Indians extend Terry Francona’s contract through 2022

On the heels of multiple MLB teams inking their top players to new contracts in recent days, the Cleveland Indians must have been dealing with a serious case of FOMO and decided to get in on the action, finalizing an extension with Francisco Lindor manager Terry Francona.

The deal signs Tito through 2022. His previous contract would have expired after the 2020 season. If he fulfills his new contract, Francona will have been the longest tenured manager in team history, besting the nine years Lou Boudreau spent at the helm.

Francona, 59, is in his seventh season with the Tribe. Over that span, he has amassed an overall record of 972-547, led the team to six consecutive winning seasons, collected three consecutive division titles, and secured a trip to the World Series in 2016.

In their Tweet announcing the extension, the Indians made a reference to Walt Whitman’s poem, “Oh Captain! My Captain!” Literary aficionados will point out that this is somewhat of an ominous reference, considering the poem was a metaphor written in the wake of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Personally, I initially interpreted it as more of a reference to Dead Poets Society, but that film also ended with the “captain” being fired.

I’m clearly reading too much into it, but I am unnerved nonetheless.