News and Notes: Stephen Vogt Introduced to Cleveland Media and Fans

The Guardians have a new manager, Stephen Vogt! If you missed the press conference (perhaps because the team’s official channels didn’t let you know where you could watch it until 9 minutes before it started), you can watch the full event here:

I really appreciated Chris Antonetti’s opening remarks to the press conference regarding what they were looking for in a manager. I also thought Vogt seemed just as charming and magnetic as has been rumored. And, props to him for being a guy who apparently cries in public easier. Men should be encouraged not to have to hide their emotions but openly express them like mature adults! Way to go, Stephen!

I also LOVED that he gave a Chris Farley reference right off the bat. This is my kind of person. I’m definitely rooting for Vogt.

You can read Terry Pluto’s summary of the conference here, Zack Meisel’s here, and listen to Meisel and Zuppe process the presser here.

The Guardians announced that Craig Albernaz, Giants’ bullpen and catching coach who had interviewed for the managerial role in Cleveland, had been added to the team’s staff as “major league field coordinator” which sounds like a quality control for the whole team role?

We later learned that all of Cleveland’s coaching staff is returning except for Mike Sarbaugh (third base and infield), Mike Barnett (replay), and Rigo Beltran (bullpen). But, also, Demarlo Hale is still deciding if wants to return as the bench coach, with Hoynes reporting that he wanted to interview for the managerial role but was not asked to do so:

Just speculating, but I wonder if John MacDonald and Rob Cerfolio, who were rumored to be considered for the manager’s job, may be up for any of these roles. One would imagine that if Hale declines the job, Vogt may go to someone who has his personal trust but we will see how it develops.

At 11:35pm EST last night, Rawlings announced their Platinum Glove Award Winners. Andres Gimenez won in the American League

Gage from Everyone Hates Cleveland, always a good Twitter follow, provided some interesting context to how bad the Guardians have been at holding runners:

This is hopefully something catcher-oriented guys like Vogt and Albernaz can help with mitigating.

Speaking of Everybody Hates Cleveland, their Mike Hattery offered a great piece looking at what implications the Christian Bethancourt signing may have for the organization’s approach to catcher framing.

In other news, Kyle Manzardo looks like he will be a PROBLEM for opposing teams. The Peoria Javelinas played in the first playoff game for the Arizona Fall League last night, the semi-final, came back from a 9-0 first inning deficit, and won 12-9 featuring 2 home runs from Manzardo and a 2 for 4 with a triple and a walk performance from DeLauter.

The boys also gave us this clip of what will hopefully be the Guardians' new hitting mantra: "swing hard and hit it far."

Happy Veterans Day here in the U.S., thank you to all who served.