Humble Sandy

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Sandy Alomar has moved into the Tribe manager's office ... sort of.
"I'm sitting on the couch, not on the chair [behind the desk]," said the interim manager. "There might be a ghost in that chair."

It could be the ghost of former manager Manny Acta, who was fired last week. But next season, someone has to sit there -- and it's likely to be either Alomar or former Red Sox manager Terry Francona.
I asked Alomar what he thought of Francona, as I'd heard they had a relationship going back to 1988.
"We played winterball together," said Alomar, who then showed his class and did the Tribe a tremendous favor by sounding like a press agent for Francona. He talked about Francona like this: "I don't have the resume that Terry has, that's a slam dunk. ... I wish I had that."

He said how Francona is "a great guy ... a great communicator." About how "no one owes me anything. ... This is a big decision [for the Indians] ... not about who is the most popular guy."

While it almost sounded as an endorsement for Francona, understand that Alomar desperately wants the job. "I feel I'm prepared for it," he said. But he knows that he's never managed a game anywhere until last weekend, when he took over for Acta.

After taking a year off to work for ESPN, Francona brings a strong background with tons of experience that would make him attractive to any team needing a manager.

Hometown favorite
 
Alomar is one of the Cleveland's favorite baseball sons. Many fans want him, and want the staff to include Omar Vizquel, Charlie Nagy and others from the great teams of the 1990s. But those glory days are gone.
The Tribe has lost 90 games for the third time in four years -- something that never happened before in franchise history extending to 1901. So the next manager is not about to work miracles. Nor will he sell many tickets. But hiring the right one is at least something positive for a team needing any sentence that hints of good news.

With Francona and Alomar as the main candidates, the Tribe is in a far better position than their last managerial search. That was in 2009, when the final three were Bobby Valentine, Torey Lovullo and Acta.
Valentine has been an embarrassment in Boston, the Red Sox joining the 90-game loser club. Lovullo is Toronto's first-base coach, and could be a candidate to manage the Blue Jays if current skipper John Farrell replaces Valentine in Boston. Acta will probably join someone's coaching staff next season.
As Alomar said, "This is a business."

The best way to handle the insecurity that is part of the job is to refrain from taking it personally. That's how Alomar is dealing with the possibility of Francona being hired.

The Francona Factor
 
Furthermore, the assumption has long been Alomar would be the next Wahoo manager whenever Acta departed. But Francona's availability and interest has changed all that.

Alomar can put himself in the place of the front office and know that Francona's 12 years of experience, two World Series titles and respect all over baseball make him a very appealing candidate. That assumes Francona's comments to The Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes about really wanting the job are sincere. There is no reason to doubt Francona's words.

Just as there is no reason to question that Alomar was speaking from the heart when he praised Francona.
While many fans want massive front office changes, it's obvious Francona thinks the situation here can improve -- or he would not be interviewing Friday.

Alomar has a Tribe coaching contract for next season. Obviously, if Francona is hired here and Alomar is offered a chance to manage another team the Indians will permit him to do so. He has interviewed with three teams over the previous two seasons.

But Alomar has wisely put himself in good position, regardless of who is the new manager. Because of his respect for Francona, it sounds as if he'd be content to stay here as bench coach if no manager's job came his way.

That would make the Tribe even stronger -- at least in the dugout -- next season.