Terry Francona better be right.
The Cleveland Indians’ manager ideally put a lot of thought into his response to Tuesday’s report from The Athletic. He was hopefully as truthful as possible when addressing claims that Cleveland knew more about the lewd behavior of former pitching coach Mickey Callaway than it initially indicated, that team president Chris Antonetti lied when saying he never received complaints about Callaway’s conduct.
Because when you respond to a story like that the way Francona did Tuesday, insisting that nobody with the Indians has “ever deliberately covered up for anybody,” you do so knowing that claim will be investigated further. You do so with the understanding that you’ll be held to such a statement if it turns out to be deceitful.
After all, that’s what brought us this latest report in the first place.
Casey Drottar is a Cleveland Indians writer for Sports Illustrated. Subscribe to his podcast, or follow him on Twitter and Facebook