Mills, 68 in January, is a familiar face for Cincinnati’s new skipper. Francona managed in Philadelphia from 1997 to 2000, in Boston from 2004 to 2011 and then Cleveland from 2013 to 2023. Mills was first base coach for the Phillies during those years and bench coach for the Red Sox during most of Francona’s time there. Mills left to manage the Astros from 2010 to 2012, but then reunited with Francona in Cleveland in 2013.

He started his Cleveland tenure as third base coach but moved to bench coach in 2014. He stayed in that role through 2019 but then sat out the 2020 season, which was played in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Mills actually stepped away from the game due to the tragic drowning of his 18-month-old grandson. For the 2021 season, Mills was reassigned to some unspecified non-coaching role with Cleveland, so this will be his first stint in the dugout in many years.

Francona himself was away from baseball in 2024 as he focused on his health. He will return in 2025 by taking over the managerial job for the Reds and has filled in the staff with some old friends. Chris Valaika had been the hitting coach in Cleveland from 2022 to 2024 but was whisked away to Cincinnati last month. Now Mills will be brought in to return to Francona’s side, with Benavides also sticking around, though perhaps in an altered role.

Mills opted out of participating in the 2020 season, and with manager Terry Francona also missing much of the season due to health issues, first base coach Sandy Alomar took over the acting manager role while third base coach Mike Sarbaugh assumed bench coach duties.  With Francona and the rest of the Tribe’s coaching staff expected to return next season, the obvious move might be to move Alomar into the bench coach job, though it remains to be seen how the club will address the vacancy.

Perhaps best known for managing the Astros from 2010-12, Mills has long been a fixture on Francona’s coaching staffs.  He worked as the bench coach under Francona with the Red Sox from 2004-09, and also as a first base coach when Francona managed the Phillies from 1997-2000.

As has become a trend during these wrap-up events in 2020, there was much discussion about how the economic uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic will impact the Tribe’s payroll going forward.  While Antonetti said “we don’t have a specific number for a payroll at this point,” no implication was given that the Indians would increase spending in such a “daunting” financial environment.

“The reality of the finances in baseball in 2020 is that the industry lost billions of dollars and as a team we lost tens of millions of dollars.  That puts us in a really difficult financial position that will take us years to recover from,” Antonetti said.

Pre-pandemic, the Indians had a projected payroll of just under $100MM for the 2020 season and that number could drop significantly given the amount of money coming off the books.  Cesar Hernandez, Oliver Perez, and Sandy Leon are all free agents, and Cleveland holds club options on Carlos Santana and Brad Hand for 2021.  If all five of those players departed, the Tribe would save approximately $39.5MM in salary, though obviously the team would be left needing to fill multiple roster holes.

Francisco Lindor represents Cleveland’s biggest obligation, as the shortstop is arbitration-eligible for the third and final time and will earn a raise on his $17.5MM salary for 2020.  Given his rising price tag, Lindor’s name has swirled in trade rumors for months, and this offseason could represent the Tribe’s last chance to get a significant trade return on his services.

While Antonetti said “I don’t think I ever take that view” that Lindor is a surefire trade candidate, the executive did say that there hadn’t been any more extension talks with Lindor’s camp since negotiations broke off during Spring Training.  “What has happened with the pandemic has added an entirely unexpected layer of complexity as to what the future may look like.  So we haven’t even started to wrap our head around what that may look like,” Antonetti said.

Perhaps more tellingly, Antonetti also made multiple comments about the approach the smaller-payroll Indians have taken to put a consistent winning team on the field.  “I think we’ve made consistent decisions over the course of the past few seasons to infuse young talent to position us to sustain that competitiveness….And had we not made some of those decisions, we’d be in a much worse position right now heading into 2021,” Antonetti said.

“I think we can afford any individual player.  It’s less about that.  It’s about how do we build a team that’s capable of contending? And how do we allocate resources in a way that gives us the best chance to win as many games as possible?”

While Lindor’s Cleveland status may be up in the air, one person who is expected to return next season is manager Terry Francona.  Due to both gastrointestinal problems and surgery to correct a blood-clotting problem, Francona missed 46 games during the regular and both of the Tribe’s playoff contests, with first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. stepping in as interim manager.  It isn’t yet known if bench coach Brad Mills or hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo will also be back in 2021 — both coaches opted out of the 2020 season.

In other notable news, Antonetti implied that Jose Ramirez would remain as a third baseman, which creates a few ripple effects for the Tribe.  For one, it will put the focus on acquiring a second baseman (whether re-signing Hernandez or adding someone else) this winter, rather than widening the search to third basemen and moving Ramirez back to the keystone.

It also means that top prospect Nolan Jones could move off third base and see time as a first baseman or corner outfielder.  “We have talked to him a little bit about the possibility of adding some positional versatility,” Chernoff said.  “He’s out at our fall programming in Arizona now and will mix in potentially at some other spots.”

Jones played shortstop in high school and shifted to third base in the minor leagues, though there have been long been whispers that first base or the outfield might be his eventual position.  A second-round pick in the 2016 draft, Jones has hit .283/.409/448 over 1453 minor league plate appearances, reaching the Double-A level in 2019.  The cancelled minor league season robbed Jones of his first taste of Triple-A ball, but he did work out at the Indians’ alternate training site all summer as part of the team’s 60-man player pool.

• The Marlins outrighted first baseman/outfielder Xavier Scruggs off of the team’s 40-man roster. He has seen brief time in each of the last three seasons at the major league level, hitting just .227/.292/.303 in his 130 total plate appearances. This year was his first with an organization other than the Cardinals. While Scruggs didn’t perform in his 24-game run with Miami, he did post an excellent .290/.408/.565 slash with 21 long balls over 382 plate appearances at Triple-A while walking in 15.2% of his trips to the dish (against a 23.6% strikeout rate).
• The Mariners re-signed lefty Brad Mills to a minor league pact. The 31-year-old has seen action in parts of six major league seasons, though he has compiled just 79 total MLB innings with a 7.97 ERA. Mills made nine starts at Triple-A in 2016, pitching to a 5.28 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9 over 44 1/3 frames.
• Catcher Jhonatan Solano will return to the Nationals on a minor league deal. The 31-year-old had cracked the bigs in each of the four preceding campaigns, but spent all of 2016 at Triple-A. He continued to struggle at the plate, as his .225/.286/.260 slash attests. With sturdy glovework behind the dish, though, he’ll function as organizational depth once again for the Nats — the only organization he has played for apart from a 2015 run with the Marlins.

Another former Astros’ manager, current Indians bench coach Brad Mills, has also come up. His Cleveland staff mate, first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr., is another name to watch. Obviously, neither of those possible candidates can be pursued in earnest at present, with the Indians just opening play in the ALCS.

Two other bench coaches who could draw interest from the Rockies are Dave Martinez of the Cubs, who also is busy with his current position, and Ron Wotus of the Giants. We heard earlier today that Wotus had received contact from a team with a managerial opening. Given that the Diamondbacks — the other team with an opening — haven’t yet resolved their front office situation, it seems reasonable to suspect that it was the Rockies who came calling.

Today’s report significantly expands the group of names tied in some way to the Rockies’ top dugout post. Last we checked in, the scuttlebutt was that former Brewers skipper Ron Roenicke (most recently of the Angels), former Padres manager Bud Black (ditto), Red Sox bench coach Torey Lovullo, Braves first base coach Eddie Perez, and Rockies Triple-A skipper Glenallen Hill had some form of connection to the gig — though in some cases, the reporting involved interest on their behalf rather than the team’s.

All told, that slate largely represents a “who’s who” of skippers-to-be around the game. Those that haven’t yet taken managerial jobs at the major league level have at least interviewed for jobs with other organizations.

Still, the Rockies aren’t just looking to plug in an experienced hand. According to Harding, Colorado hopes to find someone “who will apply statistics and other research into managing and coaching, and who are adept at various methods for creating team chemistry.” In that regard, certainly, the organization seems to be participating in a near-universal trend leaguewide.

• The Nationals have signed veteran left-hander Aaron Laffey to a minor league deal and invited him to Major League Spring Training, tweets MASNsports.com’s Dan Kolko. Because he debuted at 22 years of age, it might be a surprise for some to find that the well-traveled Laffey is still just 30 years old. He spent the 2015 season in the Rockies organization but wound up pitching just 7 1/3 big league innings for Colorado, with the rest of his work coming in the minors. Laffey has spent parts of eight big league seasons in the Major Leagues and, with the exception of the 2014 season, has seen big league action each year dating back to 2007. He sports a career 4.44 ERA with 4.5 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9.
• The Twins announced that they’ve signed outfielder Ryan Sweeney to a minor league deal and invited him to Major League Spring Training. Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets that Sweeney would receive a $750K base salary upon making the club. Sweeney, also 30, was a significant piece of the Athletics’ roster from 2008-11 but has been limited to a part-time role since that time. Sweeney was out of baseball in 2015 but will look to get back into the Majors in 2016. That he can handle all three outfield positions and has an outstanding defensive reputation in right field would seem to help his cause. Minnesota doesn’t have a clear-cut fourth outfielder at this time.
• Lefty Ryan Buchter is headed to the Padres on a minor league deal with a big league Spring Training invite, MLB.com’s Corey Brock was the first to report (Twitter link). The 28-year-old has just one inning in the Majors — a scoreless frame with the Braves in 2014. However, he had a very strong year at Triple-A with the Cubs and Dodgers in 2015, pitching to a 1.78 ERA with 11.0 K/9 against 4.4 BB/9 in 50 2/3 innings of relief. Control issues have long plagued Buchter, but his strikeout prowess has helped him overcome that trouble in the minors, resulting in a career 3.26 ERA. Lefties barely stood a chance against him at Triple-A this season, where he yielded just a .187/.237/.225 against same-handed batters. His .211/.344/.257 line against righties was strong as well, though it also exemplifies his control issues.
• Right-hander Jarrett Grube will return to the Indians on a minor league pact with a camp invite, tweets Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The 34-year-old has pitched just two-third of an inning in the Majors (2014 with the Angels), and while his overall body of work at Triple-A has resulted in a 5.07 ERA, Grube was outstanding at Triple-A in the Cleveland organization last year, firing 79 2/3 innings of 2.26 ERA ball with 7.7 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9.
• The Mariners have announced five minor league signings. In addition the previously reported signing of infielder Ed Lucas, Seattle has invited outfielder Mike Baxter, left-hander Brad Mills, right-hander Casey Coleman and right-hander Blake Parker to Major League Spring Training. Each player has some big league experience, though Baxter and Coleman have the most of the bunch. Baxter split last season with the Cubs and their Triple-A affiliate, logging 66 PAs in the Majors. Coleman saw significant work out of the Cubs’ bullpen and rotation from 2010-12, while Parker has spent a couple of seasons in the Cubs’ bullpen as well. Mills made one start for the A’s last season and has a fair bit of MLB experience but has never spent more than 21 innings in the Majors in a single season despite a strong track record at Triple-A.
• Former No. 1 overall pick Matt Bush has signed with the Rangers on a minor league deal, reports Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Bush has spent the past three years in prison, serving out a 51-month sentence for critically injuring a motorcyclist in a DWI incident back in 2012. GM Jon Daniels explained to Grant that he was skeptical when learning that Bush was interested in getting back into baseball, but the team was impressed with the level of sincerity expressed by Bush as he explained his regret and desire to turn his life around. (In May 2014, the victim, Tony Tufano, told Gabe Kapler — then of FOX Sports — that he has forgiven Bush and even will root for him in his attempt to turn his life around.) Bush won’t receive an invite to Major League camp and will instead be hoping to make one of the Rangers’ minor league affiliates, Grant notes, adding that Bush is enrolled in a 12-step program and will have to adhere to a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol and drug use with the Rangers.

• The Padres announced today that infielder Taylor Lindsey has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Double-A San Antonio. Lindsey, 23, was designated for assignment last week just more than a year after coming to San Diego as a piece of the team’s Huston Street trade with the Angels. A former first-round pick, Lindsey’s bat has never come around in the minors, and he has a .592 OPS between the Double-A and Triple-A levels this season.
• Likewise, Athletics lefty Brad Mills has been outrighted to Triple-A, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Mills was designated for assignment on Saturday after making one start for Oakland. The 30-year-old turned in five innings in the appearance, allowing three earned runs with a strikeout and a walk. Mills owns a 4.45 ERA over 127 1/3 innings at Nashville on the season.

The A’s added Mills to their roster yesterday so that he could make a spot start against the Orioles. He pitched five innings and allowed three runs, all of them coming on a homer to Adam Jones, as the Athletics lost 8-6. In parts of seven big-league seasons, Mills has a 7.97 ERA, 8.1 K/9 and 4.9 BB/9 in 79 innings. Unsurprisingly, he’s fared far better as a Triple-A innings-eater in that time frame.

The 28-year-old Thompson hasn’t pitched in the Majors this year and has just 5 1/3 big league innings total throughout his career, all of which came with the White Sox in 2014. He’s spent most of the season on the 60-day DL due to a shoulder strain, though he was recently activated and began pitching at Class-A Advanced before moving up to Triple-A. The results haven’t been great, as Thompson allowed seven runs in 8 2/3 innings with a 10-to-5 K/BB ratio.

Mills, 30 in March, split the season between the Brewers, A’s and Blue Jays organizations, seeing Major League time with the latter two. Much was made of the trade that sent Mills from Milwaukee to Oakland for all of $1, but the procedural move proved to have little impact. Mills was knocked around for nine runs (eight earned) in 16 1/3 innings for Oakland, surrendering 19 hits with a 14-to-7 K/BB ratio. Oakland designated the southpaw for assignment, and he was claimed by the Blue Jays.

With Toronto, Mills yielded 13 runs in 4 1/3 innings and found himself designated for assignment once again, this time clearing outright waivers. He elected free agency following the season.

Mills was outstanding at Triple-A this season — a large reason for the bewilderment of Brewers fans following the initial trade. In 107 1/3 minor league innings, Mills pitched to a pristine 2.01 ERA with 8.6 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9. He will provide the A’s with some rotation depth which is much needed, as Jon Lester and Jason Hammel are free agents, while A.J. Griffin and Jarrod Parker are both recovering from Tommy John surgery.

• 1B Daric Barton (Athletics), OF Tyler Colvin (Giants), OF Justin Maxwell (Royals), SP Jair Jurrjens (Rockies), RP Wilton Lopez (Rockies) and R Troy Patton (Padres) have all elected free agency, Baseball America’s Matt Eddy tweets.
• Seven former Blue Jays have elected free agency, Eddy tweets. Among them is first baseman Dan Johnson, who the Jays outrighted earlier this week. Johnson collected 48 plate appearances in Toronto this season, but spent most of the year with Triple-A Buffalo, hitting .232/.381/.434 in 459 plate appearances there. The others who elected free agency are shortstop Jonathan Diaz, outfielders Cole Gillespie and Darin Mastroianni, and pitchers Bobby Korecky, Brad Mills and Raul Valdes.

• Outfielder Chris Young has been given his released by the Mets, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com tweets. The 30-year-old was recently designated for assignment after struggling for much of the season,. New York will remain on the hook for the rest of his $7.25MM salary this year (less any meager savings that might be achieved if he hooks on with another club at the league minimum rate).
• The Dodgers have inked righty Anthony Slama to a minor league deal, per the MLB transactions page. Slama, 30, saw brief action with the Twins in 2010-11, and has never played in another MLB organization. The reliever had a great 2012 Triple-A campaign, but struggled at the level last year and ended up with the indy league Southern Maryland Blue Crabs for 2014. Having allowed just two earned runs over 16 1/3 frames, he was picked up by a Los Angeles organization that has been looking for pitching depth.
• Designated for assignment by the Reds on Tuesday, outfielder Ryan LaMarre cleared release waivers and is now a free agent, tweets Cotillo. Cincinnati is talking with the 25-year-old about a new minor league deal, Cotillo adds.
• The Diamondbacks have signed right-hander Rob Wort to a minor league deal and assigned him to short-season Class-A, according to the team’s transactions page. Wort, a former Nationals farmhand, had been pitching for the independent American Association’s Sioux City Explorers. The 25-year-old posted a sparkling 0.97 ERA with a 58-to-14 K/BB ratio in 37 innings with Sioux City this season. The relief prospect has never had much of an issue striking hitters out, as he averaged 11.5 strikeouts per nine in five seasons in the Nationals organization, though he never progressed beyond Double-A.
• Left-hander Brad Mills has accepted his outright assignment from the Blue Jays and will report to Triple-A Buffalo, tweets Chris Cotillo of SB Nation’s MLB Daily Dish. The 29-year-old southpaw, who is no stranger to being designated for assignment this season, was most recently DFA’ed by the Jays on Tuesday this week. He will look to continue his excellent Triple-A work in hopes of receiving another crack at the MLB roster.

• The Blue Jays have outrighted southpaw Brad Mills to Triple-A Buffalo, according to the team’s transactions page. Mills, 29, was designated for assignment by the Jays on Tuesday and will have the option to elect free agency rather than report to Triple-A, having been outrighted in the past. He has a 9.15 ERA in 20 2/3 Major League innings this season but a sensational 1.81 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 89 1/3 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for Milwaukee and Toronto this season.
• After clearing waivers, righty Ernesto Frieri has accepted an assignment to the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate, Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com reports on Twitter. After starting the season as the Angels’ closer, Frieri was dealt to Pittsburgh and then designated for assignment when he failed to right the ship. Though other clubs might have been willing to take a chance on him, Frieri’s $3.8MM first-year arbitration salary no doubt scared off any claims. It seems all but certain at this point that Frieri will end up being non-tendered in the offseason.

Though he provided three decent starts for the Athletics earlier in the year, Mills has been hit hard in his two appearances for the Jays. For Toronto, he’s allowed 13 earned runs in just 4 1/3 innings, striking out five but walking four. Mills has found much more success at the Triple-A level this year, where he carries a 1.81 ERA with 9.0 K/9 against 1.9 BB/9 over 89 1/3 frames, working mostly as a starter.

• The Brewers have outrighted infielder Irving Falu, according to MLB.com’s transactions page. They claimed him last month from the Padres, who had previously claimed him from Milwaukee, so that the Brewers finally got him through to the minors must represent a small victory. The 31-year-old has hit .289/.342/.333 in 230 plate appearances for Triple-A Nashville this season.
• The Blue Jays have announced that they’ve selected the contract of lefty Brad Mills and optioned infielder Ryan Goins to Triple-A Buffalo. The Jays outrighted Mills in late July. He’s posted a 1.81 ERA with 9.0 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 at Triple-A this season.
• The Mets have released outfielder Bobby Abreu, according to MiLB.com. The 40-year-old was designated for assignment last week after hitting .238/.331/.336 in 142 plate appearances in his first big-league action since 2012.
• The Cubs have outrighted outfielder Ryan Kalish to Triple-A Iowa, per the team’s transactions page. The 26-year-old was designated for assignment Friday after posting a slash of .242/.303/.330 in 100 plate appearances.
• The Indians have released right-hander Frank Herrmann from their Triple-A affiliate, tweets MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. The 30-year-old, the longest-tenured player in the Cleveland organization, has struggled in 28 relief outings for Columbus to the tune of a 6.37 ERA, 9.1 K/9, and 5.8 BB/9 in 29 2/3 innings. Herrmann hasn’t pitched in a MLB contest since 2012 when he recorded a 2.33 ERA, 6.5 K/9, and 1.9 BB/9 over 19 1/3 innings (15 games) for the Indians.
• The White Sox have released right-hander Shawn Hill from Triple-A Charlotte, according to the International League transactions page. The veteran 33-year-old pitched to a 4.81 ERA with 4.2 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 58 innings for the Knights after being acquired in a minor trade with the Blue Jays back in June. Hill last saw the bigs in 2012 with Toronto, and he has a lifetime 4.69 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 in 242 Major League innings.
• Jason Pridie has accepted his outright assignment by the Rockies to Triple-A, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. The 30-year-old outfielder, who was designated for assignment Wednesday, had the option to become a free agent since he had been outrighted previously, but chose to remain at Colorado Springs where he has hit .275/.341/.426 in 378 plate appearances.
• Cotillo also tweets Andy Marte has accepted his outright assignment with the Diamondbacks rather than electing free agency. Marte, who batted .332/.385/.513 at Triple-A this season, will return to Reno in pursuit of the Pacific Coast League batting title, Cotillo adds. Marte was DFA’ed last week and sent outright to Reno last night, but, like Pridie, had been outrighted in the past and had the option to elect free agency.
• With the Dodgers and Phillies designating Colt Hynes and Sean O’Sullivan, respectively, for assignment today, a total of six players are now in DFA limbo. As can be seen in MLBTR’s DFA Tracker, in addition to Hynes and O’Sullivan, the following players have yet to have their DFA situation resolved: Chris Young (Mets), Ernesto Frieri (Pirates), Nate Schierholtz (Cubs) and Chone Figgins (Dodgers).

Edward Creech and Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.