CLEVELAND -- The excitement for Guardians manager Stephen Vogt¡¯s second season was written all over his face.

He sat with local media on Monday afternoon, smiling through every answer about his players and their preparation for 2025.

In that hour-long conversation was pure excitement. Now that he has a full year of managerial experience under his belt, Vogt knows exactly what to expect for his second season. He can truly appreciate the amount of work his coaching staff is putting in to make changes this winter. He can mentally prepare for the decisions that are looming over the next two months. And he certainly can envision topping last year¡¯s ALCS performance.

Vogt hit on a number of topics throughout this discussion. Let¡¯s take a look at five things we learned from Cleveland¡¯s skipper:

1. The bullpen has three spots up for grabs

Emmanuel Clase, Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin and Paul Sewald are in the 'pen, for sure. The other three spots are available. That means guys like Andrew Walters, Erik Sabrowski, Nic Enright, Franco Aleman and any starter who doesn¡¯t make the rotation are looking to claim these vacancies.

¡°That means there¡¯s going to be good competition in that bullpen. We¡¯re excited,¡± Vogt said. ¡°I mean, we used 23 pitchers last year. I don¡¯t envision a year where that is much different.¡±

Remember, Trevor Stephen is still working his way back from Tommy John surgery and won¡¯t be ready until after Opening Day. Sam Hentges underwent left shoulder surgery in September and will have to miss all of 2025.

2. There¡¯s no favorite for second base

Everyone is on an equal playing field.

After the Guardians decided to trade Andr¨¦s Gim¨¦nez to Toronto, it left a gaping hole on the right side of the infield. The candidates to replace him are Gabriel Arias, Juan Brito, Tyler Freeman, Daniel Schneemann and Angel Mart¨ªnez.

¡°We don¡¯t have a front-runner. We don¡¯t have an idea or a pipe dream, so to speak,¡¯ Vogt said. ¡°We want to see what guys can do. That¡¯s the group of Arias, Freeman, Mart¨ªnez and Schneemann. Juan Brito will be in that mix as well. ¡­ For us, it¡¯s how do we get the best mix?¡±

3. The outfield picture

Steven Kwan is in left. Lane Thomas is in center. So, who is in right?

¡°I mean, ideally it¡¯d be great to have one guy, but that¡¯s not who we are, right?¡± Vogt said.

In a perfect world, Jhonkensy Noel or Will Brennan could step up and prove they¡¯d be the everyday guy. Brennan had flashes of it in ¡¯24 and Noel obviously left his mark on a handful of baseballs. But neither have demonstrated the consistency needed to be the everyday guy. So, Vogt rattled off the following names who will get time in right field this spring: Brennan, Noel, Mart¨ªnez, Johnathan Rodriguez, Arias and Schneemann. He also noted that George Valera will be healthy during camp and will also see time in the outfield.

4. The key to get Triston McKenzie back in the rotation

This may have been the most disappointing part of the ¡¯24 season for the Guardians, aside from losing their ace to Tommy John surgery. This was a time that the team needed an experienced arm to step up and help fill the void that Shane Bieber left at the start of the season, and McKenzie, in his first year back from dealing with injuries, couldn¡¯t find consistency. Vogt has been watching his workouts in Florida from afar and has been pleased with the offseason work that McKenzie has done to try to win his rotation spot back.

¡°Now having a full year of health under his belt and he¡¯s been working really hard, I¡¯m excited to watch Triston throw,¡± Vogt said. ¡°[The key is] just executing. Just pounding the strike zone with his best stuff consistently.¡±

5. What are the expectations?

The bar is set high, externally. It¡¯s the same expectation this team had in the offseason going into ¡¯23. How will they handle it this time?

¡°Our goal is going to be the same: Win the World Series,¡± Vogt said. ¡°Expectations are what they are. That¡¯s outside noise. That doesn¡¯t reverberate with us. We have a job to do and that¡¯s attack every single day and get better every single day and win that day. For us, we¡¯re going to keep that the same.¡±