Guardians Take a Chance on a Cliché in Hiring Stephen Vogt

The journeyman backup catcher as manager is a trope seen many times before by MLB, and Cleveland is the next franchise to use it in replacing Terry Francona.

If the journeyman backup catcher is a cliché as a managerial candidate, it’s for a reason. The background suggests someone who is cerebral, good at connecting with people and skilled at balancing relationships—in short, someone who is equipped to handle much of the basic work of managing. It does not always mean a good hire. But it does at least mean someone who is usually hard to immediately criticize as a bad hire.

Which is the case here. On Monday, the Guardians announced they’d hired former journeyman backup catcher Stephen Vogt as manager to replace Terry Francona, who retired this year at the age of 64. ESPN reported that Vogt had signed a three-year deal.

Vogt was playing in MLB as recently as 2022. He finished his career with a season for the A’s (the team for whom he’d had the most success as a player) after stints with the Braves, Diamondbacks, Giants, Brewers and Rays. The 39-year-old spent last year as a bullpen and quality control coach for the Mariners. But he was open about his ultimate goal.

“My end goal is to manage,” Vogt told reporters when he announced his retirement from playing a little more than a year ago. “I want to manage in the big leagues. I’ve played for seven amazing managers: Joe Maddon, Bob Melvin, Craig Counsell, Bruce Bochy, Torey Lovullo, Brian Snitker and now Mark Kotsay. I’ve learned so much from all of them. I appreciate them for what they taught me. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve been able to observe them and watch them work. So I’d love to do that. How do I get there? I don’t know. But I’d love to stay in the game.”

Cleveland had reportedly interviewed several more experienced candidates. (That group was said to include Counsell and Yankees bench coach turned Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza.) But the Guardians came out with Vogt, who lacks experience, certainly, but also has a record of generating respect everywhere he went as a player.

It will be difficult for a first-time manager to replace Francona, of course, because it would be difficult for nearly anyone to replace Francona. In 11 seasons with Cleveland, he oversaw nine winning seasons and made six trips to the playoffs, including coming within one swing of a World Series title in 2016. But his success on the field was just a piece of what makes him such a hard act to follow. Francona’s big personality and quotability made him a larger-than-life figure.

Vogt comes to the Guardians at something of an inflection point. Last year was Cleveland’s worst season in more than a decade. A generally savvy front office with a record of identifying and developing strong pitching has begun to come up against its limits with its lackluster lineup. A soft AL Central, of course, makes the path ahead easier than it would be in another division.

And in a journeyman backup catcher, Cleveland believes it has its man.

“Stephen has thought critically about the type of leader and manager he wants to be,” Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said in a statement. “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.”