, Martinez are all better choices right now; as will be Schill and/or Masterson after ASB.
If Bartolo is to help, and we hope he can pull it together in MiLB, he must be healthy, and performing near his old self to warrant advancing him beyond these guys.
Please, treat him as you would if you had signed Rich Harden (I wish you would), as a long term project with huge potoential. With care on our part and hard work on his part, he could, as Evan said, be a big help down the road, this year and beyond. But if not, he could hurt us the way Gagne did. We don’t need that nightmare ever again.