Bob Melvin of the Athletics was named American League Manager of the Year, with Alex Cora finishing second. Melvin also won the award in 2012 (Athletics) and was NL Manager of the Year in 2007 (Diamondbacks).
1st 2nd 3rd Total Bob Melvin, Athletics 18 10 1 121 Alex Cora, Red Sox 7 11 11 79 Kevin Cash, Rays 5 6 14 57 AJ Hinch, Astros 3 2 11 Aaron Boone, Yankees 2 2Red Sox principal owner John Henry, on Einstein's genius:
He put together a clubhouse that had more unity than I had ever seen. It showed day to day perseverance, sense of purpose, dedication every day. He had them ready every day. On every level, he was a superior manager. He was every bit as good as our best player.Sean McAdam (Boston Sports Journal) writes that the award should be renamed "Manager Who Most Exceeded Expectations":
Some voters undoubtedly expected the Sox to reach the postseason a third straight season, aided and abetted by their enormous resources. The A's, meanwhile, were no one's choice to qualify for the playoffs, but did anyway. ...McAdam notes that Terry Francona, despite five trips to the postseason in eight years with Boston, never won the award, but since moving on to Cleveland, has won it twice in his first four years. In fact, Tito never received even one first-place vote while with the Red Sox and never finished higher than fourth!
This has been a hallmark of this award for some time: successful managers from big-market teams are routinely overlooked because they were supposed to win, while managers from small-market teams are rewarded for overachieving.
Craig Kimbrel has rejected the Red Sox's $17.9 million qualifying offer (as the team expected) and will be a free agent.
Daisuke Matsuzaka (Chunichi Dragons) was named the NPB's Comeback Player of the Year Award (Nippon Professional Baseball).
TJ Cotterill of the Tacoma News Tribune reports:
Lorena Martin was hired just over a year ago to fill a position unique to baseball. No other organization before the Seattle Mariners had a director of high performance in the baseball operations department.The Mariners have described Martin's allegations as "false and ludicrous".
But on Monday, just over a month after the Mariners fired her, Lorena Martin [accused the team] of racism and discrimination and specifically nam[ed] general manager Jerry Dipoto, manager Scott Servais and director of player development Andy McKay. ...
Martin told The News Tribune that Dipoto, in a meeting with Martin and McKay in January, called her a "cocky Latina." In that same meeting McKay said Dominican players are "just plain stupid" and, in a separate meeting, Servais told her that you don't see Latino catchers or managers because "they aren't bright enough. They are dumb." ...
This has been a hallmark of this award for some time: successful managers from big-market teams are routinely overlooked because they were supposed to win, while managers from small-market teams are rewarded for overachieving.
ReplyDeleteJim Bowden agrees with McAdam.
"There's no intelligence behind the voting here. Nobody looks behind the scenes and says which manager was good at motivating? What manager was the best at implementing analytics? What manager was best with his eyes during games to make adjustments? Who handled the pitching staff the best? Who was able to think outside the box? Who shifted better? Who did better on appeals of instant replay? Nobody measures that? We just give the award to whatever team we don't think is going to get in? Alex Cora was the best manager in baseball. He checked all the boxes. ..."