The Cleveland Guardians have their new manager.
After roughly a month-long search, former catcher Stephen Vogt will serve as the club’s manager beginning with the 2024 season.
Vogt, 39, played 10 seasons in the majors, mostly with the Oakland A’s. His last year at the major league level was 2022. Vogt spent the 2023 season as a bullpen and quality control coach with the Seattle Mariners.
‘We’re thrilled to welcome Stephen and his family to Northeast Ohio and to name him the next manager of the Cleveland Guardians,’ said president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti in a statement. ‘Stephen earned a reputation as one of the best teammates in the game across his 16-year career as a player, and we’ve greatly enjoyed the opportunity to get to know him over the past several weeks.
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‘Stephen has thought critically about the type of leader and manager he wants to be. His deep care for others, his ability to build meaningful relationships with those around him, and his open-mindedness and curiosity make him an ideal fit to lead our club moving forward. We couldn’t be more excited to partner with Stephen.’
Vogt will lead the Guardians into a new era after Terry Francona was at the helm for 11 seasons. In that decade-plus, Francona led Cleveland to the playoffs six times, including a trip to the 2016 World Series. He left as the winningest manager in franchise history and the second-longest tenured manager/head coach in Cleveland sports history, behind only Paul Brown.
In many ways, Francona exemplified everything the organization wanted to be about, and his departure from the dugout leaves a major hole to fill. Francona is expected to remain with the franchise in some capacity.
After numerous surgeries and health issues over the last few years, Francona also needed a shoulder replacement and two hernia procedures this offseason. He notified the front office in mid-August of his intention to possibly step aside, though he wouldn’t confirm the ‘worst-kept secret’ in baseball until after the season had ended.
President of baseball operations Chris Antonetti originally noted that they had a list of roughly 45 potential candidates that included both internal and external possibilities. That search took a little more than a month before they found the person who will replace Francona.
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Guardians at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/cleveland-guardians. Follow him on Twitter at @ByRyanLewis.
