The Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced their winners of the 2018 American League and National League Managers of the Year Awards on Tuesday night. Full voting results can be found in the preceding links.
Brian Snitker won the National League honors, taking the Atlanta Braves from a 72-90, third-place finish in 2017 to a 90-72, NL East-winning campaign in 2018.
Snitker, 63, was named Atlanta’s interim manager during the 2016 season and has watched his squad go from a .476 winning percentage team that year to being a .556, postseason-bound ballclub with a very bright future ahead of them in 2018.
Craig Counsell led the Brewers to an NL Central title (won a Game 163 tiebreaker against the Cubs), finishing the regular season with a 96-67 record, an NLDS sweep over the Rockies, and a thrilling NLCS that saw his team come within one game of the World Series. This was the 48-year-old’s fourth season as the manager in Milwaukee.
Bud Black led the Colorado Rockies to a 91-72 record, winning the NL Wild Card Game and eventually getting swept by the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS. Black, 61, oversaw a four-game improvement in his second year in Denver, relying on an offensively potent team with an overachieving group of starting and relief pitchers.
Oakland skipper Bob Melvin took home the American League hardware. his third career Manager of the Year Award. Melvin, 57, led the Athletics to a 97-65 record, coming in second in the AL West and losing to the New York Yankees in the AL Wild Card Game.
The A’s improved from a 75-87 record in 2017 to become one of the more exciting young teams in the league in 2018, Melvin’s eighth with Oakland.
Alex Cora’s first season as an MLB manager resulted in a 108-54 regular season, a first-place finish in the AL East, as well as a World Series championship, the Sox’ fourth since 2004.
The 43-year-old Caguas, Puerto Rico native made all the right moves in his first season after spending 2017 as the bench coach of the Houston Astros. Just days after winning the World Series, Cora and many Red Sox players headed to Caguas to celebrate the victory in their manager’s hometown.
Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays led his team to a 90-72 record, good for third in the elite AL East. Cash, 40, navigated the Rays to a ten-game improvement in 2018, his fourth year at the helm in Tampa.
Many had the Rays pegged as a basement-dweller in the high-powered AL East. Cash and his team shocked the baseball world, finishing the year 18 games above .500 and looking ahead to the future with a talented young roster.
The BBWAA announces their NL and AL Cy Young Award winners on Wednesday night. Stay locked onto MMO for continued offseason updates!
