The first two seasons of Stephen Vogt’s time with the Cleveland Guardians couldn’t have gone better.
No, the team hasn’t gotten as far as they would’ve liked in terms of playoff success. Still, Vogt has gotten the most, and more, out of this group and led them to two American League Central titles in the midst of plenty of uncertainty and adversity.
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No one should have been surprised when the Guardians skipper was named the 2025 Manager of the Year Award, but Vogt did admit at the Winter Meetings that he wasn’t expecting himself to win the award.
During an interview with Foul Territory, Vogt said, “It was pretty cool. Honestly, it means so much. It’s an organizational award. It really is recognizing what our guys did. It was a unique year, to say the least, for us, so really honored to get that, but we weren’t expecting that at all.”
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Vogt sure is humble when discussing the award and what the team accomplished under his leadership. Still, it’s hard to say any other manager in baseball could have navigated the Guardians through their 2025 rollercoaster.
Cleveland found themselves 15.5 games out of first and fourth place in the division in July. That was after a 10-game losing streak, and the team went on to have another 1-9 stretch in August.
In the middle of all of that, a gambling investigation rocked the locker room, with Luis Ortiz and superstar closer Emmanuel Clase being placed on leave halfway through the year.
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Sep 28, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt (12) watches the flag raising after the Guardians beat the Texas Rangers and won the American League Central Division at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
The Guardians went on a historic run in September, led by a six-man rotation ultimately implemented by Vogt and his coaching staff; a decision that, looking back on it, could have single-handedly helped the Guardians reach the playoffs.
There were many reasons the Guardians could have given up and turned the page to 2026, but Vogt helped his players buy into the “take one day and one game at a time” cliche and ended up getting the most out of this group.
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Vogt may have been shocked to see himself win the award, but he certainly is deserving of being named the best manager in the American League for the 2025 season.