Guardians’ Stephen Vogt Winning 2025 AL Manager of the Year Award Has Fans Losing It: “Schneider Robbed”

Stephen Vogt led the Cleveland Guardians to their 2nd successive AL Central Division title after overcoming a 15.5-game deficit against the Detroit Tigers.

Guardians’ Stephen Vogt Winning 2025 AL Manager of the Year Award Has Fans Losing It: “Schneider Robbed”

Stephen Vogt 9Image via Spectrum News)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

On Tuesday, Cleveland Guardians skipper Stephen Vogt was named the 2025 American League Manager of the Year. This marked the second straight year that he had won this award. Fans on social media, however, were unimpressed with it and expressed that John Schneider of the Toronto Blue Jays was “robbed” of this honor.

Vogt was named the winner of this award following votes by the members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). The 41-year-old, who led the Guardians to their first American League Championship (ALCS) in 8 years last season, had a topsy-turvy season this year.

At one stage in July, the Guardians were 40-48 for the season as they got swept by their Central Division rivals, the Detroit Tigers. They headed into the All-Star Break with a 46-49 record.

A 1-9 stretch from August 15 to 25 saw them fall 2 games behind the .500 win percentage mark. At this point, it seemed all over for the Guardians.

The team then got hot in September. While they were trailing the Tigers by 11 games as of September 5, they started winning games. With the Tigers slipping, the Guardians went 20-7 in September and scripted MLB history.

They were able to erase a 15.5-game gap between them and the Tigers. They thus set an MLB record of overcoming the largest deficit to win the division title as they finished with an 88-74 record, 1 game ahead of the Tigers to clinch their 2nd successive division title.

In the Wild Card Series, they met the Tigers again. Following a gritty win in Game 2, they lost 6-3 in Game 3 and ended up losing in the first round. Despite this early playoff exit, Vogt was named as the AL Manager of the Year for a second season running.

Amid their slumps in July and August, the Guardians had to deal with some other adversities as well. Two of their relief pitchers, Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase, were placed on non-disciplinary leave amid an ongoing MLB investigation regarding sports betting.

The team also lost their ace pitcher, Shane Bieber. The right-handed pitcher, who had come back from a Tommy John surgery last year, was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays before the trade deadline. The team ended the campaign with a .226 batting average, the worst single-season record in franchise history.

MLB fans react as Stephen Vogt claims 2025 AL Manager of the Year Award

Stephen Vogt was named the American League Manager of the Year again on Tuesday. In his 2nd season as a manager, the Cleveland Guardians skipper claimed this honor once again as he received 17 first-place votes.

Stephen Vogt
Stephen Vogt (Image via MLB)

While the Guardians fans were celebrating this, a majority of the MLB fanbase was against it. Many expressed that John Schneider should have won this award. One user wrote, “Schneider robbed” to make their feelings known.

Check out that and some other reactions below:

Schneider took the Toronto Blue Jays to their first World Series since 1993. In the Fall Classic, the Canadian side fell short at the final hurdle as they blew a 3-0 and 4-2 lead in Game 7 and lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Stephen Vogt joins exclusive club following back-to-back Manager of the Year awards

Stephen Vogt claimed a second successive Manager of the Year award on Tuesday. Following his win, he joined an exclusive club in MLB history.

Stephen Vogt
Stephen Vogt (Image via ClutchPoints)

He became just the fourth manager in MLB history to win this award in back-to-back seasons. The other three are Bobby Cox (2004-05 Atlanta Braves), Kevin Cash (2020-21 Tampa Bay Rays) and Pat Murphy, who also won his second successive NL Manager of the Year Award on Tuesday with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Vogt’s triumph marks the 6th time the Guardians have taken home this award. Terry Francona was bestowed with this title three times in 2013, 2016 and 2022. Eric Wedge was the other Guardians manager who claimed this honor in 2007.

Also Read: