Francona receives three-year extension

L.A. Times Archives

Feb. 25, 2008 12 AM PT

From the Associated Press

After managing the Boston Red Sox to two World Series championships in four seasons, Terry Francona was rewarded Sunday with a three-year contract extension that runs through 2011.

Financial terms were not released.

The deal includes club options for 2012 and 2013, which would give him a full decade as manager if the team exercises them.

Francona also received something else: a touching e-mail from General Manager Theo Epstein as final details were being worked out.

“It was just personal [about] what we’ve been through since the very beginning,” Francona said after Sunday’s spring-training workout. “It meant a lot to me. He means a lot to me.”

At 48, he is starting his fifth season as manager, the last of his previous contract. If he serves the full three-year extension, he would have eight seasons on the job. The only Red Sox manager with a longer tenure was Joe Cronin, who held the job from 1935 to 1947.

Francona has come a long way since his four-year tenure as Philadelphia’s manager, all losing seasons, from 1997 to 2000. Epstein studied that and decided that Francona had learned a lot from managing a team with mediocre talent.

“But for that experience in Philly, he wouldn’t be the manager that he is today for us,” Epstein said. “It’s a great day for the organization to know Tito will be around for at least the next four years, if not the next six.”

Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge is scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee today and could sit out the season opener.

Lidge limped off the field Saturday after injuring his knee when he caught a spike in the mound on his first pitch of batting practice. The surgery will sideline him for three to six weeks. Manager Charlie Manuel said Tom Gordon would close if Lidge isn’t ready for opening day.

Chicago Cubs second baseman Mark DeRosa remained hospitalized one day after complaining of a rapid heartbeat during fielding drills. The team initially said DeRosa was released Saturday evening, but said Sunday that he was kept overnight as a precaution.

Outfielder Shannon Stewart and the Toronto Blue Jays agreed to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.