Cleveland Indians new manager Terry Francona was introduced Monday as the team's 42nd manager and told reporters during a press conference that his long time friendships with team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Chris Antonetti led him to apply to be the tribe's bench boss.

As for how he'll manage this Indians team Francona said " I'll be happy just taking the players we have an d try to get them to play the best baseball they can. The goal here is for me to spend all my energy trying to insure that these players play the game correctly and with respect. We're going to hit the ground running, and I probably have to do more listening for awhile than talking, and understand what's our best course."

Francona said part of being a successful manager with the Indians will be what worked for him as he won two World Series titles in Boston. " I've already started trying to reach out to as many players as possible to start developing relationships, because that is such an important part of what we're doing. Inevitably you have to tell players things they don't want to hear. But when they trust you, it gives you a fighting chance, and we're going to do this right."

Francona likes the you core players the Indians have like Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley and Azdrubal Cabrera. " There's some position players, some core players that are obviously exciting. As you're going to get to know me as we move forward any time you ask me about pitching when you think you have enough, you always want more," said Francona.

Francona did indicate his mindset for the Indians when he steps on the field." We're going to compete. We'll always compete. We may not win every game, but we won't back down from anybody."