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AL Manager of the Year
Terry Francona of the Cleveland Indians was awarded the AL Manger of the Year Award yesterday. Francona did a masterful job in Cleveland. He managed the Indians to their first division title since 2007. It’s important to remember votes are tallied before the playoffs begin. So the job Francona did in the playoffs did not help his case.
The Indians finished the regular season 94-67 and easily won the AL Central. The Indians were a great club all year despite a horrible rash of injuries. They could not stay healthy but Francona’s leadership and his stellar bullpen usage helped negate that as they very nearly won the World Series.
NL Manager of the Year
Dave Roberts of the Dodgers winning is kind of surprising to me. He did a very good job but he has such a big budget to play with it’s almost managing on “easy mode.” Obviously, I don’t mean to disrespect Roberts as he more than deserved the award. He took a stagnant team and gave them new life. Roberts also did a great job in the postseason as the Dodgers upset the Washington Nationals and took the Cubs to the limit in the NLCS.
The stolen base in 2004 ALCS will likely forever define Roberts. However, if he continues to improve he could eventually become a top-flight MLB manager. A first-year skipper took all the pressure of managing a big market team and crafted a division winner and took the best team in baseball to limit in the League Championship series. Not a bad rookie campaign.
Baseball Talk on the Web
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MLB Awards: Here’s one way to improve the Manager of the Year voting system
AL ROY finalist Michael Fulmer is a plumber during the offseason
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