© Cody Glenn | 2019 Sep 10
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Stephen Vogt, who has a following that loudly believes in him, believes in Farhan Zaidi’s Giants.
After their one-year pact in 2019 in which Vogt made a large impact on the field and in the clubhouse, the veteran catcher did not receive a multi-year offer from San Francisco, which has Buster Posey for the present and Joey Bart for the future. A bridge deal would have made the most sense to the team, and Vogt not only wants to win but wants security.
Rarely are breakups mutual, but there is little ill-will between Stephen Vogt and the Giants.
“They made a great offer,” Vogt told KNBR on Thursday from Salt River Fields, the Diamondbacks’ spring training home. “They expressed interest in bringing me back. Really, at the end of the day what it boiled down to was the security, to be able to have that second year.
“… This is a place that I feel like I fit really well, with an opportunity to win.”
The reported deal for Vogt can be worth up to $7 million with a vesting option for 2021, a significant payday for a non-roster invite by the Giants last year who was coming off shoulder surgery. After he worked his way back in Triple-A Sacramento, Vogt was called up in early May and not demoted again, a 35-year-old revelation who became a middle-of-the-order bat.
Vogt understands why an offer with a second year never came, and it doesn’t shake his belief in the direction that Zaidi is taking the Giants. Expectations are still low for the rebuilding team in 2020, while the Diamondbacks, who also brought in Madison Bumgarner, are expected contenders. Vogt, by the way, claims he won’t be Bumgarner’s personal catcher.
“[Gabe] Kapler put together a great staff,” Vogt said. “I’ve been a Farhan believer from the beginning. We had some great conversations last year, and he’s got a plan in place. It might take some time to come to fruition but it’s going to. He’s going to succeed there.”