Stephen Vogt rejection reveal further hints at Mariners manager job as radioactive

The Seattle Mariners are going to have a new manager soon, and it's going to be either Joe Espada or Jason Kanzler. This proves at least two people want the job, but that's notably fewer than the number of prospective managers who turned the gig down in one way or another.

When Carlos Mendoza rejected the Mariners in favor of a coaching gig with the Philadelphia Phillies, it was easy to brush off. But then, less so when Rocco Baldelli did the same earlier this week. And now, we know that Stephen Vogt didn't want to become the Mariners manager either… even though the Cleveland Guardians were prepared for the possibility.

This is according to Daniel Kramer of MLB.com, who had a source tell him the Guardians "were open to allowing Vogt to explore the opportunity with the Mariners." That just never came to pass. The Mariners reportedly never reached out, and Vogt publicly committed to Cleveland last week.

Stephen Vogt had a good reason to covet the Mariners' job, so what happened?

From the Guardians' side, it only made sense to anticipate some kind of negotiation over Vogt's future. The two-time AL Manager of the Year signed an extension with them before the 2025 season, yet everyone knew that A) Vogt got his coaching start with the Mariners in 2023 and B) that he and his family make their home in Olympia.

In this way, at least, Vogt was different from Mendoza and Baldelli. The former has only ever coached on the East Coast. The latter may work for the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he and his family make their home in Florida. Frustrating though their rejections were, you could totally understand it if either simply didn't want to live and work in the farthest corner of the other side of the country.

For Vogt, returning to the Pacific Northwest to replace Dan Wilson in the manager's chair hypothetically could have been a dream job. The complication for Jerry Dipoto was that actually getting Vogt would have required a rare sort of trade, but it might have been realistic if Vogt had pressed the Guardians to let him go home. So, why didn't that happen?

Only Stephen Vogt knows what's in Stephen Vogt's head, so we won't pretend to speak for him. What can nonetheless be observed, however, is that he has a pretty sweet gig in Cleveland. Even if the Dolans don't put much money into payroll, Chris Antonetti is one of the best front office heads in the business. That means a steady supply of fun toys for Vogt to play with, and he has three straight AL Central titles to vouch for how well he does so.

As for what there is to observe about the Mariners, well, how about a general sense of disorder?

They're coming off a 76-86 season that is worse than a garden-variety 10-under season. Not only did the manager have to go, but a whole new culture must come with whoever replaces him. Dipoto must also repair a roster that stands to lose Randy Arozarena and J.P. Crawford, and which also badly needs bullpen upgrades. As per usual, he'll have to address these needs on a budget.

According to Kramer, it's Dipoto and Justin Hollander who will have "the final say" on the Mariners' new manager. There is nonetheless a lingering question of how much longer either or both will remain in charge of the front office. Heck, Dipoto himself was alluding to questions about his job security in late September. If he's fired a year from now, would his hand-picked manager survive to the next regime? It's not always a given.

Again, only Vogt knows what's in his head. Simply from the outside looking in, though, he's a guy in a comfortable situation with the Guardians, whereas the Mariners are in an extremely volatile moment in their history. He didn't need to risk jumping aboard a leaky boat with hopes that he could plug all the holes.

So, perhaps it's no surprise that he didn't.

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