Guardians pushing unexpected season into postseason, will have chance to end Series title drought

CLEVELAND (AP) — Soaked to the skin from being sprayed with Champagne and beer, manager Stephen Vogt stood in the middle of the clubhouse and triumphantly lifted a fake jeweled championship belt over his head like a conquering boxer.

Cleveland will fight for a real one in October.

Led by their 39-year-old rookie manager, who has pushed all the right buttons for months, and a superb bullpen, the Guardians clinched one of the AL’s six playoff spots on Thursday with a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins — Cleveland's major league-leading 42nd comeback.

A most unexpected season will include a postseason.

One of baseball's youngest teams can end decades of playoff heartbreak for a franchise enduring baseball's longest active World Series title drought.

“This is really special,” said Vogt, a former All-Star catcher who had zero managing experience when the Guardians hired him in November. “The goal is to get in and then from here we keep pushing. You get in, you have a chance.”

The Guardians are the second AL team to qualify for the 2024 postseason, following only the New York Yankees, who clinched a spot on Wednesday and will return to the playoffs after a one-year absence — an eternity for their spoiled fan base.

New York was slated to contend. Cleveland, not so much.

But in their first season under Vogt, who was on his farm in Washington shoveling cow manure when the team's front office called to offer him the job, the Guardians have been one of baseball's best stories and biggest surprises.

They weren't expected to do much coming off a 76-win season, which ended with beloved manager Terry Francona's retirement. The feeling heading into this year was the road back to title contention could be a long one.

But the Guardians have been atop the no-longer-laughable AL Central since mid-April, and in a season in which there doesn't appear to be any clear-cut powerhouse favorite, they'll enter the playoffs with a shot to win their first title since 1948 — when they were known as the Indians.

Vogt wasn't really sure what kind of team he had during spring training in Arizona. But a 7-2 trip through Oakland, Seattle and Minnesota to open the season convinced him his young group could mature into something more.

“I didn’t know what guys were capable of what,” he said. "And until you see them play, you really don’t know. But if you come to spring training and you’re not expecting to win the World Series, don’t come.

“Right away on that first road trip, we saw something special that this team might be able to get it done. Now we’re in it. We have an opportunity.”

Lacking big names and big bats in the lineup, Cleveland has found success by playing with an aggressive attitude. It's known as “Guards ball,” and it places a premium on patient at-bats, knocking the opponent's starter out as early as possible, taking the extra base and playing solid defense.

Everyone contributes, and Vogt has taken pride in using his entire roster.

It doesn't hurt that he's been able to lean on baseball's nastiest bullpen, anchored by All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, who hasn't blown a save since May and is making a case to become the league's first reliever to win the Cy Young Award in 32 years.

The Guardians don't quit.

Down two runs in the 10th on Wednesday night, they stormed back with three to shock the Twins. And after the bullpen held Minnesota hitless for 5 2/3 innings Thursday, they walked off their rivals again to improve to 48-28 at home.

“That's us,” said Andrés Giménez, who drove in José Ramírez from second base in the 10th. "That's the Cleveland Guardians.”

A comeback earlier this week left Vogt in tears during his postgame news conference.

“I love these guys,” he said.

The feeling is mutual.

Backup catcher and de facto team spokesman Austin Hedges, who won a World Series title with Texas last year, re-signed as a free agent with Cleveland before this season. He credits Vogt with bringing the Guardians closer and getting the most from them.

“One of the most special humans I’ve ever met,” Hedges said. "Not just as a manager, as a man. That guy, he's a leader of men. We had one of the greatest managers in the history of baseball for a long time, and I loved Terry Francona with all my heart.

“This is probably the best year of managing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Vogt will enter uncharted waters in a few weeks, leading the Guardians into the month when every pitch, every swing, every moment is amplified.

Hedges has been there before. Before winning it all with the Rangers, he was released by the Guardians following the 2022 season, which ended with them blowing a 2-1 lead in the Division Series against the Yankees.

He came back to Cleveland for another crack.

“I feel like we had unfinished business in '22,” he said. "We feel like we really had a really good shot to go all the way. It’s tough to lose a heartbreaker in the postseason and being away last year, all I could think about was coming back with my guys here.

“We all want the exact same thing.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt celebrates after the team's 10-inning win over the Minnesota Twins in a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Nick Cammett)

Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt celebrates the team's 3-2, 10-inning win over the Minnesota Twins which earned the team a berth in baseball's playoff, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Nick Cammett)

Cleveland Guardians' Austin Hedges celebrates in the clubhouse after they defeated the Minnesota Twins to clinch a baseball playoff berth, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Nick Cammett)

Cleveland Guardians' José Ramírez scores on a walk off RBI single hit by Andrés Giménez to defeat the Minnesota Twins 3-2 in 10 innings in a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Nick Cammett)

The Cleveland Guardians celebrate after their 10-inning win over the Minnesota Twins in a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Nick Cammett)

The Cleveland Guardians celebrate after their 10-inning win over the Minnesota Twins in a baseball game, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Nick Cammett)

The Cleveland Guardians, including Austin Hedges, center, celebrate after their 10-inning win over the Minnesota Twins in a baseball game to clinch a playoff berth Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Nick Cammett)

The Cleveland Guardians celebrate in the clubhouse after they defeated the Minnesota Twins to clinch a baseball playoff berth, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Nick Cammett)

Cleveland Guardians' Jhonkensy Noel celebrates in the clubhouse after they defeated the Minnesota Twins to clinch a baseball playoff berth, Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Nick Cammett)

Some FIFA rules on player transfers are contrary to European Union legislation relating to competition and freedom of movement, the EU’s top court said on Friday.

The ruling will likely lead to a shakeup of the soccer market's global regulations and could change the sport's economy.

The European Court of Justice's ruling came after former France international Lassana Diarra legally challenged FIFA rules following a dispute with a club dating to a decade ago. Diarra argued that FIFA's restrictions meant he was unable to find a new club after his contract with Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow was terminated in 2014.

FIFA's rules state that if a player terminates his contract without “just cause," the player and any club wishing to sign him are jointly liable for paying compensation to the previous club.

“Those rules hinder the free movement of players and competition between clubs,” the court said in a statement. “The rules in question are such as to impede the free movement of professional footballers wishing to develop their activity by going to work for a new club.”

The ruling is seen as crucial because it could make it easier for players to terminate their contracts and join another team — potentially leading to a scenario where bigger clubs could more easily poach players from smaller rivals.

The global players’ union FIFPro, which supported Diarra's case, said the ruling “will change the landscape of professional football.”

However, it could take a couple of years before any changes to the system go into effect as Friday’s ruling is part of a Belgian court case that is still ongoing.

Although the ruling was seen as a defeat for FIFA, the court recognized that the transfer regulations can also be necessary to help maintain stability within professional squads and guarantee the regularity of competitions.

“It is important to clarify that today’s decision does not change the core principles of the transfer system at all,” FIFA chief legal officer Emilio Garcia said.

Diarra's lawyers called the ruling a “total victory.” He signed a four-year contract with Lokomotiv Moscow in 2013 but the deal was terminated a year later after Diarra was unhappy with alleged pay cuts.

Lokomotiv Moscow applied to the FIFA dispute resolution chamber for compensation and the player countered seeking compensation for unpaid wages.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favor of the Russian club and the player was ordered to pay 10.5 million euros ($11.2 million). Diarra claimed his search for a new club was hampered by FIFA's rules stipulating any new side would be jointly responsible with him for paying Lokomotiv.

The former Real Madrid player also argued that a potential deal with Belgian club Charleroi fell through because of the FIFA rules, and sued FIFA and the Belgian federation at a Belgian court for damages and loss of earnings of six million euros ($7 million). With the lawsuit still going through Belgian courts, the case was referred to the ECJ for guidance.

In Friday's ruling, the court added that current rules “impose considerable legal risks, unforeseeable and potentially very high financial risks as well as major sporting risks on those players and clubs wishing to employ them which, taken together, are such as to impede international transfers of those players.”

It was not immediately clear what impact the ruling will have on players and leagues more broadly, but some analysts have compared it to the ECJ’s 1995 decision on Belgian footballer Jean-Marc Bosman.

That ruling removed restrictions placed on foreign EU players within national leagues and allowed players in the bloc to move to another club for free when their contracts ended.

That ruling ultimately skewed the player trading market in favor of wealthier clubs in western Europe who could lure free agents with big salaries and avoided paying transfer fees that many smaller clubs relied on.

If FIFA introduces rules making it easier for players to terminate their contracts and join new clubs when they want, the whole system of transfers largely based on transfer fees could be challenged, with clubs less tempted to invest millions in players with more freedom to leave.

But it could also give more power to the richest clubs capable of luring players with gigantic salary offers.

“All professional players have been affected by these illegal rules and can therefore now seek compensation for their losses,” Diarra's lawyers claimed in a statement.

FIFPro added: “Lassana Diarra — like Jean-Marc Bosman before him — has ensured that thousands of players worldwide will profit from a new system which must guarantee respect of their employment rights. This ruling is not only important for Lassana Diarra but all players, both active and retired.”

The Diarra case went through FIFA judicial bodies before the 2016 election of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who has made it a priority to modernize transfer market rules. FIFA has indicated it is open to a wide-ranging consultation with unions, clubs and leagues to address the courts’ opinions.

FIFA said the ruling “only puts in question two paragraphs of two articles of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, which the national court is now invited to consider.”

The court slammed FIFA's rules for restricting and preventing cross-border competition between European clubs.

“The Court recalls that the possibility of competing by recruiting trained players plays an essential role in the professional football sector and that rules which place a general restriction on that form of competition, by immutably fixing the distribution of workers between the employers and in cloistering the markets, are similar to a no-poach agreement," it said.

The court in Luxembourg also suggested FIFA's compensation rules seemed to protect the financial interests of clubs.

“FIFA has been continuously improving that (transfer) system for many years — not for its own benefit,” Garcia said, “but for the benefit of players, clubs, leagues and member associations, to ensure that players can train, be developed and have stability, while safeguarding the integrity of competitions.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Graham Dunbar in Geneva and Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.

FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, Paris-Saint-Germain player Lassana Diarra during a French League One soccer match against Saint-Etienne at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)