The Year's Best Managers

All I have to say about NL Manager of the Year is that I hope Craig Counsell doesn't win.  Not because he doesn't deserve it.  But because it would be incredibly awkward.  He left the Brewers only to stay within the division with the Cubs, who hadn't fired David Ross yet and wouldn't do so until Counsell agreed to a deal.  I mean, managers change jobs all the time and Counsell's contract was up, so he was free to explore other offers.  I just hope they're not put in what would be a very unique situation (although, Joe Girardi did win Manager of the Year after getting fired one year).

Counsell's become a regular among NL Manager of the Year finalists.  He's been runner-up three times, but never won the award.  I think he's looking at another year where he's a finalist, but doesn't win.  Which doesn't mean Counsell didn't do an outstanding job in Milwaukee yet again.  The Brewers won 92 games, won the NL Central, and made the playoffs for the fifth time in six years.  Really, it'll be fascinating to see how he does with a big-market team like the Cubs.

So, if Counsell's not gonna win, who will?  The other two finalists both come from the NL East, and they've both got a solid argument to make.  First-year Marlins manager Skip Schumaker led Miami to its first playoff berth in a non-shortened season since 2003, while Brian Snitker's Braves were the Class of Baseball all season.

Everybody knew Atlanta would be good, so it's easy to overlook the job Snitker did this year.  But, frankly, as Joe Torre and Dave Roberts can attest, one of the hardest jobs as a manager is to take a team everyone knows is good and surpass those expectations.  That's exactly what the Braves did, though.  Atlanta used that record-setting offense to win 104 games and win the NL East, one of the strongest divisions in baseball, going away.  Sure, they crashed out in the playoffs.  But this is a regular season honor.

As great a job as Snitker did, Manager of the Year usually tends to go to the skipper of a team that was unexpectedly good.  And that team would be the Miami Marlins.  They won 84 games, which doesn't sound like a lot.  But it was enough to make the playoffs with a payroll that's a fraction of some other teams.  Keeping the Marlins relevant is challenging enough, let alone finishing with a winning record.  Making the playoffs is the icing on the cake.  They did it in the COVID season of 2020, but doing it in a full season for the first time in two decades was something else entirely.

Personally, I don't think this is that close.  Snitker and Counsell were great, but Schumaker is the clear winner here.  I think this top three is spot-on, but I can't go without acknowledging two other managers who would've also warranted consideration.  This was supposed to be a "down" year for the Dodgers.  Dave Roberts led them to another division title anyway.  And everything I said about Skip Schumaker and the Marlins can also be applied to Torey Lovullo and the Diamondbacks, who made the playoffs on the last day of the season and ultimately ended up in the World Series.

For me, Schumaker is a clear No. 1.  Snitker is my No. 2, with Counsell third.  I not only think Schumaker should win, I think he will, joining Jack McKeon, Joe Girardi and Don Mattingly as NL Managers of the Year from the Marlins.  (Side note: it's crazy how neither 2022 Manager of the Year--Buck Showalter or Terry Francona--will be managing that same team on Opening Day 2024.  Shows the fickle nature of the business.)

While I think Schumaker's a pretty easy call in the National League, I have no idea who'll win in the American League.  It's the only one of the eight awards where I can legitimately say that.  It should come down to Bruce Bochy and Brandon Hyde, but it wouldn't totally surprise me if Kevin Cash wins for the third time in four years.  One thing I know, though, is that they also nailed it with the top three in the AL.  They got it right on all six Manager of the Year finalists.

In fact, I'm struggling to come up with other names who might've gotten votes in the AL.  Rocco Baldelli for leading the Twins to the AL Central title?  Maybe.  John Schneider for taking the Blue Jays to the playoffs?  Perhaps.  But that's about all I've got.  And those two are nowhere near as deserving as the top three.

I made the point about Counsell being a perpetual finalist in the National League, so I might as well say the same thing about Kevin Cash.  He's got a chance to become first manager to win the award three times in four years after leading Tampa Bay to its fifth straight postseason appearance.  The Rays started the season 13-0 and finished with 99 wins, one shy of the franchise record.  They went neck-and-neck with Baltimore all year before ending up as a wild card.

The Rays ended up as a wild card team because the Orioles won 101 games and their first division title since 2014.  Baltimore rode the momentum it built at the end of last season and turned it into a ridiculously fun ride that lasted all year.  The AL East was the toughest division in baseball, and it was the Orioles who came out on top.  Baltimore lost 115, 108 and 110 games in three straight full seasons from 2018-21.  Hyde, frankly, should've won the award last year, when they had 84 wins.  This year, the Orioles increased that total by 17 for their first 100-win season in more than 40 years.

Then there's Bruce Bochy, who was getting the itch to manage again after leading France in the WBC qualifiers and the Rangers were able to coax out of retirement.  He was exactly what that team needed.  Texas started hot and led the AL West pretty much all season before a poor September led to the Astros catching them (not that it mattered in the end for the World Series champions).  The future Hall of Famer did this with a starting rotation that was completely remade at the trade deadline and a bullpen that was considered an "issue" most of the season.  It was the Rangers' first winning season since 2016 and it, of course, ended with their first championship.

Frankly, I can go either way on Hyde and Bochy.  If ever there was a case for co-winners, this might be it.  If I have to give an edge, though, I'll give it ever so slightly to Hyde.  Baltimore held off the charge and Texas didn't.  That's why he gets the nod.  Plus, this is a regular season award, so the Rangers' Division Series sweep of the Orioles doesn't factor in.  Neither does their Wild Card Series sweep of the Rays, whose manager, Cash, I'm placing third on my ballot.

This is the one award where there will actually be some suspense leading up to the announcement.  I do think it'll ultimately go to Hyde, but Bochy will be a very close second.  If it goes the other way, though, it wouldn't surprise me at all.