Tom Vaeth enters his sixth season as the field manager of the Washington Wild Things in 2026. It’s Vaeth’s first managerial job in pro baseball, be he has managed in the California Winter League and on an interim basis during his tenure with the American Association’s Winnipeg Goldeyes. He was named the 10th manager in Wild Things’ history January 6, 2021.
Vaeth had his contract extended prior to the 2025 season, announced by the club on Thursday, April 17, 2025. The extension tacked on two years to his deal, tying him to the organization through the 2027 season. It was the first true extension for Vaeth, who managed his first season on a one-year contract before signing a deal that ran through this 2025 season before the recently-announced extension.
Previous managers are Jeff Isom (2002-03), John Massarelli (2004-07), Greg Jelks (2008), Mark Mason (2009), Darin Everson (2010-11), Chris Bando (2012), Bart Zeller (2013-14), Bob Bozzuto (2014-15) and Gregg Langbehn (2016-20). Vaeth, when he was honored as the Roger Hanners Award winner in 2022 for Frontier League Manager of the Year, became the third skipper of the club to receive the honor, joining Isom (2002) and Massarelli (2004, 2006) in that department.
The Baltimore, Maryland, native spent 17 seasons as an assistant with the Goldeyes. He worked in player procurement and as base coach, hitting coach and bullpen coach. During his tenure with the club, Winnipeg made the playoffs 10 times and won three championships. He spent most of the his time there as the hitting coach with his teams finishing top five in their leagues more than 10 times.
Before getting the Wild Things' job, he narrowly missed out on the same job with the Cleburne Railroaders (American Association) prior to the 2019 season. A back-end, last-minute deal took that job from him and he was also considered for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (Atlantic League) job prior to that 2019 campaign.
A catcher as a player, Vaeth played two seasons of JuCo ball before an injury derailed his playing career. He'd go on to spend four years in scouting between the Marlins and Padres. Vaeth worked for Orioles for five seasons, partly as an ambidextrous batting practice pitcher. He's also gained coaching experience at the JuCo and DI levels as well (Towson included).
He replaced Gregg Langbehn, who was with the team from 2016-2020; Langbehn retired from pro ball and left as Washington's second most tenured manager, seventh in Frontier League managerial wins (he's been passed for that position since). Gregg guided Washington to two playoff appearances, an FLCS appearance and the 2018 East Division title (team's first division crown since 2007). He directed an MVP, Pitcher of the Year, Citizenship Award Winner, 21 All Stars and saw eight players' contract get purchased.
2021: Washington was 56-40 and won the Northeast Division, def. Èquipe Québec 3-2 in the FLDS, lost to Schaumburg 3-2 in the FLCS, oversaw Pitcher and Rookie of the Year (Ryan Hennen), Citizenship Award winner (Nick Ward) and Coach of the Year (Alex Boshers)
2022: Washington was 62-34 and won the West Division, lost to Schaumburg 2-0 in the FLDS, oversaw Rookie of the Year (Kobe Foster) and Postseason All Star SS (Nick Ward), won Roger Hanners Award (Manager of the Year)
2023: Washington went 47-49 and missed the playoffs, oversaw postseason All Star outfielder (Anthony Brocato)
2024: Washington set a franchise record for single-season wins going 67-28 and won the West Division, def. Lake Erie 2-0 in the FLDS, lost to Québec 3-1 in the FLCS, oversaw Most Valuable Player (Caleb McNeely), Postseason All Star OF (Caleb McNeely), Postseason All Star DH (Tyreque Reed), Postseason All Star RP (Gyeongju Kim) and Coach of the Year (Alex Boshers)
2025: Washington went 54-42 and won the Midwest Conference's Central Division title before losing 2-0 in the FLWC Round to Gateway, became all-time winningest manager in Wild Things history in May with 240th win as skipper
VAETH MANAGERIAL RECORD |
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| YEAR | TEAM | RECORD | PCT | FINISH | PLAYOFFS |
| 2021 | Washington Wild Things (FL) | 56-40 | .583 | 1st (Northeast Division) | Lost League Final |
| 2022 | Washington Wild Things (FL) | 62-34 | .646 | 1st (West Division) | Lost Division Series |
| 2023 | Washington Wild Things (FL) | 47-49 | .490 | 4th (West Division) | Missed Playoffs |
| 2024 | Washington Wild Things (FL) | 67-28 | .705 | 1st (West Division) | Lost League Final |
| 2025 | Washington Wild Things (FL) | 54-42 | .563 | 1st (Central Division) | Lost Wild Card Round |
| TOTAL | OVERALL (5 Seasons) | 286-193 | .597 | ||
2022 - Roger Hanners Award (Frontier Leagu Manager of the Year)*
* Award is voted on anually by the league's field staffs (managers, up to three assistants), general managers, broadcasters and local media members (up to two per team)
ALL-TIME WINNINGEST MANAGER IN TEAM HISTORY - With his 240th win, earned Saturday, May 24, 2025, Vaeth became the winningest manager in team history. He passed the previous record holder in John Massarelli (239-143, .626, 2004-07). Through 2025, Vaeth is third in win percentage for a tenure and the managerial history in order of total wins reads as follows:
CONTRACTS PURCHASED DURING VAETH'S TIME -
PLAYERS WHO PLAYED UNDER VAETH TO ADVANCE TO AFFILIATED BALL SINCE HIRING -
PLAYERS WHO HAD CONTRACT PURCHASED BUT WERE RETURNED (MEDICAL/OUTSIDE REASON) -
PLAYERS AGREED TO TERMS WITH WILD THINGS BEFORE BEING SIGNED BY AFFILIATED ORGANIZATIONS -
PLAYERS WHO PLAYED INTERNATIONALLY IN MEXICAN LEAGUE AFTER PLAYING IN WASHINGTON SINCE HIRING -
* denotes has reached Major League Baseball
