By Peter Abraham, Globe Staff

Former Red Sox manager Terry Francona interviewed with the Indians at Progressive Field in Cleveland Friday. He and incumbent bench coach Sandy Alomar Jr. are the only two candidates for the team's managing job, and the Indians could name their man as soon as Monday.

Francona was with Cleveland in 2001 as a special assistant to general manager Mark Shapiro, who is now the team president. He also is close to GM Chris Antonetti. Francona's father, Tito, played for the Indians from 1959-64.

"The fact that my dad played here, it's a good story," Francona told the Associated Press. "It's almost a family feeling. I don't think you can take a job because of that, but it still means a lot to me.

"But because of Chris and Mark and my relationship, I am excited to tackle or attempt to tackle every challenge that comes our way and do it together."

Francona has worked for ESPN since leaving the Red Sox a year ago. The year away, he said, was beneficial.

"To be perfectly honest, and it's not easy to say, I probably needed to take a step back for a while," he said. "I think I had lost a little bit of perspective. I wanted to get back to the things that were important to me."