Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona hints at retirement following the 2023 season - "I don't want to stay on for the wrong reasons"

Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona may be in his final season with the team. The longtime skipper has hinted at various points this season that he is unsure how long he can keep doing this.

Francona has a list of health issues that have kept him off the field in recent years. At the end of the 2021 season, he had to step away from the team after undergoing hip replacement surgery and placing a rod in his right leg.

In an interview with MLB Network Radio, Francona hinted at retirement following the 2023 season. His body is telling him it is time, and he has told the guys in the front office to start preparing to find another manager. He said:

"I don't want to stay on for the wrong reasons."

Terry Francona has spent 11 seasons with the Cleveland Guardians. During that time, he has brought a ton of success to the organization. Since signing on in 2013, the Guardians have made the postseason six times.

This season, Cleveland has its work cut out if it wants to make the postseason. It is second in the American League Central, six games behind the Minnesota Twins, who lead the division.

Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona has had an excellent career in the big leagues

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Before he was a coach, Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona was a player. He played his college ball at the University of Arizona, where he won the 1980 College World Series. Francona was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player and won the Golden Spikes Award.

He was drafted in the first round of the 1980 amateur draft by the Montreal Expos, where he stayed until 1985. After that, he became a journeyman, playing for the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians.

After his playing career ended, Francona started as a Philadelphia Phillies manager in 1997. The team had a few mediocre seasons, and he was fired following the 2000 season.

The Boston Red Sox hired him in 2004 and they won the World Series that very year. He stayed in Boston until 2011 and won another championship in 2007. The Guardians hired Francona in 2012.

If this is Francona's last season, he will go down as one of the best to do it.