Jim is in studio K. So going
from the radio booth to the
television network, he's joining
me now here on High Heat to talk
all things, Guardians.
Jim, welcome to the show.
Thanks for being with us.
Happy holidays.
What is your impression so far
of what you've seen from
Stephen Vogt?
You know, Elana, I haven't had a
chance to spend a whole lot of
time with him.
Really just the that opening
press conference that you saw a
piece of right there and talked
to him a couple of times as a
player when he was with Oakland.
But yeah, I think obviously the
, the big question will be how
does he catch up from the
experience standpoint as a major
league manager because he just
completed his playing career a
year ago.
So, um I'm sure there'll be some
catch up there, but I think the
key values that the the
Guardians were looking for were
some, some similarities in terms
of what they've had with Terry
Francona for so long.
And that's uh someone who's
going to care about the players
, uh be a player manager, so to
speak and, and just handle
things in a way that, that will
work for them.
And, and obviously he's a little
bit younger face in that dugout.
It's a very young team.
Maybe that will be a good mesh.
We won't know until the season
starts.
But I think he comes from a, a
real good place and there's some
, some good keys there in terms
of the managers that he's played
for.
And as he mentioned during his
presser, he's been able to pull
from all of them and, and
hopefully that comes into play
once the season starts.
Yeah, he's young.
He's just 39 years old and he's
teachable, he's coachable and he
has a great man and Terry
Francona to continue to learn
from stepping down after 11
seasons as the Guardian's all
time winningest manager, he's
not retiring, Rosie, you know,
that he's just stepping away.
He wants to still be able to be
allowed to help in some
capacity.
What did you learn from Tito in
your time as the, when he was
the manager of the Guardians in
your time covering this team?
Well, I think it, it's
interesting, I think Tito was at
his best when the team was
struggling and going through
some tough patches.
And, um, you know, I think it's
easy when the teams winning 10
out of 12 and, and they're
rolling right along and, and for
many seasons, they were at top
the, the central division.
Um, but when the team would go
through a tough stretch and, and
there was an eight game losing
streak his first season with the
team back in 2013.
And I remember talking to
players during that time about
what made him a difference maker
in that dugout.
And, and they all said to a man
that there was never any panic,
uh, it was business as usual and
that created a belief in what
they were doing.
They were just going through a
tough time and when you play 100
and 62 you have those stretches.
So I think he was really a
master when the team was
struggling at getting them
through those stretches.
And also that the ability to, to
make adjustments on the fly.
I think you saw it in the
postseason in 2016.
Um, and that, that'll be the big
key, but can Stephen Vogt do
some of those things as he gains
more experience.
And we certainly saw that from
Tito during his time as manager.
And as you mentioned, jim Tito
leaves a very young team that
Stephen Vogt is inheriting.
I like this lineup from a
contact standpoint.
I like the lineup in terms of
speed, youth, uh, ability to
learn, ability to, uh, to play
the game the right way, but this
is a lineup that needs some
power.
What do you think the Guardians
need to do this off season to
solidify what is a talented
group, but perhaps a team that
needs a little bit more pop.
Yeah, they're, they're trying to
find it.
I mean, it was no coincidence
last year, the, one of the
biggest struggle points was
scoring runs and, and part of
that equation was they were at
or near the bottom in terms of
home runs.
Where do you find that that's
the hard part.
It's going to be really
interesting.
I mean, I think everyone
throughout baseballs kind of
waited here to, to see when the
Dodgers were done signing
certain pieces and Then what
happens for, for a lot of other
teams and you may see some more
activity now as we get between
now and spring training.
Um I'm not sure where those bats
come from.
Um There may be some internal
options that they're hoping
develop quickly.
Um But it certainly is something
that, that they're looking at,
how do they score more runs?
That's, that's a big key because
I think they're very confident
in what they have pitching wise
, especially starting pitching
wise, you mentioned perhaps
within Kyle Manzo showed some
great pop at the Arizona Fall
League.
I mean, this is a kid that was
acquired in a trade last year
for Aaron Savalli.
Do you see him making the
starting lineup for the
Cleveland Guardians in 2024?
It'd be an interesting spring, I
think for him for sure.
And another kid who was his
teammate out in Arizona chased a
louder, um had a huge Arizona
Fall League too.
And, and he may have a little
bit more power potential as
well.
So, so there's some things in
the system but, but as you know
, a lot of, a lot of times for a
major league player, there's
that, um, that breaking in time
where it's hard for them to just
right out of the chute, um, put
up big power numbers.
So it'll be interesting to see
what type of opportunity.