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CLEVELAND — Stephen Vogt lingered in the dugout after the season’s final out, letting the moment fill him with both pain and purpose.

As the New York Yankees embraced on the field following their Game 5 win that clinched their first AL pennant since 2009 on Saturday night, Vogt, who in his first season as a major league manager took the Cleveland Guardians deeper into the postseason than anyone thought possible, watched.

He made himself a promise.

“I want it next year and it’s never going to stop driving me,” Vogt said.

With the ALCS loss still stinging three days afterward, Vogt and Cleveland’s top front office executives met media members on Tuesday to rehash the club’s remarkable run in 2024 and discuss their plans to try and do it again.

There were plenty of names bandied about as the team looked ahead. What is the future of All-Star first baseman Josh Naylor? What about 2020 Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber?

There will be time for those decisions. But on Tuesday, it was more about assessing what was a rebuilding year that turned out to be so much more.

Forecast to go .500 with one of baseball’s youngest rosters, the Guardians took over first place in April and took off.

They won 92 games to capture the AL Central, suddenly MLB’s most competitive division. The Guardians then rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the division series to advance past Detroit before pushing the star-studded Yankees as hard as they could — winning a magical Game 3 at home on a walk-off homer — before falling three wins shy of the World Series.

While the disappointment is real, so is the fact that Guardians grew.

“We know we have areas to improve, and we learned a lot about our players,” Vogt said. “We learned a lot about our staff. I learned a lot about how to do this job and navigating through the first season the way we did. We checked about every box you could other than winning the last game of the year and that’s what the goal is.”

At this time a year ago, the club was headed into a frightening unknown. Terry Francona, the winningest manager in club history and a certain Hall of Famer, had stepped down after 11 seasons, leaving a massive void.

Enter Vogt, who more than filled it.

The journeyman catcher was hired by the Guardians despite not having ever managed a game — at any level. He arrived with a reputation for being studious, hard-working and a great teammate known for his hilarious comical impersonations.

He nailed being a manager.

“We had really high expectations,” said Chris Antonetti, the club’s president of baseball operations. “Stephen blew all of those out of the water. What he has been able to contribute as someone that’s new to the job, it’s a marvel to me. You could not expect someone who’s done what he’s done in the first year in any position and be as successful as he’s been.”

Antonetti noted how from the time he arrived, Vogt connected with his players personally and professionally. He gave them support and space, and he was able to get more out of them than they may have thought was possible.

Following the tough Game 5 loss in extra innings, Antonetti said there was a parade of players outside Vogt’s office waiting to give him a hug and their thanks.

“It was so powerful to see,” Antonetti said.

Vogt wasn’t perfect. He made his share of mistakes, and arguably a major one in Cleveland’s last game when he elected to have Tanner Bibee pitch to Giancarlo Stanton in the sixth inning nursing a 2-0 lead with a base open, and the Yankees’ slugger hit a game-tying, two-run homer.

Vogt said he’s walking away without any regrets.

“When it works, it works,” he said. “And when it doesn’t, you are wrong. That’s just the way that this job works. I learned that this year, so I wouldn’t go back and change anything.”

Maybe except the way it ended.

BYE BYE BIEBER?

Bieber’s 2024 season ended after two starts. It was also the likely ending to his career with Cleveland. He will be a free agent this winter, and the right-hander is expected to sign elsewhere as he comes back after Tommy John surgery. Bieber was drafted by Cleveland and went 62-32 in 134 starts.

If Bieber has pitched his last game for the Guardians, Antonetti said he has left a legacy.

“He sets the standard for how guys go about their work, not only when they’re competing but in between starts,” he said. “Hopefully he will be here to continue that in person. But if not, his impact here will be felt for a long time.”

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Because he’s only under contractual control for another season, Naylor has been mentioned in trade speculation for months.

It’s likely the Guardians will be approached about Naylor — that happens with most players — but the team doesn’t appear to be in any hurry to part with the power hitter.

“Our expectation is Josh will be an anchor on our team in 2025 and who knows, hopefully beyond that,” Antonetti said. “At the same time, he’s a really good player and I imagine there will be other teams that will call us and ask about a variety of guys and that’s naturally what happens over the course of the winter.

“But our hope and expectation is that he’ll be with us on opening day next year.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Source: Rangers happy if Bochy stays beyond ’25

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Source: Rangers happy if Bochy stays beyond '25

The hiring of Skip Schumaker as a senior advisor may mean that the Texas Rangers have their future manager under contract.

But if current manager Bruce Bochy, who is likely to be inducted into the Hall of Fame once his career is over, wants to continue beyond 2025, the Rangers will enthusiastically welcome that.

According to one source, Bochy will have the latitude to continue if that’s what he wants.

“If [Bochy] wants to manage beyond 2025, [the Rangers] are good with that,” a highly ranked source told ESPN.

Bochy, who turns 70 in April, just completed his 27th season managing in the big leagues — for the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants before he became the Rangers’ skipper in 2023 — and ranks eighth all time in managerial wins with 2,171, the most for any current manager.

Next season, he will likely pass Dusty Baker and Sparky Anderson on the list. Bochy’s teams have won four championships — the Giants in 2010, 2012 and 2014, and the Rangers in 2023.

Schumaker, 44, is viewed as a rising star in the managerial ranks after his first two seasons, with the Miami Marlins.

Miami made the playoffs in 2023 and Schumaker was named National League Manager of the Year. But when the Marlins’ ownership effectively pushed out Kim Ng, the GM who hired Schumaker, he asked the team to void a 2025 option year on his contract, and he left the Marlins after the 2024 season.

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Shildt gets extension after Padres’ playoff return

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Shildt gets extension after Padres' playoff return

One year into his tenure with the Padres, Mike Shildt has been rewarded with a two-year contract extension that ties the manager to San Diego through 2027.

The Padres announced the agreement Wednesday with the 56-year-old manager after they went 93-69, finishing five games behind the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West and claiming the top NL wild card.

“I am honored to continue leading this team toward Peter Seidler’s vision of bringing a World Series championship to San Diego,” Shildt said in a statement. “In collaboration with our players and coaching staff, we are committed to building on our success, serving our community and the City of San Diego, and delivering a winning team to our incredible and deserving fan base.”

San Diego swept a two-game wild-card series against the Atlanta Braves then took a 2-1 lead on the Dodgers in the best-of-five NL Division Series. Los Angeles bounced back to win the final two games 8-0 and 2-0.

The Padres tied for first in the majors with a .263 batting average and ranked sixth with a .745 OPS. Their 3.86 team ERA rated 12th, and their pitching staff’s 1,453 strikeouts came in sixth.

Shildt previously managed the Cardinals from 2018 to 2021, logging a 252-199 regular-season record and guiding St. Louis into the postseason in three of his four seasons. He was voted the NL Manager of the Year in 2019.

“As Mike demonstrated this year, he has an unwavering commitment to winning and a unique set of skills that got our group to perform at a high level,” Padres president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller said in a statement. “He possesses a true love for this team and the game of baseball, and I am thrilled to continue to work together with Mike to bring a championship to the City of San Diego.”

Field Level Media contributed to this report.

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Bottom 10: Clemson and its fans thrown for a loss

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Bottom 10: Clemson and its fans thrown for a loss

Inspirational thought of the week:

Do you love me?
Do you wanna be my friend?
And if you do
Well then don’t be afraid to take me by the hand
If you want to
I think this is how love goes
Check yes or no
— “Check Yes or No,” George Strait

Here at Bottom 10 Headquarters, located among the giant concrete reinforcement pillars installed under the Indiana football offices to support Curt Cignetti’s self-confidence, we are still trying to process the ceaseless series of sea change/Earth change/mindset change/sleep-cycle change events that were thrust upon us over the course of only a few days’ time.

We had Halloween, turning the clocks back an hour, the release of a new Liam Neeson/Ron Perlman mob movie and a Week 10 slate that saw a gaggle of ranked teams pushed and/or upset by unranked teams, not to mention Pur-don’t and Northworstern going into OT.

And oh yeah, dummy me. I forgot the biggest event of them all. The one that was unfurling just as we were compiling these rankings Tuesday evening, Nov. 5, 2024. I am, of course, speaking of the #MACtion doubleheader of Boiling Green at Centralized Michigan and My Hammy of Ohio at Baller State. Oh, and the eve of “The Golden Bachelorette: The Men Tell All.”

With apologies to Joan Vassos, Jesse Palmer, Matt James, Tyler Cameron, Cleisthenes and Steve Harvey, here’s the post-Week 10 Bottom 10 rankings.


The good news is that the Golden (plated) Flashes, aka America’s last winless FBS team, did not lose their 18th straight game. The bad news is that it’s only because they didn’t play. Now they kick off Week 11 early with the first of four straight midweek games to end the season. It starts with a visit from fellow Ohioans Ohio, followed by a trip to fellow Ohioans My Hammy of Ohio, a visit from fellow Ohioans Akronmonious and then a trip to Buffalo, which isn’t in Ohio, but I’m pretty sure Ohio eats more Buffalo wings than any other state, so it feels like it is.


Brett Favre Funding U also managed to escape its open date without a loss ahead of hosting Marshall this weekend. The Olden Eagles are already eyeing their potential Pillow Fight of the Year of the Century in their season finale to Bottom 10 Waiting Lister Troy Bolton State. Actually, they’re already eyeing the weekend after that, when the season is finally over.


Speaking of the Waiting List, that’s where the Minors were just two weeks ago, but after back-to-back Pillow Fight losses to Fa-la-la-la-la La-la-la-Tech and Meh-dle Tennessee, they have jumped up off the bench outside and burst into the front door like me when the buffet hostess finally says, “McGee, party of one!” Now they will play in unprecedented Pillow Fight Three-peat against … yeah, like that hostess, we’re going to make you wait a minute.


Our old friends the Minuetmen also spent part of this fall on the Waiting List, but they answered the call of duty by following up their non-FBS win over Jack Wagner by getting housed by another Waiting List member, a fellow 2-7 squad out of the S-E-C, Miss Sus Hippie State. Now the Mess plays last week’s Coveted Fifth Spot winner Liberty. It’s always a weird headspace for a group of Revolutionary War soldiers to try to defeat Liberty.


The Tigers tumble down The Hill from the fancy-schmancy Coaches Poll top 10 into the Coveted Fifth Spot after losing to #goacc mid-packer Louisville. We were on the fence about whether to put Death Valley or Happy Valley into this slot, but our minds were made up after downing a bottle of refreshing water that had been winged at our heads from the Clemson student section.


I can hear the lobby conversation now. “Hey, Clemson, did y’all really just lose to Louisville and land in the Coveted Fifth Spot?” “Hey, FSU, did y’all really just lose by 24 points to North Carolina and is the only team you’ve beaten really Cal?” Then they both grab up their briefcases and head into the courtroom to explain why they are too good for the ACC.


The Buttermakers lost the B1G Bottom 10 Bowl presented by Rust-eze, falling to Northworstern in overtime. Now they finish the year with three of four games against top 10 teams in Ohio State, Penn State and Indiana. In related news, sources tell Bottom 10 JortsCenter that Purdue’s legendary engineering department is trying to invent one of those Tony Stark time machine thingies so they can fast forward to winter.


The New Owls have flown back into these standings after following up their first-ever win as an FBS program with their seventh-ever loss as an FBS program. Now they hit the road for their first-ever Pillow Fight of the Week, a matchup with border rival UTEPid. Told you we’d get to it.


If the Bottom 10 were a series “Game of Thrones” memes, this is where we’d see a photo of Boromir talking and giant white letters that read “ONE DOES NOT SIMPLY GET SMOKED 59-21 BY ONE-WIN UAB AND NOT END UP IN THE BOTTOM 10.” OK, sure, let’s go on and do it …


My OG Bottom 10 champs are back! The Panthers keep racking up moral victories. Their only actual victories came back-to-back in September over Chattanooga and Vanderbilt. So, if you’re scoring at home, and we are, Georgia State beat Vandy, who beat Bama, who has been ranked No. 1 and who beat Georgia, who has been ranked No. 1 and who beat Texas, who has been ranked No. 1. I almost printed this paragraph out on Georgia State stationery and nailed it to the door of the College Football Playoff selection committee meeting room at the Gaylord Texan, like Martin Luther at the Castle Church.

Waiting List: FA (not I) U, Akronmonious, Meh-dle Tennessee, WhyOMGing?, You A Bee?, Whew Mexico State, Temple of Doom, Utaw State, Charlotte 3-and-6ers, assistant coaches impersonating volcanos.

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