Antonetti wasn’t surprised when Francona hinted retirement
This story was excerpted from Mandy Bell’s Guardians Beat publication. To learn the total publication, click on right here. And subscribe to get it frequently in your inbox.
After Guardians supervisor Terry Francona hinted at presumably retiring on the finish of the season, president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti figured it will be greatest to make himself accessible to the media.
No, he wasn’t able to say it will be Francona’s final season, both. It’s clear that Francona doesn’t need it to be official — if it’s going to be official — till the final sport is performed when the eye he’ll inevitably get gained’t be taken away from his staff.
But there have been nonetheless questions Antonetti may reply — both about Francona or the staff, itself. Here’s a take a look at some matters he mentioned.
Q: What had been your ideas about Francona hinting at retirement?
Antonetti: I imply, Tito, [general manager] Mike [Chernoff] and I speak on a regular basis. There’s not a day that goes by that we’re not speaking a number of instances a day. We speak about issues which are on his thoughts daily: How he’s feeling, what he’s feeling. So, there was nothing stunning to me or us [on Tuesday].
Q: Do you will have plans for when Francona finally retires? Are you bringing any person inside your group?
Antonetti: Nothing particular. I believe it’s fairly clear in our preferences that we needed Tito [to] handle right here and handle right here so long as he’s in a position to and it doesn’t battle along with his general well-being and happiness. If there ever got here a cut-off date the place his well-being, his achievement, his well being began to battle with the job, we must relook at issues at that time and begin interested by what’s subsequent. The most essential factor, I believe, I care about essentially the most is Tito’s life after this, after baseball. We wish to make certain he’s nicely positioned to get pleasure from each second along with his youngsters and his grandkids for a very long time.
Q: How essential is it — that open line of communication — that if he decides to retire, that you just’ve bought a bit of little bit of time to organize?
Antonetti: I imply, the fact is, proper now, all of our focus is on the subsequent six weeks of normal season video games. That’s all we are able to do. All we are able to do through the season is attempt to put together and win as many video games as we are able to and assist this group develop. Once we get to the offseason, there’s a brand new set of issues that we’ll be centered on and, at that time, we’ll revisit issues with Tito, see the place his head is and take the suitable steps.
Q: Switching again to baseball, as you guys attempt to consider younger gamers: Brayan Rocchio, Tyler Freeman and Gabriel Arias, what are you looking for or what do it’s good to know over the subsequent six weeks?
Antonetti: Getting them sport at-bats and seeing how they proceed to work, develop and enhance. I’d say every of those guys, the trail we’re at the moment on, all of them will proceed to be within the group all through the course of the winter, into Spring Training subsequent yr and past. So, we don’t should make any type of definitive selections within the subsequent few weeks — on the finish of the season. Our job is to assist them every be the most effective every of them can presumably be. If we try this nicely sufficient, hopefully we now have various nice choices, and there’s some nice competitions.
Q: Do you see Xzavion Curry extra as a starter or reliever?
Antonetti: He’s saved us in a whole lot of methods. I imply, he was a essential member of the bullpen when he was pitching in that function. Then, a staff want dictated that he would get some beginning alternatives and has performed an amazing job with that. Having a pitcher like that that’s able to succeeding in both function is admittedly invaluable to us as we take a look at constructing not simply the stability of this yr’s staff however subsequent yr’s.
Q: What have you ever considered the way in which the staff has responded because the Trade Deadline?
Antonetti: I don’t suppose the outcomes and the wins and losses are essentially reflective of how guys proceed to work, how a lot they care, how exhausting they put together and the way a lot they care about one another. So, the setting across the staff is similar to what it’s been up to now. It’s a bunch of fellows that care deeply about one another and exit and attempt to play the sport as greatest as they will. We acknowledge the outcomes haven’t been nearly as good as any of us would’ve hoped however there’s not been a change in dynamic or lack of effort.
