What manager Stephen Vogt expects from new Guardians bench coach Tony Arnerich
Updated: Nov. 14, 2025, 9:22 p.m.|Published: Nov. 14, 2025, 3:42 p.m.
By Paul Hoynes, cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — When the Guardians are playing a game, the most meaningful action takes place on the field. But there’s a lot of action taking place in the dugout, with some of the most meaningful being the communication between the manager and bench coach.
The Guardians hired Tony Arnerich on Thursday to be manager Stephen Vogt’s new bench coach, replacing Craig Albernaz, who was hired as Baltimore’s new manager. Here’s what Vogt expects from a bench coach.
“I’m a verbal processor,” he said. “I know it’s going to surprise you that I’m talking the whole game. So when I throw ideas out, either be ready to confirm that it’s the right one or challenge that it’s not.
“Albi (Albernaz) was great at that. I know Tony’s going to do a great job of that too ... There’s a lot to be thinking about during a game and it happens fast.”
It helps that Vogt and Arnerich worked together on Seattle’s coaching staff in 2023. Vogt was the bullpen coach and Arnerich was the hitting coach. A byproduct of the hire is that Vogt and Arnerich look enough alike to be brothers.
“That was the whole reason we brought him in was so that we could confuse people,” said Vogt with a smile. “We’ve been getting jokes before we even met that we looked similar. I’m like, do I really want to wear this? But that’s truly how valuable Tony’s going to be for us.”
When Vogt was hired by the Guardians as manager after the 2023 season, Arnerich moved from Seattle’s hitting coach to bullpen coach. The former minor league catcher joined the Mariners in 2017 as assistant hitting coordinator and catching coordinator in the minors. He was promoted to minor league field coordinator before joining the big league staff as hitting coach in 2022.
Arnerich played four years in the minors with Kansas City and Miami. He also spent seven years as an assistant coach for Cal State Berkeley.
He is the second member of Seattle’s decision-making team that the Guardians hired this week. On Tuesday, they hired assistant GM Andy McKay to replace Kai Correa as field coordinator. Vogt knows them both.
“Tony has a great background of coaching in college and has held a number of roles through the minor leagues in leadership and in technical skill coaching,” said Vogt. “As a major league coach, he’s got experience as a hitting coach. He’s got experience as a bullpen coach and as a catching coach.
“He really can add value and support for our coaches in all those areas ... I have a great relationship pre-existing with him, so I already have that trust built in with him.”
McKay hired Vogt to be Seattle’s bullpen coach after he retired as a player in 2022.
“I got to know Andy through the interview process and he really became a mentor of mine,” said Vogt. “He helped develop me as a coach and think about things through different lenses.”
During that interview process, McKay told Vogt that he wanted to get back in uniform. Vogt stashed that nugget and when Correa left to be the Mets’ bench coach after this season, the Guardians asked Seattle for permission to talk to McKay.
“It’s maybe a little unorthodox to bring someone from an assistant GM title into the dugout, but Andy’s a coach,” said Vogt. " Andy’s been a coach his whole life. That’s who he is."
Vogt was asked if his coaching staff was complete or if he anticipated losing anyone else.
“It’s just like we said at the end of the postseason, our entire coaching staff was set to come back,” said Vogt. “(But) things change. There are eight new managers out there (nine when the Rockies make their hire), everybody’s getting new staffs, and our coaches are highly regarded ... So as of right now, this is the staff that we intend to bring to Goodyear and help us march toward a World Series championship in 2026.”
Here’s how the current coaching staff stands: Carl Willis, Brad Goldberg and Joe Torres (pitching coaches), Caleb Longshore (bullpen coach), Grant Fink, Dan Puente, Junior Betances and Josh Tubbs (hitting coaches), Sandy Alomar (first base and catching coach), Rouglas Odor (third base coach, infield coach), JT Maguire (outfield coach) and Agustin Rivero (coach, interpreter).
<