Guardians preview 2025: Team has a Vogt of confidence in his second year as manager

What does Stephen Vogt do for an encore? As a rookie manager only a year removed from his playing days, the former big league catcher led the Guardians to a Central Division title and ALCS appearance in 2024. It came under difficult circumstances, as Vogt replaced a legend in Terry Francona, arguably the greatest manager in Cleveland history. Now, in his second season at the helm, he anticipates a little smoother sailing. "The fire hose has a little less pressure," Vogt, 40, said. "There's a lot less that I'm having to get onboarded with. Now it's kind of like picking up where we left off, not trying to learn everything in a three-month period between getting the job and spring training. "It's still very busy, but now it's checking in with players and coaches, rather than trying to learn systems and learn all these different things. That's been really nice." Vogt enters this year without a couple of high-ranking members of his crew from 2024 — All-Star first baseman Josh Naylor and Gold Glove second baseman Andres Gimenez, major parts of the club for the past three years. Naylor was dealt to the Diamondbacks and Gimenez was traded to the Blue Jays. The manager still has Jose Ramirez, a six-time All-Star who has flown under the radar for years but is arguably one of the top five overall players in the game. Ramirez, 32, produced another stellar season a year ago, coming a homer shy of 40 doubles, 40 stolen bases and 40 homers, while fielding his position at an elite level. "He's exactly as advertised," Vogt said of Ramirez, who finished in the top 10 in MVP voting for the seventh time. "He plays the game the right way. He's a top player in this league that no one talks about because he just goes about his business and does what he does. He's a great teammate, he's a leader, he expects his teammates to play the way that he plays and backs it up by going out and doing it. "He got so much better defensively (last year). He should have won the Gold Glove (which went to the Astros' Alex Bregman). It was just a phenomenal year and I'm thankful that Jose Ramirez is on our team." Joining forces with Ramirez is old friend and former teammate Carlos Santana, who will take over for Naylor during his third stint with Cleveland. The second base job at first is expected to go to Gabriel Arias. He's out of minor league options, so it could be a short stay if he doesn't produce. And former top prospect Nolan Jones has returned after being acquired less than a week before the season opener in a trade with the Rockies for Tyler Freeman. He will likely replace Will Brennan, who was sent to the minors, in a platoon role in right field with Jhonkensy Noel — one of the few legitimate power hitters on the roster. "We obviously know Nolan well from his time here," general manager Mike Chernoff said of Cleveland's second-round draft pick in 2016. Jones hit .297 with 20 homers in 106 games with the Rockies in 2023 after being dealt by Cleveland, but was bothered last year by back and knee issues that limited him to 79 games as he hit .227 with three homers. "We had a great feeling for the player, which probably allowed us to act a little bit more quickly than we typically would," Chernoff said. "We felt comfortable with where things are (injury-wise). We are going to have to make sure we manage things appropriately to make sure that we try to keep him on the field." Also back is one of the majors' best bullpens, headlined by maybe the top closer in the game, right-hander Emmanuel Clase, who posted a microscopic 0.61 ERA while leading the majors in saves for the third straight time in his third straight All-Star season. The Guardians employed a late-inning foursome — Clase, right-handers Cade Smith (1.91 ERA) and Hunter Gaddis (1.57) and left-hander Tim Herrin (1.92) — that was unrivaled in the majors. But, once again, Cleveland's rotation is a question mark. The Guardians had the answers last year in right-hander Ben Lively, who replaced injured ace Shane Bieber and was surprisingly one of Cleveland's most consistent starters, then later left-hander Matthew Boyd, who earned a two-year, $29 million contract with the Cubs after recovering from elbow surgery and pitching brilliantly for Cleveland into the postseason. Lively will begin the season in the rotation, along with righties Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams and Luis Ortiz, who was acquired in the offseason from the Pirates. Left-hander Logan Allen beat out Triston McKenzie for the fifth spot, but McKenzie made the roster in the bullpen. Bieber will begin the season on the injured list but is projected to return in June, maybe earlier. In the meantime, Bibee, 26, fills the role of ace. He followed a breakthrough rookie year in 2023 by going 12-8 with a 3.47 ERA over 31 starts last year, and only figures to get better. If he does, it almost certainly will take place in Cleveland after signing a five-year, $48 million contract with a week left in spring training. Bibee wants to finish what the Guardians started in reaching the ALCS but falling to the Yankees in five games. "Obviously I wanted to stay in Cleveland," Bibee said. "I really like it. I'm very comfortable here. I like all the people, the organization, my teammates, and I feel like that's the sweet spot I got to. I wanted to be here. That's the main thing. "It's a winning organization. You're competing with teams like the Dodgers and these huge-market teams, but it's just the development piece of it. It's the culture of it. I love coming to the field every day. I feel like with a lot of organizations, people can't say that. And I think that's just kind of what I value." "From the day he joined the organization, Tanner continues to put in the work to get better each and every day," team president Chris Antonetti said. "That's been a calling card for him up to this point in his career and that's one of the things we're most excited about with is seeing where (he) can go from here." Bibee will make his first career opening day start this afternoon in Kansas City. "It's really cool to get us off on the right foot and maybe establish an identity really early about what we're about," he said. Though the Guardians are the reigning division champs, they aren't the overwhelming favorite to repeat. They were a surprise story under a rookie manager and traded away two of their top producers. Not to mention, the Twins and Royals also made the postseason under MLB's expanded playoff format. The Guardians are expecting another competitive Central. "I think the strength of the division surprised a lot of people last year," Antonetti said. "I think if you look back at some of the things we shared last year, we anticipated it being a really competitive division, with each team having a compelling case in why they were better. I think that's again the case this year. "There are four teams in the division that are expected to be contending for the division title, and we're hopeful that we can be in that mix. We know we have our work cut out for us because there are some talented young teams that are on the upswing." Contact Chris Assenheimer at (440) 329-7136 or cassenheimer@chroniclet.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @CAwesomeheimer on X.