'I'm coming back': Stephen Vogt says he will manage the Guardians in 2027 and the Mariners have not called

Stephen Vogt is staying in Cleveland.

"I'm here," the Guardians manager said at a news conference Thursday. "I'm coming back."

The 41-year-old has won a division title in each of his three seasons and has twice been named American League Manager of the Year. His name had come up for the open job in Seattle, where the Mariners fired Dan Wilson last month. Vogt's family lives in Olympia, Washington. He also spent the 2023 season as a Mariners coach.

'I have not gotten a phone call'

Vogt said Seattle has not reached out. "I'll be in Cleveland," he said three days after the Guardians were knocked out of the ALCS by the Tampa Bay Rays. "I have not gotten a phone call."

Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti was just as firm. "I have every expectation that Voter is going to manage here for a really long time," he said, using Vogt's nickname. "We don't have any interest in Voter managing anywhere else."

Vogt signed a multiyear extension after the 2024 season. The terms were never made public.

The hardest part of the job

A father of three, Vogt has talked openly about how tough it is to be away from his family for months at a time. His wife Alyssa and their kids join him in the summer.

"It's very difficult living on the other side of the country, especially with my kids' age," he said. "My daughter's in high school, my boys are starting to get older." He said his wife reminds him every day that he is where he is supposed to be.

A season to remember

One of baseball's youngest teams rallied from a slow first half to catch the White Sox and win the division. Cleveland then came back from an 0-2 hole to beat Chicago in the Division Series before falling to Tampa Bay. The Guardians' World Series drought is now 78 years, the longest in the majors.

"There was a belief that we were just going to do it," Vogt said. "We controlled our destiny and we went out and grabbed it."

Pitching coach Carl Willis, 65, will also return for a 15th season with the club. Vogt added that he had a candid talk with starter Tanner Bibee about his limited role in the playoffs and called Bibee "a huge part of this team for a long time."