CLEVELAND -- The Indians felt like they caught a break when veteran pitching coach Carl Willis accepted a job with Triple-A Columbus heading into this season. Cleveland knew -- given Willis' wealth of experience -- that a Major League opportunity might present itself for him at some point.
"Not this quick," Indians manager Terry Francona said with a laugh on Saturday.
While the move has not yet been made official, Willis will take over as the pitching coach for the Red Sox, who parted ways with Juan Nieves on Thursday. That left an immediate void on Cleveland's Triple-A coaching staff, but the Indians were not about to stand in Willis' way for the big league job with Boston.