CLEVELAND — Manager Stephen Vogt led the Guardians to a historic AL Central title in 2025. It’s only fitting he put a bow on the season by etching his name into the record books once more.
Vogt was named the winner of the 2025 AL Manager of the Year Award on Tuesday, as voted upon by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. By winning the honor for the second straight season, he has joined some tremendous company.
Vogt is only the fourth manager to win this award in consecutive seasons, joining Bobby Cox (2004-05), Kevin Cash (‘20-21) and Pat Murphy — who also won it for the second straight season on Tuesday.
Even more rare, Vogt is the first skipper to earn the honor in each of his first two seasons as a big league manager. He and Murphy are the first to win it in each of their first two seasons with a team.
Vogt received 20 first-place votes to top Toronto’s John Schneider (10) and Seattle’s Dan Wilson (two). Cleveland (six) snapped a tie with the White Sox for the most Manager of the Year Awards overall.
“Obviously, I feel super honored,” Vogt said during a Zoom session on Tuesday. “The job that everyone did — and I know I played a part in it — but just to overcome everything that we did to win the division, get to the playoffs, I couldn’t be more proud of our players.
“… Our staff was overworked, but it’s a really cool honor for the entire organization, and just a nod to the work that our team did.”
The Guardians set an MLB record for largest deficit overcome to win a division (since 1969) or league (pre-’69). They trailed Detroit by 15 1/2 games the morning of July 8. They were 11 games back the morning of Sept. 5 — the new record for largest deficit erased in September to win a division or league.
The Guardians finished the regular season 19-4 to secure the Central. That was part of their 20-7 month of September and a 42-25 second half, which were the best records in MLB over those respective spans.
Among other adversity, Cleveland had a 10-game losing streak (June 26-July 6) and a 1-9 stretch (Aug. 15-25). It saw All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase and starter Luis Ortiz go on non-disciplinary paid leave in July amid ongoing MLB investigations.
That same month, the Guardians shipped ace Shane Bieber to Toronto before the Trade Deadline, while he was on the comeback trail from Tommy John surgery. For the season, Cleveland recorded a single-season franchise worst .226 batting average.
The Guardians had every opportunity to waver. Through the ups and downs, Vogt continually preached a one-day-at-a-time mentality, even while acknowledging it was a cliché.
“This one is so gratifying, because I know how hard we worked,” Vogt said of his two Manager of the Year Awards. “I know how hard it was to show up every day at times positive, and to keep pushing and to keep that smile on your face. It’s a choice every single day that you make when you show up to work, if you want to be in a good mood or bad mood.
“… Our entire group showed up in a good mood, believing we were going to win, even through the midst of some rough stretches. We knew that it was going to turn at some point, and we had to make it turn.”
A pivot to a six-man rotation helped pave the way. The Guardians ranked second in Majors with a 2.16 ERA from Sept. 3 onward.
Vogt is always the first person to credit those around him. That was no different Tuesday. He pointed to his coaching staff, clubhouse leaders such as José Ramírez, Austin Hedges, David Fry, Steven Kwan and Bo Naylor, and a front office led by team president Chris Antonetti, general manager Mike Chernoff and assistant GM Matt Forman.
But the Guardians’ turnaround this season doesn’t happen without their manager. And for a guy who had not managed at any level before 2024, Vogt has quickly proven he is among the best in baseball.
“I don’t pretend to have answers,” Vogt said. “I’m very curious. I want to learn. I think I settled into [the job] pretty quickly. I still make mistakes every single night. I still make mistakes every single day, but I own up to those and I apologize for them.
“I’m never going to be satisfied. I’m never going to stop learning. I can always grow and get better. But I felt like I settled into it fairly quickly because of the people around me helping me.”
