CLEVELAND, Ohio — Nothing has been announced, but it’s certain that the Guardians are in the process of extending manager Stephen Vogt’s contract.
When the Guardians hired Vogt on Nov. 23, 2023 to replace Terry Francona, he signed a three-year contract. The 2026 season will be the third year of that deal following the Guardians second straight AL Central title and postseason appearance.
The feeling in the Guardians’ front office is that they want Vogt, 40, to manage this team for a long time. Francona, of course, became the winningest manager in franchise history in 11 seasons on the job before stepping aside.
Francona led Cleveland to six postseason appearances, including winning an AL pennant in 2016. However, he did not do what Vogt has done in leading the Guardians to AL Central titles and postseason appearances in his first two years on the job.
The Guardians advanced to the ALCS in 2024 before losing to the Yankees. This year they staged a historic comeback from 15 1/2 games off the pace to pass Detroit and win the AL Central on the final day of the regular season. They lost the wild card series to Detroit in three games.
Vogt was named AL Manager of the Year in 2024 by the Baseball Writers Association of America and is a strong candidate to repeat in 2025.
The Guardians face some interesting extension possibilities this offseason. They start with outfielder Steven Kwan, a free agent after the 2027 season. Right-hander Gavin Williams and Cade Smith are candidates as well.
Out of all those possibilities, Vogt should be the easiest to get done.
Chris Antonetti, president of baseball operations, made it clear how he feels about Vogt’s impact on the Guardians last week during the postmortem of the 2025 season.
“Rewinding through 2024, a lot of things went our way,” said Antonetti. “Not to say we didn’t have adversity, but a lot of things went our way at the start of the season. We were in a competitive position from day one through the end of the season. Stephen did a fantastic job helping us navigate through that.
“Fast forward to this year, literally from day one of spring training, we were faced with all sorts of adversity, some of which might be in the normal course of what you could expect. But there were a whole host of things that he and we had to navigate that were in some cases unchartered. Stephen’s steady and consistent presence and leadership was incredible. There is no way we would’ve gotten as far as we did, or won as many games as we did, without Steven’s leadership.”
In July the Guardians lost pitchers Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase to MLB’s on-going gambling probe. They did not pitch for the rest of the season.
On July 7, the Guardians were 15 1/2 games behind the first-place Tigers in the AL Central.
The Guardians made a historic rally from that deficit despite one of the worst offenses in the big leagues. In fact, the Guardians .226 batting average was the lowest in team history, while their 643 runs was the fewest since 1991 when Cleveland set a team record with 105 losses.
“A lot of teams in the second half, given some of the adversity that we faced, would have folded,” said Antonetti. “But a lot of players at different points, especially in the second half, relied on Vogter and the staff to keep them energized. We relied on him to keep that optimism and steady presence in the clubhouse so that we never looked back.”
Waiting game
Guardians still haven’t heard if pitching coach Carl Willis, 64, will return for the 2026 season. Willis has coached Cleveland’s pitchers for 15 years overall, including the last eight in succession.
He helped re-establish the rotation this year with one of the youngest groups of starters in the big leagues.
In his career, Willis has coached Cy Young winners CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Felix Hernandez, Rick Porcello and Shane Bieber.
The Guardians could hear something about Willis in a couple of weeks.
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