Managers of the Year

As anticlimactic as Justin Verlander winning the AL Cy Young Award was, there's also very little suspense that goes into tomorrow's announcement of the AL and NL Managers of the Year.  Both winners should be pretty clear cut, although they're not as obvious as Verlander's Cy Young selection.  Regardless, it would be very surprising if Joe Maddon (AL) and Kirk Gibson (NL) aren't presented with the Manger of the Year Awards.

American League
Joe Maddon, Rays-This was supposed to be the year Tampa Bay came back to the pack after a few years of contending in the monster known as the AL East.  Instead, they hung around all season, then completed a remarkably surprising run by clinching the AL wild card on the final day.  The Rays did all this with a bullpen that they rebuilt from scratch in the offseason.  They also lost two of their best position players (Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena) to free agency, then their prized addition, Manny Ramirez, abrupty retired in May after failing another steroids test.  Tampa Bay's winning the wild card this season was just as surprising as their AL East crown and run to the World Series in 2008, which earned Maddon his first Manager of the Year award.  I'd be shocked if he doesn't win a second.

Manny Acta, Indians-For four and a half months, the most surprisingly good team in the American League was Cleveland.  The AL Central was supposed to be a two-team race between the Tigers and the Twins.  Instead, Minnesota struggled with injuries all season and it was the Indians that gave Detroit headaches until August.  Yes, they ended up fading down the stretch and finished third, but Cleveland was one of the most surprising teams in baseball all season.

Ron Washington, Rangers-I don't think Ron Washington gets enough credit for how good the Texas Rangers actually are.  They went to the World Series last year, but still went out and got Adrian Beltre and Mike Napoli.  They also lost their best pitcher, Cliff Lee, in the offseason.  Washington moved Alexi Ogando into the rotation to replace Lee, and somehow managed to figure out a way to work both Beltre and Napoli into the lineup while still getting Michael Young his at-bats.  All of those moves resulted in the Rangers' second consecutive pennant.

Joe Girardi, Yankees-Just like Ron Washington doesn't get enough credit, neither does Joe Girardi.  I was at a game this year where one of the other fans said to me, "You're telling me you couldn't manage this team?"  No I couldn't.  For the most part, Girardi made all the right moves this season.  The rotation was a question mark going into the season, yet Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon both proved so dependable that Girardi decided to utilize a six-man rotation for the final two months of the season.  Keeping all those hitters happy is a challenge, but he handled the Jorge Posada situation the way it needed to be handled, and his bullpen management was tremendous all season.  Managing the Yankees isn't as easy as most people think.  In fact, it might be one of the hardest jobs in baseball.  Yet, with all their "problems" all season, Girardi led the Yankees to the best record in the American League.

National League
Kirk Gibson, Diamondbacks-This selection is as much of a slam-dunk as Verlander's Cy Young.  Even having seen Arizona play live this year, I can still only name a handful of players on the Diamondbacks.  This is a team that finished last last season and plays in a division that features more talented teams in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Colorado.  Yet the Diamondbacks somehow won the NL West and were in contention for home field in the Division Series until the season's final day.  I certainly didn't expect anything out of Arizona, especially with a first-year manager at the helm.  But Gibby is a protege of both Sparky Anderson and Tommy Lasorda, so I guess we shouldn't really be surprised that he knows what he's doing.

Ron Roenicke, Brewers-While Arizona's success this season came as a complete surprise to everybody, the Brewers were a team that everyone knew was on the rise.  Ron Roenicke took over as Milwaukee's manager this season and came aboard at just the right time, becuase this was the year everything clicked for the Brewers.  It's not that hard to hit when you've got Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Rickie Weeks in the middle of your lineup, but it takes more than hitting to win games, and the Brewers had solid pitching, too.  Then there was the decision to keep John Axford at closer even after the Brewers got Francisco Rodriguez.  Milwaukee had the best home record in baseball and won its division for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Tony La Russa, Cardinals-His name always seems to come up in the Manager of the Year conversation.  I guess that's what happens when you're a Hall of Fame manager.  We all know the story.  Adam Wainwright goes down for the season in Spring Training.  Albert's pending free agency looms over the season.  The bullpen's a mess, so they completely rebuild it at the trade deadline.  They don't have a closer.  They're nine and a half games out of the wild card race at the end of August.  Yet somehow the Cardinals make the playoffs.  Then they beat the Phillies and their four aces.  Then they beat a Brewers team that finished six games ahead of them in their own division.  Then they went and won an amazing World Series for one of the most unexpected titles in baseball history.  Then La Russa went out on top.  It really was incredible what the Cardinals did in September and October.

Don Mattingly, Dodgers-The third rookie manager on my list, the Dodgers' off-the-field mess overshadowed what Don Mattingly's team did on the field this season.  They had the best player in the National League, Matt Kemp, and the best pitcher in the National League, Clayton Kershaw.  Frank McCourt turned a proud franchise into a laughingstock, yet the Dodgers finished the season with a winning record.  I don't know how many people even realize they went 82-79 this season.  Joe Torre left the Dodgers in good hands.

My vote (AL): Joe Maddon-It's not even close.  What Maddon with that Rays team this season was incredible.  Rounding out my ballot: Acta and Washington.

My vote (NL): Kirk Gibson-This one's also easy.  With all the surprise teams in baseball this season, Arizona was certainly the most surprising.  The Diamondbacks finished last with this same team last year.  Roenicke No. 2 and La Russa No. 3.