News and Notes: Cleveland Media and Fans Meet Stephen Vogt
Stephen Vogt is the new manager of the Guardians! You can watch the entire press conference here if you missed it (possibly because the team’s official channels didn’t notify you where to watch it until nine minutes before it began):
I thought Chris Antonetti’s opening statement at the press conference about what they were looking for in a manager was excellent. Vogt appeared to be every bit as endearing and captivating as has been reported, in my opinion. Bravo to him for being a guy who seems to cry in public more easily. Men should be encouraged to express their emotions honestly and without shame, like responsible adults do! Well done, Stephen!
I also thought it was fantastic that he made an immediate allusion to Chris Farley. This person appeals to me. I will always support Vogt.
You can listen to Meisel and Zuppe break down the press conference here, read Terry Pluto’s summary of the meeting here, and read Zack Meisel’s here.
The Giants’ bullpen and catching coach Craig Albernaz, who had interviewed for Cleveland’s managerial position, was named a “major league field coordinator” by the Guardians, implying that he was brought on as a quality control for the entire team.
Later, we found out that all of Cleveland’s coaching staff is back, with the exception of Rigo Beltran (bullpen), Mike Barnett (replay), and Mike Sarbaugh (third base and infield). However, Hoynes has reported that Demarlo Hale has not been asked to interview for the managerial position, and he is still debating whether or not to return to his previous role as bench coach.
I’m just speculating, but I wonder if Rob Cerfolio and John MacDonald, who were allegedly considered for the manager position, would be suitable for any of these positions. Vogt might turn to someone Hale personally trusts if Hale turns down the position, but we’ll have to wait and see how things work out.
The always entertaining Gage from Everyone Hates Cleveland offered some fascinating background on the poor performance of the Guardians in stopping runners:
Guys that focus on catchers, like Vogt and Albernaz, should be able to help mitigate this.
Speaking of Everybody Hates Cleveland, Mike Hattery wrote a fantastic article examining the potential effects of signing Christian Bethancourt on the team’s catcher framing strategy.
In other news, it appears that opposing teams will have a problem with Kyle Manzardo. Last night, the Peoria Javelinas participated in the first-ever Arizona Fall League playoff game—the semi-final—and overcame a 9-0 deficit in the first inning to win 12-9. Manzardo and DeLauter both went 2 for 4 with a triple and a walk.
The guys also sent us this video, which, ideally, will become the Guardians’ new catchphrase going forward: “swing hard and hit it far.”
