CLEVELAND – In the final hours leading up to Wednesday's 4 p.m. ET Trade Deadline, Indians manager Terry Francona thought Trevor Bauer’s meltdown should be the last thing his front office is focused on.

According to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, Bauer will be fined -- but not suspended -- by Major League Baseball for heaving a ball over the center-field fence from the pitcher’s mound out of frustration in Sunday’s loss to the Royals. Francona said he hadn’t heard from the league as of Tuesday afternoon, but regardless, the Indians will also come up with their own form of discipline.

“I would never do something without [Indians president of baseball operations] Chris [Antonetti] and [general manager Mike Chernoff’s] input,” Francona said. “And I just thought they were so busy the last [day] that I didn’t think it was right to put that on their plate. So there will be a time to get to that when, again, we hear from the league, and after they get a chance to settle down a little bit, we can discuss maybe exactly what’s right to do moving forward.”

In what could’ve been his final moment on the mound in an Indians uniform if the 28-year-old is traded before the Deadline buzzer sounds, Bauer released his anger from his rough outing by firing a ball into the netting behind home plate before launching another ball approximately 380 feet off Kauffman Stadium’s batter’s eye. He immediately turned toward Francona, who was angrily storming to the mound to pull Bauer from the game, and apologized, knowing the mistake he had made.

But that didn’t erase the show he had just put on for the public, one that was looped on sports channels for the next 24 hours. So Francona followed Bauer off the field and immediately had a heated exchange out of sight from the public’s eye.

“I think he has a high bar set for himself, sometimes, actually, probably not attainable,” Francona said. “Everybody’s different. Everybody kicks themselves in the rear end a different way. I’ve been with Trevor for six years now. Again, I don’t want this to be his legacy. This kid is a good pitcher. When things happen in public, well then you have to answer in public. There’s a lot of things that happen on our team that nobody ever knows about that gets every bit as heated.”

The Indians were closing out a successful two-month stretch on Sunday, having posted the best record in baseball since June 4, before their schedule becomes more difficult, beginning on Tuesday against the Astros. Although Bauer’s actions left a bit of a sour taste in the team’s mouth after its incredible run, Francona doesn’t think it’s something that will linger.

“I don’t think it helped us the other day,” Francona said. “I think it was a distraction. I don’t want it to get lost because he did, he made a mistake. This guy pitches his [butt] off. He stays out there longer than anybody in the league. You can go on time; you can go on anything you want. This kid stays out there longer than anybody. And I get a front-row seat for that. So, again … I want to fix it. You try to do the right thing. Sometimes that cannot be black and white. And I admit that it can be difficult.”

Once the Trade Deadline passes, assuming Bauer is still on the Indians’ roster, Francona and his front office will determine their next step with their top hurler, hoping that they can pass along a positive message.

“Well, I’ve always felt like people are going to make mistakes, myself included, and that’s not the worst thing,” Francona said. “What’s important is where do you go from here? Do you make it better? Do you stay status quo? Do you make it worse? The idea is always to make it better. But I also have an obligation to the other 24 guys in there, too, and trying to balance that.”