5 Cleveland Guardians manager candidates if Terry Francona actually retires

It has hardly been a secret that Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona's time at the helm seemed like it could be coming to an end soon. Francona's health issues dating back to the 2021 brought into focus the fact that Francona has been doing this for a long time and many wondered just how much longer he was going to stick around as great as he has been.

Those thoughts came back in full force with Francona's comments yesterday that he could retire after the 2023 season. He did not say explicitly that he was going to be done after this season, but Francona did talk a lot about the toll the life of a manager has taken on his body and how much medical work it is going to take this offseason to even get close to ready to come back. It didn't take much reading between the lines to see that Francona is seriously considering calling it a career.

Things could change, of course. However, in the event that Francona does indeed call it quits, it is fair to wonder who would take over for him as the Guardians' skipper.

Here are 5 managerial candidates for the Guardians if Terry Francona actually retires this time

One thing to keep in mind this early in the process is that it isn't known who is actually going to be available on the job market. Coaches are going to get fired after the season most certainly and others are going to move around to different positions in other organizations which will cause all sorts of dominoes to fall. This is purely an early look at some intriguing options and not guys you should expect Cleveland to be on the phone with in the next couple of days.

Let's take a look at some of the manager candidates options that Cleveland could target if/when Terry Francona actually retires.