The Cleveland Guardians are already on vacation.
However, while the players are getting some time to rest, the front office is working around the clock.
They have several issues to address in free agency, but that shouldn’t be the only thing at the top of their priority list.
According to a report by Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com, the Guardians are also working on keeping Stephen Vogt around for the long run.
He’s about to enter the third and final year of his contract, and the team wants to ink him to a contract extension:
“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,” Hoynes wrote.
Truth be told, Vogt has already done more than enough to get this.
He’s got better numbers than Terry Francona at this point, and while this season’s ending was fairly disappointing, he clearly overachieved with the hand he was given.
Vogt managed to keep this team motivated and focused through one of the worst offensive months in franchise history.
He got by without Luis L. Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase, and he kept the team together after two of their players were placed on administrative leave for a sports gambling-related incident.
He’s not a perfect manager; nobody is.
But he’s seemed to learn from his mistakes, which haven’t been many, and he seems to have the players’ trust.
The Guardians want to give the youngsters a chance, and Vogt has already connected with them.
It might be way too early to tell, but the first returns of this partnership have been encouraging enough to earn this contract extension.
NEXT: Guardians Named Favorites To Sign Intriguing Pitching Prospect
