Photo: Jason Miller / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
The Baseball Writers Association of America today announced Cleveland Guardians Manager Stephen Vogt has been selected the American League Manager of the Year, beating out Kansas City’s Matt Quatraro and Detroit’s A.J. Hinch with 27 first-place votes.
Vogt, 40, guided Cleveland to its 12th American League Central Division title and second-best record in the AL, posting a mark of 92-69 (.571) in his inaugural season at the helm. Opening the season with the youngest roster in MLB (27.161) and seven players making their first Opening Day roster, Cleveland sported a 16-game improvement from 2023’s mark of 76-86, spending 177 days in first place, the last 169 consecutively after April 13. Vogt became the fifth Cleveland skipper to win 90-or-more games in his first full season as Manager, joining Terry Francona (2013), Charlie Manuel (2000), Al Lopez (1951) and Tris Speaker (1920). He also became the fifth Manager in MLB history to steer his team to the Postseason within two seasons of his playing career (excluding player-managers), joining Jim Fregosi (CAL 1979), Yogi Berra (NYY 1964), Al Dark (SF 1962) and Pat Moran (PHI 1915), per ESPN’s Sarah Langs/Elias.
The 2024 club sported winning records in five of six months during the regular season, using the Injured List a total of 21 times and utilizing 14 starting pitchers and 50 players along the way. The Guards finished with an AL-best 50-30 (.625) record at home – third-best in MLB behind Los Angeles-NL (.642, 52-29) & Philadelphia (.667, 54-27). In the Postseason, the club advanced to its first American League Championship Series since 2016, besting Detroit in five games in the ALDS. This past season marked the sixth time in the last nine seasons (since 2016) Cleveland has qualified for the Postseason, sporting the third-best record in Major League Baseball (1013-826, .551) since 2013 behind only Los Angeles (NL) and New York (AL).
Vogt becomes the third Cleveland Manager to take home the AL Manager of the Year Award, joining Eric Wedge (2007) and Terry Francona (2013, ’16, ’22). He is the first AL Manager to win the honor in his debut season since Minnesota’s Rocco Baldelli in 2019, the ninth in MLB history to garner the honor in their debut season since the awards inception in 1983.
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