Could Chris Antonetti Depart The Guardians' Front Office This Offseason?
The Cleveland Guardians are headed for a seismic shift across the organization this offseason as Terry Francona continues to hint at retirement. This would leave Cleveland with a managerial vacancy for the first time in 10 years.
It'll be hard enough conducting a search for a new skipper if Tito does call it a career, but that task will become even more difficult without a President of Baseball Operations to make the final say.
There are rumors swirling around right now that this is the exact situation Cleveland could find themselves in once the season wraps up.
The Boston Red Sox recently let their general manager, Chaim Bloom, go after being with the organization for four years. One name who has quickly emerged as a potential successor for this vacant job is Cleveland's own Chris Antonetti.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported that Antonetti along with David Frost are names being thrown around as potential candidates to be the Red Sox's next President of Baseball Operations.
It would be shocking to see Anontetti depart Cleveland for a new job. He joined the organization with now Blue Jays general manager Mark Shapiro and took over his job when he left in 2010. Antonetti has built a number of successful teams over the last 13 years all while having a small budget to work off of.
This could be the exact reason why the Red Sox are interested in hiring him. Imagine the team Antonetti could put together being in a large market such as Boston. Currently, this is just a rumor circulating so there's still a chance this could never come to fruition.
But is it really that surprising?
Antonetti and Francona share a friendship that goes beyond baseball. If Tito really is retiring once the season is finished maybe Antonetti feels it's time for him to move on as well.
Again, this is all speculation.
The Guardians have a number of needs to address this offseason on the field but figuring out a potential manager and key front office member could trump any upgrades the team can make in their lineup.
