Indians fire manager Wedge in finals days of disappointing season; he’ll finish out season

Indians fire manager Eric Wedge

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians fired manager Eric Wedge in the final days of a terrible season. Wedge guided the Indians to one playoff appearance in seven seasons, and this year the club fell out of contention early and is currently one game out of last place in the AL Central.

The Indians, who are 64-92, have scheduled a Wednesday afternoon news conference at Progressive Field to announce Wedge’s dismissal. Cleveland recently lost 11 straight games and has dropped 20 of its last 25 games.

Wedge, who had one year left on his contract, will finish out the season as manager, including Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. Cleveland pitching coach Carl Willis, hitting coach Derek Shelton, bench coach Jeff Datz, first-base coach Luis Rivera, third-base coach Joel Skinner and bullpen coach Chuck Hernandez were also told they will not be retained, but some could be rehired by the Indians’ next manager.

The Indians are expected to begin interviews for a new manager in the weeks ahead. Among the names that figure to be mentioned are Boston pitching coach John Farrell, former Indians manager Mike Hargrove, former Arizona manager Buck Showalter and Torey Lovullo, who managed the Indians’ Triple-A Columbus franchise.

Cleveland has a long history of hiring within the organization. The last time the Indians went outside was in 1990, when they hired John McNamara.

Two years ago, Cleveland was one win away from a World Series trip. The Indians fell to 81-81 in 2008, but were expected to bounce back and contend this season. However, a slow start snowballed and by midseason the midmarket club, which is projected to lose at least $16 million this season, traded defending Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and All-Star catcher Victor Martinez to begin rebuilding again.

Those moves triggered outrage among Cleveland’s fans and led to questions about why the team would deal its best players one season before they were eligible for free agency.

Owners Larry and Paul Dolan and general manager Mark Shapiro have spent the past several weeks reviewing Cleveland’s organization, including the manager, and initially said they would wait until after the season before making a decision on Wedge. However, they decided not to delay what many Indians players felt was inevitable.

“When you lose changes are made,” catcher Kelly Shoppach. “Nobody is happy when you lose.”

The 41-year-old Wedge was the AL manager of the year in 2007, when the Indians won 96 games — tied for most in the majors — and held a 3-1 lead in the championship series over Boston before the Red Sox rallied and won three straight.

Wedge has compiled a 560-568 record in his seven seasons. He ranks fifth all-time in club history for wins, 10 behind Hall of Famer Al Lopez.