For helming the second-best team in the American League and bringing them to a 92-win season that saw them with the AL Central Division, the Sporting News has named Stephen Vogt its AL Manager of the Year.
The Sporting News may not be the official award source of Major League Baseball, but is still a publication with a legacy within the game. Having reported on baseball for more than one hundred years, The Sporting News has given awards since 1936. Their results come from voting done by team executives, managers and players. Vogt becomes the fourth Cleveland manager- along with Mike Hargrove, Eric Wedge and Terry Francona to their win version of Manager of the Year.
The feat is most impressive for Vogt, particularly when considering he was a first year manager in 2024, with only one previous year of coaching experience. To complicate matters even more, he was inheriting a team previously managed by a legend in Terry Francona, who had sent Cleveland to the playoffs in six of his eleven seasons. Francona also holds the club record for wins as a manager.
While implementing some new age strategy, appealing to his players as someone who was a player himself just two years ago and using a lot of positive reinforcement, Vogt was able to find success for himself and his ball club in his first season. In taking over, the Guardians won 16 more ballgames and saw themselves fight their way to the ALCS. No team in the AL was better at home as the Guardians went 50-30 at Progressive Field.
This may not be the only article to come about Vogt winning hardware this season either, as he feels like a likely finalist for the official Manager of the Year Award as voted upon by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Awards season will begin in earnest in November following the World Series.
Additionally, third baseman Jose Ramirez and closer Emmanuel Clase were voted as AL All-Stars in the same Sporting News awards.
The post Stephen Vogt Named Sporting News AL Manger of the Year appeared first on Cleveland Sports Talk.