A strong case could have been made for any of the three finalists for American League Manager of the Year to win the award. Ultimately, it was Cleveland Guardians skipper Stephen who beat out Toronto Blue Jays’ John Schneider and Seattle Mariners’ Dan Wilson for the accolade.

The voting ended up being pretty close. In the end, Vogt ended up with 17 first-place votes while Schneider was given 10, and Wilson received two.

There must have been something that separated Cleveland’s manager from Toronto’s, and Vogt shared what he thinks that thing was while speaking with Cleveland media shortly after the award was announced. 

From Vogt’s perspective, some of what he thinks contributed to winning the award included “the things we went through off the field, the 10-game losing streak, the one-in-nine stretch, being 15 and a half back.”

Vogt repeatedly stated throughout his full press conference that he believes this award reflects the entire organization. With that, Cleveland’s skipper thinks that considering the expectation the Guardians had heading into the year, and where they finished the season, could also have something to do with him winning the award again. 

When comparing them to the two other finalists and their teams, the Blue Jays and Mariners were expected to make the playoffs and lived up to those expectations. 

“You know we've talked about this: We know we need to get better in a lot of areas. And I think a lot of people looked at our team, and even preseason, didn't count us in for very much,” Vogt said. 

“And so to see us win another division and overcome a lot of the things that we did, I think it really just, they noticed. And it was really cool to win this noticing that people around the country saw what we did and really appreciated it. And so I feel very honored about that.”

We’ll never know exactly what all of the voters considered when casting their ballots. But as Vogt mentions, what Cleveland overcame throughout the year, and still won the division, is certainly a reason to be recognized.