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MLB WINTER MEETINGS

December 12, 2018

Terry Francona

Las Vegas, Nevada

Q. You're losing so many guys, free agents, potentially, and kind of core guys. Do you worry about kind of leadership or maybe the culture changing in the clubhouse?
TERRY FRANCONA: I think it's our responsibility, whoever we have, to not just -- like you talked about the culture. Okay, maybe it changes, names are going to change. That's the way the game is. But when we leave Goodyear with 25 guys, and we're gonna, we need to not ever have that be an excuse, oh, we might have a few new guys, or this or that.

That's why we worked so hard at it in Spring Training, to build a base, and we'll do it again. You're right, we may not know yet who some of those names are. And it looks like this year we may have some turnover, maybe more than we've had in the past. But that will never be an excuse.

Q. Does the burden fall on you as the manager, maybe, initially, before the players mesh?
TERRY FRANCONA: I think it always does. I think you try to set a tone in how we're going to carry ourselves and what we want to be as a team. And then the more the players carry that out, the more meaningful it is. But that's the idea. That's why we try to talk about it every single day of Spring Training.

Q. Some of the names maybe popping up in trade rumors are names like Corey Kluber, probably, haven't heard his name much over the years. Have you reached out to any of the guys who might be --
TERRY FRANCONA: I texted with Klubs a couple weeks ago. I texted with most of them just to say hi, and I'm sitting around here, up there, and I really don't have much to do. So I just say hello to guys.

I mean, I've seen the rumors. I would say so far 99.9 are not correct. I mean, Chris and Cherny talk to every team. They do their due diligence, but I think that some of this stuff just -- it's the Winter Meetings. It gets a life of its own; that's just the way it is.

Q. Chris kind of talked to this yesterday, he hopes the fans can look at the track record you guys have established over the past several years, give them some -- might be skeptical about the future of where you guys are going, just how much -- just speaking of the job that the front office has done, how much faith should the fans feel --
TERRY FRANCONA: Well, I know I have faith. I know like we're sitting up there and I'm listening to all these conversations that they're having, and it kind of made me think about like when a game's over how they respond with me, through maybe some difficult times or frustrating nights.

They're always so supportive. So I kind of just try to be supportive because this is their area and they're good at it. And they've proven they're good at it. And at some times under some challenging circumstances, but they're trying to keep us healthy, competitive for the future. For next year, for the year after that, for the year after that.

And in my opinion they've done an outstanding job the last six years. But that doesn't mean you stop. You don't rest on your laurels. You don't -- but at least in my opinion I've got a lot of confidence in how they do things.

Q. There's been a lot of talk about the impact of the manager in today's game, a lot of guys getting jobs and stuff. How have you seen that change? Is it any less, from your point of view, your impact on a game, especially in the season in games?
TERRY FRANCONA: I hope not. Sometimes I think people -- and you don't want to toot your own horn because I don't think that makes sense. But I think people that maybe say that don't quite understand the game, though, very much.

I think sometimes like for guys that haven't been in a game, if you're in the dugout, it can go kind of fast. It can go kind of quick.

But it's more than just -- the baseball part's easy. There's a lot -- keeping 25 guys that live together for about eight months going in one direction, that's probably the biggest thing.

Q. Has your job changed or how has it changed when you first started?
TERRY FRANCONA: There's certainly more information. So trying to decipher what you want, what's pertinent, what helps, what clutters, because that can get in the way sometimes.

And our guys do a good job of knowing what information that really helps me and getting it to me in a way that makes it applicable during a game or during a series.

Q. Within a game, are there times when you know the numbers and you know what your gut's saying; are there times where you're kind of battling those two?
TERRY FRANCONA: No, I'm not real comfortable talking about gut decisions. And the only reason I say that is because, I mean, I know there's times where the numbers don't add up. But you also need to know your people. And that's where I think -- I think maybe that's what guys are referring to when they say their gut.

You're betting on your people. And it's a long season. So in a game in April, yeah, it might not be a good matchup, but you need this guy in October.

So you let them maybe fail a few times and maybe they start to figure it out. You feel obligated to know the numbers, but you also feel obliged to never forget that you're dealing with people.

Q. Has the player or manager -- when you were a player do you communicate more with players than when you were a player?
TERRY FRANCONA: Yeah. Should I get in an elevator with Dick Williams he wouldn't say hello to you. I think it's for the good though. The reason we're doing this is because of the players and the majority of the time they're so much fun to be around. There's times when you're in charge you've got to tell somebody something they don't want to hear. But for the majority of the time -- and they're fun to be around. Make you feel a little younger than maybe you're supposed to.

Q. If you guys make some of these moves that are rumored, do you think the division, the AL Central, is kind of opening up? I mean, the other four teams are getting closer to you guys?
TERRY FRANCONA: I don't think I can answer that question the way you ask it. I don't think we're going to do anything to try to make us worse. That's the best way I think I can answer it. They're trying to balance some things, which I think Chris has talked to you guys about probably every day. But we're never trying to not get better. Just try to do it different ways.

Q. Speaking of division, can we just get your impressions on the White Sox from the outside looking in, what do you think they have going for them for the future?
TERRY FRANCONA: I get a little bit cautious. I don't need to judge other organizations. Somebody asked me about another manager. I feel like I have my hands so full doing my job here, you hate to start evaluating other organizations. I will say Rick Hahn does a really good job.

I get mad when people are critical of Jerry Reinsdorf. If you ask anybody that ever worked for Jerry, I'd be willing to bet that nobody's ever been critical of him that's ever worked for him.

Q. There's been some more talk about the idea of eliminating the shift, how that might -- do you have any thoughts about that element of it?
TERRY FRANCONA: Yeah, and I may be in the minority now. I don't think you can dictate to teams competitive things. You know what I mean? You hear me say it sometimes, the unintended consequences. I think the game makes its changes sometimes they're a little slower than maybe you'd like.

Hitters are going to adjust. I don't think we've seen it quick enough in our game, but it will happen. And you'll see hitters earning, making players play them more straight up. You know it just hasn't happened yet.

We went through this with launch angle and underball that hitters have forgotten the basics of fundamental hitting, but I think you'll see guys getting back to that. So I hate to reward guys who don't use the field by making a rule change. If we did that every time, our game would be all over the map.

Q. How much of that is what people intend the shift to do to offense, do you think it's more related to pitching nowadays and so many guys that can throw so hard and it's difficult just to string three hits together now as opposed to just hitting one over the fence?
TERRY FRANCONA: Yeah, but, I mean, if you're talking about stringing three hits together, the best way to do that is to use the whole field. That's why you see the guys that hit .300. If you look at their hit chart or the statistics, they're never the guys that are at the top of the league in exit velocity. Like Jose Ramirez, Altuve, those guys. They're in the second hundred because they use the whole field. Doesn't mean that they just scald every ball, but they get the barrel to it and they move the ball around the field. That's why they're so successful.

Q. Jose, he's been shown to be a very competent guy and can get over situations where he might go through a tough stretch. Finishing the season the way he did, how confident that that won't linger for him moving into next year?
TERRY FRANCONA: No. You've all seen him enough. He went through a really tough time. Hitters, pitchers do that. He's one of the best players in the game. I mean, he ended up being, what, third in the MVP voting? That's an incredible accomplishment. Wouldn't surprise me if he wins it at some point.

Q. You guys have to replace [inaudible]?
TERRY FRANCONA: We're talking through that. Obviously the guys have a lot on their plate. We're kind of split whether we will this year or not.

Q. If you did, did you like the role, the responsibilities he had, or might it depend on the person you hire fitting to them?
TERRY FRANCONA: I would say both. One thing it did during the game, it took the outfield responsibilities off of Millsy. It's helpful to him. He's got me in his ear the whole time. If he has to do one more thing, that makes it hard on him.

The other thing that Bud did, there's no job too small for Bud, which is -- not everybody can do that, which is really good. We didn't want to turn him into a secretary, because that's not fair.

But he also, like I said, there was no job that was too small. So that was really helpful, and it's a big compliment to him.

We're trying to figure out is there a guy that makes sense, and, if so, do we do it or do we wait a year. That's the things we're throwing around.

Q. When you look at the outfield, I know there's a kind of -- it's fluid, I guess. How do you see it?
TERRY FRANCONA: It is. You know what, the whole thing is fluid right now. Because so often one movement necessitates the next. Like where Kip plays. I mean, I know Naquin feels really good. And that's good, because that was hard for him what he had to go through. But he's in a really good place. Zim is coming. We know he's not going to be our centerfielder at the beginning of the year. But that doesn't mean that he won't be at some point.

Leonys is back. I think he's like six pounds from being where he was, which is a miracle in itself. There's a possibility that Kipnis plays the outfield. We've got Luplow from Pittsburgh.

So right now we've got names. Where they play, we don't know. Do we add? Who knows.

Q. How confident are you that Andrew Miller will bounce back, whoever he plays for?
TERRY FRANCONA: Oh, he'll be fine. I hope he goes to the National League. That's how confident I am he'll bounce back.

Q. Do you chalk up his year largely to the industries?
TERRY FRANCONA: Yeah.

Q. How do you view your bullpen now, potentially? Cody potentially leaving, the guys that are in -- some of the guys that were hurt last year coming back together, whether it's Danny or Cody Anderson, some of those other guys?
TERRY FRANCONA: For the first time probably since I've been in Cleveland, our bullpen was inconsistent, even the names you said, Cody having issues from time to time. Andrew wasn't always healthy. Neil Ramirez had a stretch where he was lights out. Then he had stretches where he wasn't. That's probably the hardest thing for a manager is when you don't know what you're going to get.

Even when certain guys, he can do this, but he really doesn't do this, okay, try to stay away. When you don't know, that makes it hard. I think we're going to get a healthy Nick Goody back. That will help.

I think Edwards is a huge sleeper. He was pitching well enough last year where he had probably earned the right to be on the playoff roster. I think we thought enough about him and his future and what he's been through to not put him on the roster, and we told him that. Just because he had been rehabbing for a year and a half, to throw innings with that kind of intensity at that time of year, we didn't think was fair to him. We think he might actually be a really good bullpen guy.

I think Cimber was a typical guy that came in, tried to do too much. So conscientious that it probably hurt him a little bit. He's going to be good. And Hand is one of the better pitchers in the game.

And we know that we have some work to do out there still. Perez kind of saved -- I mean, he made -- it's amazing when one guy pitches that well how much it affects everybody else.

Q. Do you think of your bullpen now, not just the seven, eight guys with you at any given time, but an 11- or 12-man group including people at Triple-A to cycle through?
TERRY FRANCONA: What do you mean by that?

Q. Like people with options to keep arms fresh, do you --
TERRY FRANCONA: It's nice to have some flexibility. I don't think you want to fall in love with that too much, because then you start getting in the way of the identity of your team, and we certainly try to keep that in mind. But it is nice to have a guy or two that if your starter goes one inning, you don't have to release somebody or designate somebody that you can send to Triple-A.

Chris and I usually grab those guys at the end of Spring Training and walk them through it. So if and when it does happen, it's not just a huge shock to them.

Q. Antonetti said that Salazar's scheduled to start throwing again this week. I know it's obviously a little bit early, but what are your expectations for him come spring?
TERRY FRANCONA: He's thrown a couple times. We saw a little video of him yesterday. He's just out to 90 feet right now. Now, it's still nice to see a guy have a ball in his hand and throwing.

Where this goes and the timetable is going to be completely up to Danny. But it will be fun to watch the progression. And when we see him on the mound again, that's going to be exciting for us, for sure.

Q. Longevity is one of the big reasons that Harold Baines was elected in the Hall of Fame. He played long enough to get over 2700 hits. [Inaudible] Vazquez played long enough to get over 1200 hits. How much should longevity matter when you're assessing a player's career?
TERRY FRANCONA: I really don't sit and assess. I'm like a fan probably like everybody else. But I spend so much time trying to figure out how the Indians are going to be good that I don't look at those things close enough to have a great opinion.

I think longevity in our game is something that it's so hard to do that I think you have to take it into account because it's not -- the older you get, the harder you have to work just to maintain what you can do, not just to get better. Because as you age, we've all seen, it's harder to do things than when you're 22 or 23.

Q. With Chris Tremie moving on, I know he's been there a long time, you guys really had a good relationship and it's important for the Triple-A manager, how crucial is that to hire the right kind of guy?
TERRY FRANCONA: I think we're going to be in a good position. I know we haven't officially done anything yet. I'm also happy for Trem. He's going to a place where -- Buddy Bell had a big influence in Trem as a young player; now he's going to have another influence in him, with him again and work with him. So I'm happy for Trem. I'm confident we'll be in a good spot when the time comes to make an announcement.

Q. In baseball it's been hard just to get back to the World Series, never mind repeating as champion. What's a challenge as a manager when your team's had a lot of success when you come back the following year?
TERRY FRANCONA: Well, the first thing is the challenges are -- first of all, there's the same ones you always have, that it's really hard to win. And then on top of that, you have, if you have to fight the human nature of guys wanting to relive, it's human nature. Is that helping you get better? Probably not. But it's human nature. So getting them to be as hungry as they were the year before, that can be a challenge.

Some teams maybe it isn't. But maybe some teams it is.

Q. Apparently it is because it's been a long time since anybody's been able to repeat?
TERRY FRANCONA: It's not just that. It's hard to win. Like even when you have -- if you haven't won, the challenge -- I mean, one team is standing at the end, it's hard. To do it a couple years in a row it's unbelievably hard.

Q. When you were trying to beat that challenge, was there anything you tried to do differently in Spring Training to create that environment that you wanted?
TERRY FRANCONA: You know what, I don't necessarily -- it's been quite a while. We try to instill on the first day of camp, regardless of what happened the year before, whether it ended bad or good, hey, we need to learn from whatever we did and move on, because once that -- it's not going to help anymore, that's the biggest thing.

Q. How proud were you to see David and Alex in the World Series?
TERRY FRANCONA: Yeah, that was cool. That was cool. And to see how Alex has handled himself with so much humility and grace, and not surprising, but it's kind of fun to watch.

Q. You saw the Tampa Bay Rays win 90 games despite their manager?
TERRY FRANCONA: I like the way you say that.

Q. You watched what they did with the pitching staff, and other people have thought it's a good idea to see it continue. Other people think it's not such a good idea, there's ramifications and it's hard to do it during the regular season. You did it similarly in the postseason. Where do you see that going?
TERRY FRANCONA: I think it's going to be team by team. I think there's a couple things that have to happen for that to work. One, I think you have to have a younger staff just because of your pay structure.

If you think about it, to have -- if you have 12-man pitching staffs and they're veterans, you get my point there, it's not going to work.

Q. You're not going to [inaudible] in the second inning tomorrow?
TERRY FRANCONA: I don't think teams can even afford it. You know what I'm saying. Now, they also have 12 really -- they had really good pitching. They had different looks, lefty, righty, hard, soft. So for that to work -- like they were going to be a good pitching staff anyway.

The way they employed it really was challenging for other teams. But most of the reason is because of who they had pitching. They were pretty good.

I don't think they got enough credit for being good.

Q. Do you think many other teams will copy that, I mean your division have talked about it already?
TERRY FRANCONA: I don't know. I think if it makes sense, you know -- but if you're like top heavy with starters, like -- your job as a manager is to use your club's strengths and try not to let maybe the weaknesses, try to stay away. So I don't know that if you have a Kluber a Carrasco, Bauer, that's one of our strengths. We want to use that.

Q. All the rumors about trading, pitching, you locked up Carrasco. How pleasant was that feeling to know that he's going to be around a little bit longer for you?
TERRY FRANCONA: I think that maybe goes to the very first question of how we plan to -- we're not going backwards. We don't want to go backwards. We want to continue to try to give ourselves a chance to win.

And Carrasco wanting to be here, not grabbing every last top dollar, allowed that to happen. So I'm thrilled. Carlos has turned into one of the top probably 10 pitchers in baseball.

Q. We've seen more and more young managers hired in this game, a lot of them played for you. But one of the secrets of adapting as a manager and being able to stay not just in this industry but as a general manager. Not many jobs but it's tough to stay. You talked about player over the duration, but how do you do as a manager?
TERRY FRANCONA: First thing, you've got to be true to yourself. I mean, you're always trying to learn, which is good. But you've got to be true to your own personality. If you're not, players see right through it. They might not be all have gone to Ivy League schools. But if you're not being true to yourself, they'll sense it right now. And you might as well just move on because it's not going to work.

So whatever your personality is, you've got to be -- and when you go into a job interview, you can't perjure yourself, because if you do, okay, it might be a great interview, but then you've got to coexist with those people for hopefully years. That's not going to work very well.

So be honest with how you feel and try to align yourself with people that you can go through challenges with, because you're going to get challenged, whoever you are. And then that's when it works.

Q. Do you think that translates down to the clubhouse as well to the players, do you think that's why you've got so many former players now who somewhere along the way picked up on some of that?
TERRY FRANCONA: You know what, sometimes I think it's just -- I think I've been fortunate that I've been around so many good people, players, front office, that I think sometimes I've gotten credit for things when it's maybe the other way around. Maybe those guys helped me along the way and they're just really good.

Q. Has your offseason preparation changed over the years with the way the game has evolved?
TERRY FRANCONA: Not a ton. I use a computer now. I didn't used to. I guess that's changed. Now, I don't use it very well.

No, I mean, I usually take a little break, and then I start to wander back into looking at things we want to do in Spring Training, start to look at the guys that are coming to Spring Training that aren't our mainstays -- the younger players, the six-year Minor free agents -- to make sure we're up to speed on all that.

When they walk through the doors, we want them to know we know who they are and that they feel respected. And I talk to Millsy all the time about do we want to do anything different in Spring Training, things like that. But not too much.

Q. When it comes to relievers, generally, and the year-to-year volatility, why do you think that happens?
TERRY FRANCONA: Because the guys that are pitching well usually have a tendency of getting used a lot. That's just the way the game is. And sometimes that wear and tear, it takes -- they have a good year; sometimes bad year, good year, bad year. Some of the guys -- like Cody Allen went five straight years before he had a little bit of a hiccup. That's hard to do.

It happens from time to time. Bryan Shaw, this year, probably his first hiccup. I wouldn't be shocked if he comes back and is back to being Bryan.

Q. How much does it help to have confidence in rest and lost to be able to that?
TERRY FRANCONA: That's why we were able to do that, [inaudible] didn't swing the bat like he can last year. We know that. But his ability to run the game -- that's the biggest reason. And not only his willingness but his pride of running a game and keeping a pitcher going, we know that that's his strength. And that will only grow.

And we love Haase's development. Now, is he going to be the back -- no, we don't know that yet. But it's going to be fun to watch him compete to do that because he's put himself in a place where he's ready to compete for that.

Q. How tough was it to see Gomes go?
TERRY FRANCONA: It's hard to see anybody go. I think it's unrealistic that you don't have turnover. I think we've actually had probably far less than most teams.

But at some point you get to a point in the progression where there's going to be some turnover, that's just the reality of it. And it doesn't have to be bad. Now, we have to do it right, and that's hard. I listen to those guys up there, man, it's like I was saying earlier, I'm trying to be how they are with me after a game, because I see how hard they're grinding.

Q. Touching on the manager longevity piece, how much did you talk to Mickey Callaway last year through the ups and downs of his first season as a manager?
TERRY FRANCONA: Not a ton. I check in with him all the time because he's my friend. But I don't think -- we don't talk about you should have done this -- he knows how he feels.

He's my friend. I care about him. So I'd send him a note every once in a while. More often funny than serious. But this is his turn to do what he thinks is right. Does that make sense?

Q. Your first Winter Meetings with the Indians is kind of when you guys laid the ground work for the Bauer trade. Do you remember -- like obviously now you're sitting up there, you're so familiar with those guys, do you remember what it was like going through that?
TERRY FRANCONA: I can remember sitting in a room with Chris after our meeting had broken up. And he was sitting at a desk just about like this but there was nobody in the suite. So I kind of hung around, because we were frustrated.

We're looking up and we're like, man, we didn't have -- we didn't seem to have much pitching. We weren't really having a whole lot of luck finding ways to get it. And I know he was down.

So I kind of just hung around hey, can I do anything, can I help you with anything. And we talked for a while. And then all of a sudden things kind of changed. They swung that three-way deal with Trev and Shaw.

Q. [Inaudible]?
TERRY FRANCONA: Yes. And that was probably the first bigger move. Then all of a sudden you've got Gomes coming, Avila. I thought they did an incredible job. And then the players, all of a sudden Kluber works his way into being at times the best pitcher in baseball. Carrasco. It's been fun to see, because you don't always know who's going to be good. But now we're seeing Bieber, he's starting to show his way into, okay, you got to the Big Leagues, what's the next step, it's fun to watch.

Q. After undergoing surgery, really nobody in baseball has before, how much are you rooting for Dustin?
TERRY FRANCONA: Probably more than anybody else. I've been pretty vocal about how special he is. If anybody can do something, it's him and if he can't, it will be because of the way he played for so long that it just beat the crap out of him. But, no, I'll be pulling for him like crazy.

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