At the All*Star break, when I named my midseason awards, Alex Cora and Brian Snitker were my choices for Manager of the Midyear. Now that it's time to give out the full-season award, though, I'm not sticking with either one of them. Which isn't to say anything about the job they each did. I just think they were both overtaken by the manager of a team that made an unexpected playoff run.
My initial thought was that whoever won the AL East would be the Manager of the Year. Well, the Red Sox ran away with the division and Alex Cora had essentially the perfect season as a rookie manager. He had the best team in baseball, yes. But also everything he touched was gold, they didn't go into a slump all season, and his handling of the pitching staff (especially in the postseason, which doesn't count for awards) was masterful.
So why don't I think Cora is the AL Manager of the Year anymore? Because the Red Sox were supposed to be good. I'm not suggesting that should disqualify him. But when Oakland makes the playoffs out of nowhere with a payroll of $11, you've gotta think the manager deserves at least some credit for that. Which is why my choice for AL Manager of the Year is now Bob Melvin.
Oakland won 75 games in 2017. This season they won 97, and they were neck-and-neck with the Astros in the AL West until Houston had that ridiculous September. And did I mention they lost like their top three starting pitchers, yet kept winning? All while maintaining one of the lowest payrolls in the Majors. The A's overachieved all season. Which should yield Melvin his third career Manager of the Year Award.
There's also the camp that supports Tampa Bay's Kevin Cash, who led the Rays to a just-as-surprising 90-win campaign. Cash's claim to fame, of course, is his unique "opener" strategy that became Tampa Bay's trademark. Various adjectives were used to describe it, with "revolutionary" and "innovative" among the most common (my adjective of choice is "stupid"). Yet it worked. If it hadn't, they wouldn't have kept doing it all season. Does it have long-term lasting power? Probably not. But it was definitely one of the signature things of the 2018 baseball season. And it's why Kevin Cash deserves to be in the running for AL Manager of the Year.
Cash won't win, though. And he shouldn't. Because the job Melvin did was the best by any American League manager in 2018. Melvin wins, and I don't think it'll be that close. Cora second, Cash third.
Likewise, in the National League, the job Brian Snitker did in Atlanta can't be discounted. The Braves were supposed to be at least a year away. But, behind career years from Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis and the emergence of Ozzie Albies and NL Rookie of the Year Ronald Acuna, Jr., they arrived ahead of schedule. And their Sepetember run to not just hold off, but pull away from the Phillies, proved that Snitker had the magic touch in 2018.
Which brings me back to the same question I asked in the American League. So, if he's just as deserving as he was in July, why is Brian Snitker no longer my choice for NL Manager of the Year? And the answer to this one is even easier. Because the Milwaukee Brewers ended up with the best record in the National League.
A lot of people deserve credit for the Brewers' success this season. But they wouldn't have set a franchise record for wins, had the best record in the National League, or taken the Dodgers to Game 7 of the NLCS without the work of their manager. Like Kevin Cash, Craig Counsell had little to work with on the starting-pitching front. So he masterfully used his bevy of relievers in a variety of ways. Having Christian Yelich helped, too, but Counsell was able to figure out a lineup that had guys playing out of position all over the place. And, for a while, it seemed like they'd never lose again.
It also felt like the Rockies would never lose again in September, as Bud Black once again proved that he's one of the most underrated managers in baseball. Because we have to stop crediting Coors Field and the thin mountain air anytime the Rockies are competitive. This team is legit good, as evidence by their back-to-back playoff appearances. Remarkably, Colorado ended up in a dead-heat with the Dodgers in the NL West, with only a loss in Game 163 coming between the Rockies and their first division title.
This NL Manager of the Year one is going to be a tight one. Because it's not just the three finalists who you could make a legitimate argument for. Had the Phillies not collapsed in September, Gabe Kapler would definitely be in the discussion. Ditto about Torey Lovullo in Arizona and Mike Shildt, who got the Cardinals into playoff contention (and kept them there!) after taking over when Mike Matheny was fired. Even Dave Roberts probably got a vote or two (even if he outmanaged himself over and over again in the World Series).
The three finalists are probably the right three, though. Personally, I'd rank them 1-Counsell, 2-Snitker, 3-Black, but I really can see them ending up in any order. Although, I would be surprised if Craig Counsell isn't the winner. Those 95 wins and a division title over the Cubs are too much to ignore.
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