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Cleveland Guardians Manager Stephen Vogt Makes Baseball History with Manager of Year Win

Vogt helped lead the Guardians to an American League Central championship and a trip to the ALCS.

Brady Farkas

Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) comes to the mound against the Kansas City Royals for a pitcher change in the seventh inning at Kauffman Stadium on Sept 4.
Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) comes to the mound against the Kansas City Royals for a pitcher change in the seventh inning at Kauffman Stadium on Sept 4. / Denny Medley-Imagn Images
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Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt was named the American League Manager of the Year on Tuesday night.

With the win, he made some unique history, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Stephen Vogt last played in 2022. This is the fastest anyone has gone from player to Manager of the Year

prior record: 2006 Joe Girardi, played in ‘03

He also has this history in his pocket, per Langs:

Youngest Manager of the Year winners (age by last day of regular season):

2019 Rocco Baldelli: 38y, 4d
1994 Buck Showalter: 38y, 80d
1983 Tony La Russa: 38y, 363d
2007 Eric Wedge: 39y, 247d
2024 Stephen Vogt: 39y, 334d

h/t @EliasSports

Vogt's rise has been meteoric. After retiring in 2022, he spent one year as the bullpen coach for the Seattle Mariners. Then, he got the Guardians job last offseason and promptly led the Guardians to the American League Championship Series.

Cleveland won the American League Central in his first season, doing it despite a season-ending injury to ace Shane Bieber and season-ending injuries to relievers James Karinchak and Trevor Stephan.

Vogt spent 10 years in the big leagues as a player with the A's, Diamondbacks, Rays, Giants, Braves and Brewers. He was a two-time All-Star as well.

Vogt is just one of many former catchers to find success as a manager. Mike Scoscia, Girardi, Mike Matheny, Joe Torre, Hinch and Scott Servais are just a few examples, but the list is certainly bigger than them.

Cleveland figures to be good again next year, but they need to figure out how to handle Bieber's situation this offseason. Though he can't pitch until the middle of next season, he's a free agent right now. Could Cleveland look to bring him back on a shorter deal?

It's just one of many questions for Vogt and company to answer.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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