Francona gets contract extension

[Mike D.]

through 2008. Seems well deserved to me.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2006/03/14/red_sox_manager_gets_contract_extension_through_20 08/

[RedSoxVT92]

Im glad he will be staying in Boston for a little longer. Real good manager with the Red Sox, not so great with the phillies though. He does deserve it i mean he helped bring home bostons first world sereis since 1918.

[KCGHOST]

Managers with horses get extensions. Managers without horses get to take extended walks off short piers.

[Mike D.]

Managers with horses get extensions. Managers without horses get to take extended walks off short piers.

In this case, I think it's "a manager who works well within a system gets an extention". Sure, he's had a lot of talent to work with, but he's bought into Theo Epstein and ownership's way of doing things.

[DoubleX]

Good for him. I would have thought that after the WS Win, he would have been extended indefinitely right there and then. :)

[Mike D.]

Good for him. I would have thought that after the WS Win, he would have been extended indefinitely right there and then. :)

Ha ha....thankfully Sox management is a bit less sentimental than some of the fan base. :D

Franconia was one of the lowest paid managers, and this new deal remedies that, which I think is more than fair.

[SoxSon]

I like Francona (and think he is a likeable guy), but I'm not sure I'm buying that he had a whole lot to do with 2004's outcome.

[pesky6]

Managers with horses get extensions. Managers without horses get to take extended walks off short piers.

I agree. Just look at Joe Torre. Didn't do much of anything before joining the Yankees, and now he'll probably be elected to the hall of fame. If you've got the talent to manage, you smell like roses. If you don't, you smell like $h!t.

[Mike D.]

I like Francona (and think he is a likeable guy), but I'm not sure I'm buying that he had a whole lot to do with 2004's outcome.

Well, unlike Grady Little in 2003, he at least didn't screw it up. Once a team's in the playoffs, that's about all you can ask of your manager.

He worked well with the talent he was given in the system he had.

They had a good regular season team that was able to fight out of a tough spot in 2004 playoffs to win the WS.

[SoxSon]

Well, unlike Grady Little in 2003, he at least didn't screw it up. Once a team's in the playoffs, that's about all you can ask of your manager.

He worked well with the talent he was given in the system he had.

They had a good regular season team that was able to fight out of a tough spot in 2004 playoffs to win the WS.

Agreed, Mike. At least in Boston, Little was a below average in-game manager, IMO. I lost count of the number of decisions he made that I disagreed with...and I mean long before the decision.
Francona was fine by comparison.

[YOUgodofwalks]

I like Francona, I think he handles the team and Boston well and deserves an extension.

In his first two seasons he's averaged 96.5 wins per season, I'll just say 96. If he keeps that up (and assuming he finishes his contract, not a likely proposition in Boston) he'll have a total of 481 wins as Red Sox manager. That would put him 4th all time on the Wins list for Sox managers, ahead of Jimmy Collins and 8 behind Bill Carrigan for third. But, that would mean he managed for 5 years and only 5 managers have lasted that long in the entirety of Red Sox history.

Not a prediction or anything, just felt like throwing that up there.

[DoubleX]

I like Francona (and think he is a likeable guy), but I'm not sure I'm buying that he had a whole lot to do with 2004's outcome.

I'm inclined to agree with that. Kind of right place at the right time kind of thing, but nothing will change the fact that he was at the helm when the curse was broken.

[efin98]

It's good that the team extended his contract because if he is anything like his predecessors he possibly would have been gone after this year. Seriously.

Over the last 60 years the other guys on the Red Sox have brought the team a pennant or an ALCS championship and were gone within a few years. Come to think of it, this year is the average year for departure for managers who have gone to the World Series with the Red Sox- the last four guys left the team the during the second year or less after appearing in the series. Even the guys who made it to the ALCS or even the playoffs didn't last too long, the same thing happened to them.

I'm not saying that his departure was imminant, just saying that there is a trend there regarding prior managers who had success like him.

[efin98]

I'm inclined to agree with that. Kind of right place at the right time kind of thing, but nothing will change the fact that he was at the helm when the curse was broken.

"playing with another guy's players" comes to mind there. I think of it kind of like the 1996 New York Yankees- Buck Schowalter's players, Joe Torre's victory. Everything after that though is his team, just as last year and this year is Terry's team.

[DoubleX]

"playing with another guy's players" comes to mind there. I think of it kind of like the 1996 New York Yankees- Buck Schowalter's players, Joe Torre's victory. Everything after that though is his team, just as last year and this year is Terry's team.

There are similarities, but I think there were more changes between the '95 and '96 Yankees then between the '03 and '04 Sox. Torre was also a much more active manager during his first few years with the Yanks, kind of like Mike Scoscia with the Angels. There was a lot of small ball and emphasis on executing the little things. Unfortunately all that became lost as the players from the 90s left and were replaced by sluggers like Giambi and Sheffield. There really seems to be less managing by Torre in the past few years, and I think that has something to do with the no championships - the team lacks an on-field identity and strategy other than to swing for the fences.

I do see a lot of Sox games, but not enough to make a very good judgment of Francona. But from what I have seen, he does seem kind of passive as a manager, just kind of letting the pieces do their thing. I don't know though. What do Sox fans think of his in-game managing ability?

[efin98]

I do see a lot of Sox games, but not enough to make a very good judgment of Francona. But from what I have seen, he does seem kind of passive as a manager, just kind of letting the pieces do their thing. I don't know though. What do Sox fans think of his in-game managing ability?

I think he's laid back but does get fired up when he has to be. He lets the pitching coach handle the pitchers and the batting coach handle the batters, but he's the ultimate authority on the team.

[pesky6]

It's good that the team extended his contract because if he is anything like his predecessors he possibly would have been gone after this year. Seriously.

Over the last 60 years the other guys on the Red Sox have brought the team a pennant or an ALCS championship and were gone within a few years. Come to think of it, this year is the average year for departure for managers who have gone to the World Series with the Red Sox- the last four guys left the team the during the second year or less after appearing in the series. Even the guys who made it to the ALCS or even the playoffs didn't last too long, the same thing happened to them.

I'm not saying that his departure was imminant, just saying that there is a trend there regarding prior managers who had success like him.

But you also have to take into consideration what those teams did after they won the WS. . . not much. At least with this team, they made it to the playoffs the year after winning it all, despite a shaky bullpen and decent-but-not-great starting staff.

[efin98]

But you also have to take into consideration what those teams did after they won the WS. . . not much.

I wouldn't say that. A large number of those teams were still competitive during the years after getting or winning the World Series. The ones that weren't were naturally fired for mediocracy. And it's even worse than I thought- it goes all the way back to the first AL championship in 1903 when Jimmy Collins was managing the team. Every one of the managers left at most two years after getting to or winning the World Series. Odd coincidence, but something I am a bit concerned about...

At least with this team, they made it to the playoffs the year after winning it all, despite a shaky bullpen and decent-but-not-great starting staff.

They also got swept in three games by Chicago, so that's a big downturn from the years prior. If history holds true, the team will likely miss the playoffs and if not for the extention Francona would have been gone. The extention probably saved his butt for a few more years, despite winning the World Series...if they did it to other guys the team would do it to him.

[Mike D.]

There are similarities, but I think there were more changes between the '95 and '96 Yankees then between the '03 and '04 Sox.

Who changed on the Yankees, out of curiousity? The Sox added a new #1 starter (Schilling) and a new closer (Foulke) two BIG moves. They then made the move at the deadline that sent Nomar out and brought in Cabrera, Minky, etc. Seems like some pretty major personel moves.

[pesky6]

They also got swept in three games by Chicago, so that's a big downturn from the years prior. If history holds true, the team will likely miss the playoffs and if not for the extention Francona would have been gone. The extention probably saved his butt for a few more years, despite winning the World Series...if they did it to other guys the team would do it to him.

That is true, but remember, they had their backs against the wall in the '99 and '03 Div. Series. We were bound to get ousted in that fashion sooner or later.

[DoubleX]

Who changed on the Yankees, out of curiousity? The Sox added a new #1 starter (Schilling) and a new closer (Foulke) two BIG moves. They then made the move at the deadline that sent Nomar out and brought in Cabrera, Minky, etc. Seems like some pretty major personel moves.

- 1B changed from Don Mattingly to Tino Martinez
- 2B changed from Pat Kelly/Randy Velarde to Mariano Duncan (who had a big year in '96)
- SS changed from Tony Fernandez to Derek Jeter
- C changed from Mike Stanley to Joe Girardi
- LF changed from Gerald Williams to Tim Raines/Darryl Strawberry
- DH changed from Ruben Sierra to Cecil Fielder

- Kenny Rogers and Dwight Gooden were added to the rotation
- First full season with David Cone and Andy Pettite in the rotation
- First full season for Mariano Rivera
- Bullpen almost totally restructed to include Jeff Nelson, David Weathers, Grame Lloyd, Brian Boehringer, and Ramiro Mendoza

The only core holdovers were really:

3B: Wade Boggs (but even he saw his time cut into by the addition of Charlie Hayes in '96)
CF: Bernie Williams
RF: Paul O'Neill
C2: Jim Leyritz
SP: Jimmy Key
SP: David Cone (but '96 was first full year with Yankees)
SP: Andy Pettitte (but '96 was first full year in rotation)
SU: Mariano Rivera (but '96 was first full year with Yankees, he was a spot-starter in '95)
CL: John Wetteland

So in '96, the Yankees had new starters at 5 positions, a new DH, and 2 new starters but 4 starters having their first full season with the Yankees, new bench players, and a totally revamped bullpen with the exception of John Wetteland. Quite a bit of change actually.