CLEVELAND _ In the wake of the excitement and disappointment of their Game 7 loss to the Chicago Cubs in the World Series, the Indians now are set to head into the offseason.
Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and general manger Mike Chernoff held their end-of-the-season meeting with reporters on Friday afternoon, detailing their current situation and potential plans for the winter.
Friday morning, the team announced it has exercised the club options in manager Terry Francona's contract for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
In his four years in Cleveland, Francona has guided the Indians to four winning seasons, two postseason appearances, one American League Central title and the recent run to the World Series. He's also expected to be named AL Manager of the Year and has garnered universal praise for his work with the Indians pitching staff this October.
Antonetti said Francona did a "masterful" job this past season. He's now officially under contract through 2020.
"I mean really throughout the regular season, the postseason, the way in which Tito is constantly thinking about how to place individual players in a place to be successful to most impact the team is extraordinary," Antonetti said. "And as high as our expectations were for Tito when we hired him, he's gone beyond that. Having a chance to work with him and work alongside him every day, it's really fortunate to have him."
The Indians also promoted Carter Hawkins and Matt Forman to assistant general manager to replace Derek Falvey, who left to be the Minnesota Twins' chief baseball officer. Hawkins, previously the director of player development, will continue to oversee that area. Forman, previously the director of baseball operations, will continue to oversee many aspects of player acquisition and scouting. Both will now have larger voices in other areas.
