Mills won't return as Tribe's bench coach

CLEVELAND -- Indians manager Terry Francona was transparent from the start of the 2020 season about how difficult it was for him to be without his right-hand man, bench coach Brad Mills. But no matter how much Francona missed his good friend, he was always quick to clarify that he wanted Mills to do whatever he needed to make sure his family was taken care of.

That’s probably how the conversation went a few weeks ago when Mills flew out to visit Francona in Arizona to talk about his future with the Tribe. Mills opted out of the 2020 season to be home with his family after losing his grandson during Spring Training, and he will not return as the Indians’ bench coach in '21.

“He'll stay in the organization in some role, and we'll work with Brad to figure out what that role might be,” Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said. “Aside from that, we expect the rest of our coaching staff to return, but we still have to figure out exactly how we can figure it.”

Along with Francona’s health problems that sidelined him for the majority of the shortened season, the Indians were also without hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo this year after he decided to opt out for health concerns. But for 2021, the Tribe expects Francona to be back at the helm, moving Sandy Alomar Jr. back to first-base coach and Mike Sarbaugh back to third-base coach. Van Burkleo is expected to return to his role as hitting coach.

Mills will be the only missing face in the dugout next season. He and Francona have been friends since the two played together at the University of Arizona in the 1970s. Mills has been on Francona’s coaching staffs in Philadelphia, Boston and Cleveland.

But as much as Francona has relied on Mills, he got a preview of what it’d be like without his good friend in the dugout briefly this past year. Mills left during Spring Training after his grandson died. He came to Cleveland at the beginning of Summer Camp to help get everything set up, but he returned home after a few days, as he decided to opt out of the season to be home with his family. And while it was difficult for Francona to adjust, he wanted Mills to put himself first.

“Nobody misses him more than me,” Francona said at the beginning of the 2020 season. “But I’m happy he’s home. I think you’re allowed to both miss a guy and be happy for him.”