Former Brewers Catcher Reportedly a Leading Candidate for Guardians Managerial Job
The now retired catcher played for the Crew in the 2017 season.
A former Brewers player has been linked as a strong candidate for one of the league's managerial openings. Except this time, we're for once not talking about one of the many rumors surrounding current skipper Craig Counsell.
Stephen Vogt was a brief fan favorite of the 2017 Milwaukee Brewers team that just missed making the playoffs. Now with his playing days behind him, he's been interviewing for some of the manager jobs across the league.
And now it appears as though he is being highly considered for at least one of them. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, Vogt has emerged as a serious candidate to become manager of the Cleveland Guardians.
Per Passan, Vogt also interviewed for the opening in San Francisco, though they are largely locked on to current Padres manager Bob Melvin.
Former Brewers catcher Stephen Vogt is reportedly a leading candidate for the Cleveland Guardians managerial opening.
Vogt, who was drafted by the Rays back in 2007, is a veteran of 10 MLB seasons and was a career .239 hitter with a .707 career OPS and 82 home runs. He played a majority of his seasons in the majors with the Oakland A's.
That's exactly where he was when they designated him for assignment in June of the 2017 season. The Brewers, in first place in the NL Central at the time, would end up claiming him off waivers from the A's.
Vogt would end up playing in 45 games for the Brewers down the stretch and performed rather well, batting .254 with a .789 OPS, eight homers, and 20 RBIs. He also had a personality that endeared him to Milwaukee fans.
Unfortunately, Vogt would end up missing the entire 2018 season for the Brewers as he dealt with a shoulder strain all year. He would elect free agency after the season, ending his tenure in Milwaukee.
Vogt would bounce around a few different teams in the following years with a 2022 reunion with the A's marking his final MLB seasons. In 2023, he joined the Mariners organization and was their bullpen and quality control coach.
If hired, Vogt would add to the wave of former MLB players who aren't far removed from their last game in the league. Other such managers include Alex Cora, David Ross, and another former Brewer in Mark Kotsay.
Seeing another former Brewers secure an MLB managerial opening would be pretty cool. It would be even cooler if a current Brewer manager decided to stay put, but that's an entirely different story.