Terry Francona, Indians Agree to Contract Extension Through 2022 Season

The Cleveland Indians announced Wednesday that they extended manager Terry Francona's contract through the 2022 season.

Jensen Lewis of Fox Sports tweeted the Indians' official release on the extension:

Francona's previous contract was set to expire after the 2020 season. According to Zack Meisel of The Athletic, Francona will be the longest-tenured manager in Indians history if he sees his new deal through to the end.

Francona is beginning his seventh year at the helm in Cleveland. He owns a 547-427 record with the Tribe and has led the Indians to the playoffs in each of the past three campaigns.

This season, the Indians are off to a 2-2 start, which puts them second in the American League Central.

The 59-year-old Francona has guided the Indians to three straight American League Central titles, and they are favored to win another this season given the division's weak state.

While the Indians have been eliminated in the American League Division Series in each of the past two seasons, they came agonizingly close to winning the World Series in 2016. After Cleveland took a 3-1 series lead over the Chicago Cubs in the 2016 World Series, Chicago stormed back and won Game 7 in extra innings.

That denied the Indians what would have been their first World Series championship since 1948.

Although Francona hasn't won a title in Cleveland, he knows what it takes. During his eight years as manager of the Boston Red Sox, Francona went 744-552 with five playoff appearances and two World Series titles.

Including an ill-fated, four-year run as manager of the Philadelphia Phillies from 1997 to 2000, Francona owns a career record of 1,576-1,342 over 19 seasons with nine trips to the playoffs, three American League pennants and two championships.

Francona is one of just 23 managers in the history of Major League Baseball to have won multiple World Series titles, which means he could be on the fast track to Cooperstown, New York, for a Hall of Fame induction.

For now, Francona is locked in for at least the next few seasons, and given how little competition there has been in the AL Central in recent years, it seems likely he will have more opportunities to make a run at his third World Series title.