Baseball's Best Managers, 2024

When the Manager of the Year finalists were announced, Dodgers fans flipped out that Dave Roberts wasn't among them.  Despite all the Dodgers' success during his tenure, Roberts has only won the Manager of the Year award once.  And, frankly, that shouldn't be surprising.  It was the same thing during the Yankees' dynastic run in the late 90s.  Joe Torre only won Manager of the Year once, and it took the historic 1998 season for him to do it.

The fact of the matter is that it's as tough for Dave Roberts to win now as it was for Joe Torre then.  The Dodgers are good every year.  The Dodgers are supposed to be good every year.  Thus, when they win 98 games, all they did was meet expectations.  And, frankly, the Dodgers measure success by how they do in the postseason, which doesn't count for Manager of the Year voting.

Yes, the Dodgers had a ridiculous amount of injuries this season and managed to lead the Majors with 98 wins despite using about 15 starting pitchers, moving guys all over the field and using the bullpen like it was nobody's business.  But, when you have the most talent and the most resources, you're expected to win a lot of games.  Which is what they did.  They didn't do it the way they thought they would, but they still did.  So, it makes complete sense that Dave Roberts isn't a finalist for NL Manager of the Year.

Same thing with Aaron Boone, who's never won Manager of the Year during his time with the Yankees (not that he's deserved to).  The Yankees had a great year.  They also had Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Gerrit Cole.  Their success wasn't exactly a surprise.  And that's generally who the Manger of the Year award goes to.  A team that exceeded expectations either by making the playoffs or getting close.  Like each of this year's finalists.

All three AL Manager of the Year finalists came from the playoff teams in the AL Central.  And that's who the three finalists should be!  Nobody had Detroit or Kansas City making the playoffs in July, let alone before the season, so they definitely qualify as "unexpected."  Cleveland, meanwhile, was led by a first-time manager who only retired as a player two years ago...and was in first place all season!  It really could be any of the three.  There isn't a bad choice.

Let's do this in standings order and start with Stephen Vogt.  The Guardians had a disappointing season in 2023 and had their Hall of Fame manager "retire" (only to resurface with the Reds).  They turned to Vogt, who was a player himself not too long ago, and he proved to be the perfect guy for one of the youngest teams in the Majors.  He proved to be a natural at managing, too.  Everything he did worked.  To the tune of 92 wins and a division title.

Matt Quatraro lost 106 games in his first season as Royals manager.  In his second, he led Kansas City to the playoffs.  They became just the third team to reach the postseason a year after a 100-loss season.  It really was one of the most impressive turnarounds from one season to the next in MLB history, and they very well could be like the Orioles where this was just the start.

Then there's A.J. Hinch.  We already knew he was a good manager after all of his success in Houston, so you knew the Tigers were in good hands when they hired him after his suspension ended.  Even Hinch had to be shocked that Detroit made the playoffs, though!  This team was so far out of it at the trade deadline that they sent their second-best starting pitcher to the Dodgers!  They literally had pitching staff made up of Tarik Skubal and a bunch of guys you've never heard of.  And it's not like there were all these brand names in the lineup, either.  Yet the Tigers, who weren't even a thought in mid-August, went on a 31-11 tear to end the regular season and get into the playoffs, then beat Hinch's old team in the Wild Card Series before extending Cleveland to five in the Division Series.

I've gone back and forth between all three choices.  They've all got a valid case, and I'd literally be fine with any of them winning.  Ever so slightly, I'm going Quatraro, Hinch, Vogt.  That turnaround from one season to the next under the same manager is what sealed it for me.

In the National League, it's three managers who were in their first season with their club.  Carlos Mendoza recovered from a terrible start to take the Mets to the NLCS.  Pat Murphy became a first-time Major League manager at age 65 and led the Brewers to a division title.  And Mike Shildt, the 2019 NL Manager of the Year in St. Louis, took over a Padres team that went from a disappointing 2023 to almost knocking the eventual World Series champions out of the playoffs in the Division Series.

San Diego turned over nearly its entire roster.  Trading Juan Soto to the Yankees was the headline event of their 2023-24 offseason, but they also had an almost entirely new pitching staff (that included several of the pieces acquired for Soto).  They still had the star power and bolstered it with the likes of Dylan Cease and Luis Arraez.  Everyone knew the Padres were a dangerous team, and Shildt brought out the best in them.  San Diego did this season what was expected last season...when they still had Soto and Blake Snell.

Craig Counsell's Brewers contract expired after last season, and he left Milwaukee for the division rival Cubs.  And it was longtime Brewers coach Pat Murphy who was tabbed to replace him.  That turned out to be a great decision, since he just kept the good thing in Milwaukee going.  They're a small market team, yet somehow, they make it work.  They had injuries to key players.  They traded their best pitcher.  And yet they posted 93 wins and won the NL Central going away.

To say the Mets' season was a roller coaster would be an understatement.  They were 11 games under .500 at the end of May.  Those first two really bad months were followed by four exceptional months, with plenty of heart-stopping moments thrown in.  They had that ridiculous scenario with the doubleheader in Atlanta on the extra day at the end of the season to make the playoffs.  Once they got in, they continued that roll all the way to the NLCS.  The postseason doesn't count, but what he did to get the Mets there sure does.

As impressive as the Mets' late run was, though, it wasn't as good as San Diego's.  The Padres were the best team in baseball over the second half.  They weren't bad in April, May or June, either, which is why Mike Shildt gets the nod in the NL.  I've got Shildt 1, Murphy 2 and Mendoza 3 on my "ballot."