By Tom Withers

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt will once again have two valuable coaches at his side for his second season.

A finalist for AL Manager of the Year after leading Cleveland to 92 regular season wins and an AL Central title, Vogt tweaked his team on November 13, with the biggest moves being Craig Albernaz and Carl Willis remaining. on site.

Albernaz, who was the club’s bench coach in 2024, was promoted to associate manager while Willis will return for his 15th season in Cleveland.

Vogt leaned heavily on Albernaz last season during and after games while navigating his first season as coach – at every level. Albernaz has become highly sought after this offseason, with the Miami Marlins and Chicago White Sox among the teams asking about him as a manager.

Instead, he will stay with Vogt in Cleveland and win another title.

“So excited to have him back,” Vogt said during a Zoom news conference. “Obviously for him to have both opportunities and for him to choose to come back to us, it shows who Alby is. His responsibilities will not change. It was just a recognition of, ‘You’re more than a bench coach, you mean more to us than a bench coach.’

The same is true for Willis, who was instrumental in Guardians fixing some major launch issues this year. Ace Shane Bieber was lost for the season after just two starts and the team had to fill a major role in the bullpen after Trevor Stephan and James Karinchak were injured during spring training.

There had been speculation that Willis, 63, would retire or perhaps join new Cincinnati manager Terry Francona’s staff.

“I couldn’t be more grateful to have Carl coming back, what he means to this organization, what he means to me, what he means to our pitchers and the rest of our staff,” Vogt said. “We rely on him a lot. He’s the most experienced on our team and for Carl to want to come back to be with us, we couldn’t be more thrilled.

“I know I can’t wait to sit next to him for another season and he can hear my words during the game and calm me down.”

On November 13, the team also promoted Grant Fink to hitting coach. He will replace Chris Valaika, who joined Francona with the Reds. Fink was the club’s minor league hitting coordinator for the past three seasons.

“As we looked at the hitting landscape throughout the game,” Vogt said, “we kept coming back to Grant and what he brings from a leadership standpoint, familiarity with a lot of our players and familiarity with the three other hitting coaches on our staff.

Additionally, first base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. will return in 2025 for his 16th season.

Additionally, the Guardians promoted Kai Correa to major league field coordinator/director of defense, base running and game strategy.

Originally published: November 13, 2024 at 5:32 p.m. EST