STEVEN VOGT HAS THE CHANCE AT CHANGING COACHING IN BASEBALL FOREVER WITH CLEVELAND

Mario Russo

Tomorrow marks the beginning of the next chapter waiting to be written in the long history book of the Cleveland Guardians.

On Monday, the team announced the signing of recently-retired catcher Steven Vogt to a three-year coach’s contract set to expire in the fall of 2026. The journeyman backstop will become the 45th manager in the franchise’s extended history and so far, trails only Oliver Marmol of the St.Louis Cardinals as the youngest manager to oversee a team in 2024.

On Friday, the Guardians will officially introduce Vogt at a press conference. From that day forward, Cleveland’s post-Francona era will begin construction as the team looks to hoist a World Series trophy for the first time in 68 years.

The Guardians’ decision to hire Vogt just one year removed from his retirement came as a massive shock to the baseball world. Milwaukee’s Craig Counsell was one of the 45 candidates to have run for the Guardians’ vacant coaching gig, but ended up going to Chicago’s north side in a surprising move to his former division rivals.

The young age and lack of coaching experience sets this move by the Guardians as a massive shock, especially when factoring in the list of candidates that were turned away in favour of Vogt. The 39-year old has never led a club at both the major or minor league level and could not have contrasted Cleveleand’s former bench boss Terry Francona any further.

The organization has definitely placed their trust in the intangibles Vogt possesses as a longtime catcher in the Major Leagues. His ability to relate to players both young and old currently playing in the same league he’s just one year removed from is a plus that the Guardians’ front office are looking to explore with their recent hire.

Having traveled through many peaks and valleys throughout his 11-year career (making his MLB debut five years after being drafted) and spending a portion of his career hovering up and down the minor league system, the Guardians are placing the direction of their organization in Vogt’s rollercoaster journey to help relate with their players.

But is a sympathizing young face the best move for a team that - over the last 11 seasons under Francona - has found success in the pages of old-school baseball?

It surely follows a trend in the sport that hasn't always welcomed immediate success, case and point, the coaching career of David Ross in Chicago that coincidently, ended the same week Vogt took his job in Cleveland.

Both players joined teams with zero coaching experience and only a couple of years removed from their playing days. Interestingly, the two shared the same position on the field, but no longer do as managers - with Ross being relieved of his duties with the arrival of Counsell on Tuesday.

A young calf replaced by an old bull - yet the opposite has transpired in Cleveland to cap off a rollercoaster offseason in just a week’s worth of its existence.

Former players lacking coaching experience are being thrown into the spotlight, told to lead a team to the promised land and scrutinized in every which way if they fail to live up to expectations.

Despite undergoing vastly different circumstances in Chicago (having been forced to shelter the storm of a hungry fanbase in the midst of a five-year rebuild) all signs point to having a manager just a handful of years removed from their playing days as a plan that bears no sweet ending.

Recent history does not favour Cleveland’s bold decision to go younger with their next leader - the one now responsible for maximizing the production from his players without ever having to live up to a demand of that nature and magnitude as a well-respected baseball player.

Where Ross failed, Vogt has a shot at setting a trend that has countlessly been implemented in baseball on the right path, and steady the ship of a young captain always forced to travel in threatening waters.

Starting tomorrow, the 39-year old will be tasked with a lot - none bearing more weight than snapping the championship drought that has stood victorious atop the shoulders of the last 29 managers to stand in his place.

Not much separates Vogt from the rest of those who have failed the city of Cleveland in the past. Aside from having experience in a league that looks similar to when he left it, not much stands in Vogt’s corner as he gets set to battle the rest of the league for its top spot over the next three seasons.

All the Cleveland manager is left with is a chance. An opportunity to rejig a plan that has failed so many, rewrite a story that’s been told too often, and shift the current landscape of coaching baseball on its axis.

No matter how old a manager may find themselves, that’s a lot to ask for on a Friday afternoon.