With important pieces moving around within the Cleveland Indians organization–namely Mark Shapiro leaving to take the GM position in Toronto–some began wondering if that signaled the end for Terry Francona. A minority of fans thought Francona might use his “out clause”–similar to what Joe Maddon did in leaving the Rays to join the Cubs–while others pointed to the fact new GM’s generally like to have “their guy”.
Cleveland Indians
At that time, the Indians appeared to be out of the race and talk was shifting to what would happen in the offseason.