‘Best years I’ve ever had’: Tito reflects on time in Cleveland

Francona was technically a consultant for the Guardians over the past year, but the organization was good about giving its former skipper some time to get healthy. It was a role that left the door open for him to take on a front-office role in the future, because everyone knew he’d get the itch to come back to baseball sooner rather than later.

Surprisingly, though, the itch never came up in 2024.

“I had a really good year,” Francona said. “My girls went to Europe for 10 days, and I watched the grandkids. That was the one day I thought maybe I’ll go back to baseball.”

He laughed for a minute and continued.

“Towards the end of the year, talking to Chris [Antonetti] a little bit,” Francona said. “I was trying to start to think, ‘OK, what do I want to do next year?’ But like I said, I had a really good year, and maybe I just needed that. But then when [the Reds] called, it just felt right.”