Guardians Select Stephen Vogt as New Manager

Reaction To Guardians Bringing In Stephen Vogt To Replace Tito Francona

After a long, successful tenure, it was time for the Guardians to find a new skipper to lead the franchise, with Terry Francona stepping down. Throughout the offseason, the biggest names on the list were Craig Counsell, Stephen Vogt, Will Venable, Gabe Kapler, and others. At the end of the day, the Guardians went with the 38-year-old former All-Star catcher, Stephen Vogt, to replace Francona.

Counsell stated he wanted to ‘reset the market for managers’ and ended up going to the Cubs, forcing David Ross out to become the highest-paid manager in baseball by a wide margin. With that development, the organization felt better off bringing in Vogt, who spent last season as the bullpen coach for the Mariners in his first season after playing.

From the general consensus on the hire, Vogt seems like a great addition to this organization. Former teammate Dallas Braden spoke very highly of his work ethic and ability to stay even-keeled throughout the entirety of a 162-game season. Vogt is said to be able to win over any group of people he’s put in front of and should do wonders leading this young, hungry Guardians’ group.

Managerial Style

As a catcher who made the All-Star team twice but mainly bounced around as a backup, Vogt knows how to manage personalities and find a role even when he wasn’t directly impacting games every day. His knowledge of calling games and working with all sorts of different people bodes well for his chances as a manager, and people continually praise his humility and personality.

On the pure roster management side of things, I’m excited about bringing in a younger guy who is more forward-thinking and will cite useful data for his decision-making. Francona was amazing, but things like playing Gabriel Arias against lefties and starting Amed Rosario every day when he is significantly worse against right-handed pitching is something that doesn’t happen with the new wave of managers. Being aware of numbers related to decisions like that can really help maximize the lineups and avoid having lineups with the bottom of the order getting zero production.

Overall

This is a good hire as the organization continues to embrace the youth movement. When hiring a new manager, the best two options are to find a seasoned veteran who’s been around with a good track record (Terry Francona, Bruce Bochy, Dusty Baker) or find a young guy (Kevin Cash, Rocco Baldelli, Alex Cora) who you see as having a very bright future with more progressive thinking. Vogt fits the bill as the young guy with a bright future, and Guardians’ fans should be thrilled with the type of guy they have running the show now.