Indians skipper Terry Francona and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts have been named Manager of the Year in their respective leagues, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced tonight. It should be noted that voting is conducted prior to the playoffs, meaning their teams’ postseason performances aren’t factored into the decision.
Francona, 57, guided the Indians their fourth straight winning season since coming on board as the team’s skipper prior to the 2013 season. Cleveland went 94-67 under Francona’s watch this year, running away with the American League Central division by a margin of eight games. Cleveland’s terrific season was all the more impressive due to the fact that the team’s best player from 2014-15, Michael Brantley, played in just 11 games due to difficulties recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Francona also dealt with late injuries to Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar and Yan Gomes down the stretch as the team made its final push to the playoffs. That performance led Francona to receive 22 of the 30 first-place votes from the BBWAA. Rangers manager Jeff Banister (four), Orioles manager Buck Showalter (two) and Red Sox manager John Farrell (two) also received first-place votes (link to full voting breakdown).
This marks Francona’s second Manager of the Year Award in just four years with Cleveland, as he also took home the honor in 2013 — his first season with the team. His efforts have already been rewarded, as Cleveland announced shortly after the World Series that the 2019 and 2020 club options on Francona’s contract have already been exercised four years in advance.
The 44-year-old Roberts takes home the honor in his first full season as a manager, having guided the Dodgers to a 91-71 record and a National League West Division title despite a multitude of injuries throughout the rotation — including a two-month absence from ace Clayton Kershaw. Fifteen different pitchers made starts for the Dodgers this year, with rookie Kenta Maeda starting a team-high 32 games and 20-year-old Julio Urias making the fourth-most starts at just 15. Prior to this season, Roberts had precisely one game of managing experience, stepping in for a single game with the 2015 Padres following the dismissal of Bud Black.
Roberts received 16 first-place votes, while Cubs skipper Joe Maddon (eight), Nationals manager Dusty Baker (four) and Mets manager Terry Collins (two) each nabbed some first-place votes as well (full voting breakdown here). Roberts still has two years remaining on the three-year deal he inked prior to the 2016 season plus a club option for a fourth year in 2019.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Talk about rigged Maddon should have won tbh.
Best record and won a WS, breaking a 108 drought.
” It should be noted that voting is conducted prior to the playoffs, meaning their teams’ postseason performances aren’t factored into the decision.”
Originally had that line at the end but specifically moved it up to the opening paragraph just before publishing to try to avoid comments like that, ha. No luck, it seems.
I was trying to be sarcastic but really Maddon should have won
Sarcasm sucks in internet text.
Also, no, Roberts definitely should have won. Maddon, for as much as I love ’em, had a pretty healthy roster all year while Roberts’ roster injury woes are well articulated above and the Dodgers somehow succeeded as much as they did.
Why should Maddon have won it? The Cubs were favored all year to win it all. Not to take nothing away from Maddon and the Cubs, but the Dodgers had 27 (Twenty Seven) players on the disabled list this year and still won 91 games.
Have to agree, especially if you add in the intangibles of a rookie manager coming into a unstable situation and making it work better than anyone had any reason to expect.
Absolutely agree. Roberts was the correct choice.
“somehow succeeded as much as they did”? Somehow? What’s their payroll? you shouldn’t get an award for winning with a team that has a $230M payroll. You should just get fired if you somehow lose. Given his circumstances, and the ‘constraints’ that seemingly earned Roberts the award, Terry Collins did a much better job than Roberts. Brian Snitker, I thought, was the most deserving in the National League..Is there a rule regarding number of games managed to qualify for the award?
Hmmm dodgers 4 nl title in a row , highest payroll in baseball by far , etc etc . Pure politics
The whole payroll thing is completely arbitrary. There were SIX teams with a payroll of 166million or higher on opening day, should we cut half a dozen managers out of contention from the beginning?
As stated numerous times – Roberts is a rookie manager, coming into a team with unsettled dynamics, that had a record number of DL stints, who lost their ace for 2 months, in a fanatical and pressurized city – and performed admirably well. He is a fair and deserving candidate.
Highest payroll by far? The Yankees payroll was 95.5% of what the Dodgers was. That’s not a huge gap. What numbers are you looking that? I’d bet you aren’t looking at all.
Definitely hard to be objective with the playoffs over now, makes you wonder why do the vote before the playoffs when really that’s the most important part of the season and doesn’t have to do with individual numbers such as with the players.
We wouldn’t even be talking about Roberts if San Francisco hadn’t collapsed during the 2nd half of the season. The N.L. West was terrible.
Madden did a masterful job managing those youngsters. He fostered confidence, kept them relaxed and rested, while building depth by playing guys at multiple positions throughout the season. He was far and away the best manager in the N.L. last year, but bias against all things Chicago prevailed again. No sweat though, the Cubs are a dynasty in the making, so I’m betting he get the award next year.
Who is Madden?
Votes are in BEFORE the offseason. Please actually read the article. Plus, Roberts did a good job with a troubled team. Chicago was everyone’s pick before the season. He just did what was expected. Plus, he over managed several games in the playoffs and Chicago won despite some of his bad decisions.
‘over managed several games in the playoffs’
that comes after you mention that the votes are in before the playoffs start…. hmmm.
Maddon was fantastic all year with his team in all aspects except overcoming exorbitant injury adversity. That was something completely out of his hands in a good way.
I agree the Cubs were expected to win despite some blunders by Madden
Maddon*
Voting is conducted before the playoffs.
It’s a good thing the postseason doesn’t count in this award. If it did, Joe (Genius) Maddon likely would have finished even further behind.
Btw-Terry Collins should have finished second in the N.L. voting, not Maddon…and this is coming from a Cub fan! Maddon deservedly won the honor last year but, in my opinion, is overrated as a strategic manager. It seems he wants to re-invent the game at times. Case in point, his continued use of Cub starting pitchers batting in the 8th spot in 2015, regardless of how bad they sucked as hitters. Clearly someone in the front office had a discussion with him last offseason about that strategy since he rarely implemented it in 2016.
The reasoning at least given to the public for him not using it as much this year was because they were more confident in Russell’s bat this year than they were last.
Also, although I do agree that Roberts and maybe Collins should have finished in front of Maddon due to making the playoffs despite many injuries, Maddon is an excellent strategist. Consider this example: the Cubs would suredly not have won on June 28 when 3 different pitchers played left field in an extra innings marathon against the Reds.
Sorry, I disagree. The Mets were widely favored to be NL East favorites this year after winning the pennant last year. And while yes, the Mets did face some injury issues, they still never really contended with the Nationals and just barely squeaked into the wild card. They effectively fell short of expectations due to injury. That’s not the formula for a MOY. If you’re going to at least play the injury card, you need to at LEAST meet or come close to preseason expectations.
You mean after losing their entire pitching staff to injury.
Dusty Baker was actually on more ballots (26) than Maddon (22) , though Maddon finished 2nd overall due to more Points (70 to 66). Doesn’t matter much I guess since Roberts won but just pointing it out anyway if 2nd place matters
He was on more ballots because everyone voted for madden and Roberts for 1st and 2nd leaving all the other spots open for Baker.
Huh? Each voter gets 3 names to pick from. 30 voters (2 for each team). Maddon was on 22 (8 1st, 8 2nd, 6 3rd) and Baker was on 26 (4 1st, 12 2nd, 10 3rd). Roberts was the only one on all 30 ballots (16-7-7)
No surprise here. The biggest shock to me was Terry Collins finishing 4th in the National League. I though he deserved to finish right behind Dave Roberts. Both managers had to overcome catastrophic injuries this season and Roberts gets the nod for winning his division.
Terry should have won last year also. Especially last year with the lineup the genius Alderson gave him.
Dave Roberts exceeded his team’s preseason expectations (wildcard at best) despite injuries. Terry Collins fell well below his team’s preseason expectations (division winner and possible pennant repeat).. Yes, his team made the playoffs (barely), but he still fell well short. The “overcoming injury” angle really only works when you at least meet or come close to preseason expectations.
They weren’t expected wild card at best , you’re dreaming . They went out and signed maeda and kazmir . The rotation was supposed to be kershaw ryu maeda kazmir (wood,McCarthy,Anderson ) for the 5th spot. They got rich hill and reddick at the trade deadline so plz the wild card at best is just plain nonsense
They most certainly were. The Giants and their “even year magic” were expected to take the division, especially after having the best record in the MLB at the All-Star break.
And I’m talking PRESEASON predictions. Hill has no bearing on that as he was acquired after the Dodgers had already taken the division lead. To me, Cueto/Samardzija signings trump the Maeda/Kazmir signings.
ESPN picked the Giants:
link to espn.com
USA Today picked the Giants
link to usatoday.com
CBS picked the Giants
link to cbssports.com
MLB.com picked the Giants
link to m.mlb.com
Need I go on?
That’s a pretty weird standard to hold a coach to. ‘Preseason expectations’ say absolutely nothing about what the manager did. Collins did an incredible job without his starting 3B (Wright), 1B (Duda), Harvey, deGrom, Wheeler, Matz, Walker (missed 50 games), Cabrera played hurt half the year, d’Arnaud was a disaster, etc.
‘Preseason expectations’ are silly predictions. They’re meaningless and shouldn’t be used to judge a manager. Even if you wanted to judge them on that, they’re based on who’s actually on the roster. If a manager loses the players that the predictions were based on, you’re going to *penalize* him for that? Bizarre to say the least.
Congrats to both men!
roberts deserved it. 28 players went on the DL at some point and he won the west. maddon coached a stacked team to the playoffs. roberts had a tougher task
Joe Maddon should of won. Really guys!!!!!
Good call on both sides. Roberts did a great job with so little. The fact that he was a rookie manager doing this probably helped put him over the edge in the voting category.
I’ve also stopped responding to people upset that Maddon didn’t win. Most are trolls who know full well that all these votes are cast BEFORE the playoffs begin.
I wouldn’t be so sure that they actually know.
Great choice. A monkey could have managed the cubs.
Terry Collins gets screwed again..Two years running.
Lol. This is the same guy Mets fans wanted fired many times prior to 2015. Suddenly he is “robbed” of Manager Of The Year TWO Years in a row!
No, Collins was not robbed this year , nor last year.
Yes he was. Last year, Terry had a Killer lineup of Eric Cambell and John Mayberry as his #4 and 5 batters and still had the Mets two games out-of-first before the All-Star game. The genius Alderson (yep, that’s sarcasm in-case you didnt notice). then pulled some money out and went and got Cespedes. This year in-spite of losing his entire pitching staff, Terry got the Mets into the Wild-card. Madden couldnt hold a candle to the job Terry has done.
Last year you have an argument for. Not this year. Terry Collins’s team was expected to win the division and possibly repeat as pennant winner this year. And yes, the injury bug hit them, but his team still fell well below their preseason expectations. Likewise, Dave Roberts team was expected to capture a wild card at best, and despite being hit with a bigger injury bug, led his team to a division title. Roberts deserves his award.
If Terry Collins’s team wins the division, we’re having a different discussion here.
Terry rules! He shoulda won it this year also.
Terry rules! He shoulda won it this year also!
“Likewise, Dave Roberts team was expected to capture a wild card at best,”
Wrong. Lots of places/people picked them to win the division. 538 even had them as the 2nd best team in baseball:
link to projects.fivethirtyeight.com
link to sbnation.com
link to fangraphs.com
Congrats to Tito, very well deserved! Took a hobbled team to extras in Game 7 of the a World Series. I could only imagine what they’d have accomplished with a healthy Brantley, Gomes and rotation.
All hail Tito.
I agree with Terry’s win, but I don’t think Dave Robert’s deserved to win.
He made some poor choices throughout the season like most managers but was bailed out in the second half when the Giants slumped hard, giving easy momentum in a division with no other contenders.
I think John Farrel deserves it. He wasn’t distracted by all the David Ortiz retirement show, and won the toughest division overtaking Baltimore and Toronto… That deserves a reward. Im not a Red Sox fan.
IMO, I don’t think Farrell was heavily considered simply due to the fact that they were heavily favored in the AL coming into the season. FG had them projected to finish with the best record in the AL.
The award isn’t to recognize the managers of the teams that win their divisions, it’s for the managers who’ve accomplished the most in their given circumstances.
how is simply surviving a sideshow the team itself was solely responsible for award worthy? If it was such a hardship for the team the Red Sox would have dropped the marketing fluff as soon as it became a problem.
Looks to me that the writers got it right in both leagues – well done! Franconia did a great job of guiding my depleted Indians team to their first division title in 9 years, so i’m looking forward to see what he can do with a healthy team next year! Not being much of a Dodgers fan, because of their high payroll, the rookie manager Roberts did a great job of managing a team that was even more depleted than the Indians; if he can keep the Dodgers in contention most years, he’ll have a very successful managerial career!
Roberts was my choice. I actually thought Showalter might get it in the A.L. but Tito is a good pick.
Dave Roberts did well managing his 225+ million payroll!
All kidding aside, he did do a fine job and I couldn’t think of anyone who did a better job. Maybe Maddon? But Roberts had way more to deal with.
I don’t care at all who wins these stupid awards, but I think looking at the top 3 or so vote getters does a pretty good of picking which managers did a very good job, which I find more important.
I will add, that as a cubs fan, I can totally agree with the maddon over managing at times thing. He’s a much better personality coordinator than on field strategist, imo.
anybody here advocating for Terry Collins to win MOTY, did not watch more then 20 games of his managing in the last 2+ years.
I am a die hard Mets fan and not an especially big terry Collins fan but I think he deserved some more love. You’re gonna vote for dusty baker with that line up? Yeah the Dodgers had injuries but come on, man!
#LGM
Saying the Dodgers “had injuries” is like saying somebody took a poke at Rasputin. The Dodgers used 15 starters last season and made over 200 roster changes.