The Baseball Writers Association of America announced the results of Manager of the Year voting Tuesday evening. Guardians skipper Terry Francona claimed the award in the American League, while Buck Showalter received the National League honor.
While Francona and Showalter are each veteran managers with decades of experience, they were in rather different situations for 2022. Francona is the longest-tenured active manager with one team, having held the position in Cleveland since the start of the 2013 season. Showalter, on the other hand, took over the job in Queens last winter.
The two clubs were also at dramatically different ends of the payroll spectrum. Francona was tasked with overseeing a young Guardians roster that ranked near the bottom of the league in player payroll. Cleveland didn’t enter the season with particularly strong general expectations — at least among those outside the organization and its fanbase — but the Guardians ran away with the AL Central in September after a tightly-contested race with the Twins and White Sox for the first five months. Cleveland finished the year 92-70 to claim their first division title since 2018.
Showalter inherited a polar opposite of a roster, one with sky-high expectations after an offseason spending spree that brought in a number of stars. The Mets had come up empty with talented teams in the past, failing to reach the playoffs every year from 2017-21. That wasn’t an issue in 2022, as Showalter guided the club to a 101-win season — their first year topping triple-digits since 1988. The season ended on a bit of a sour note, as the Mets were swept in a three-game set by the Braves late in the year to blow a division lead that once had exceeded 10 games. Nevertheless, they still coasted to a Wild Card berth.
The voting in both leagues was fairly tightly contested. In the AL, Francona topped Baltimore’s Brandon Hyde and Seattle’s Scott Servais. The Cleveland skipper earned 17 of 30 first-place votes, while Hyde picked up nine for helping the O’s to a surprising above-.500 finish. Servais got one first-place nod but appeared on 23 ballots overall, while Houston’s Dusty Baker picked up three first-place votes but was on just 13 ballots in some capacity. Aaron Boone (Yankees) and Kevin Cash (Rays) also garnered some support.
Turning to the NL, Showalter tied with the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts with eight first-place votes apiece. He edged out Roberts with 10 second-place nods and appeared on 25 ballots overall. Atlanta’s Brian Snitker was the other finalist, grabbing seven first-place votes. Oli Marmol (Cardinals) and Rob Thomson (Phillies) also got decent support, while San Diego’s Bob Melvin grabbed one third-place vote.
Francona claims the award for the third time in his career. Despite winning two World Series during his time leading the Red Sox, he didn’t claim his first Manager of the Year nod until landing in Cleveland in 2013. He won again in 2018 and adds a third to his resume, becoming the ninth man in history to do so.
Showalter, meanwhile, has remarkably won Manager of the Year four times — each with a different team. He’d previously picked up the nod in 1994 with the Yankees, 2004 with the Rangers and 2014 with the Orioles. Showalter joins Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa as the only four-time winners, and he’s the only one to achieve it with four different organizations.
Full voting breakdown: American League, National League
Snit should have won and they got Francona right in the AL
I disagree. Mets lacked that cohesiveness and leader last year. Buck brought the team together and helped them gel and reach the playoffs for the first time in 6 years. Ultimately he made the difference. Snitker did well, but Buck deserved this award.
Dave Roberts won a ton of games too guys
An upturned broom with a bucket for a head could have won 95 games for the Dodgers.
and the mets
If you can’t win 100+ games with the Dodgers roster, you shouldn’t be an MLB manager.
I thought Dave Roberts made a huge mistake when you took pitcher Tyler Anderson out after the fifth inning I felt like he took out Tyler Anderson out to soon and the game unraveled at that point
How did he deserve the award he took a $300M dollar team and won a wild card? Are you gonna be there for the raising of the Wild Card banner. Snitker won the division and should have won the award. Met’s fans need to understand how much of a failure this season was. People this was not a good year for the Mets so I’m not sure how their manager won Manager of the Year. To quote Ricky Bobby’s dad “If ya ain’t winnin’ yur losin'”
The actual Ricky Bobby quote is “if you’re not first, you’re last!”
You’re only looking at the end result, and taking into consideration the payroll. You’re not seeing all the injuries the Mets had. You’re not seeing how they actually became a team. MOY isn’t just about end results. It’s about how the manager affected the team. The Mets don’t even get to the wild card without Showalter. DeGrom pitched less than half the season. Scherzer was on the IL for 1/3rd of the season. Escobar wasn’t healthy till late August. Starling Marte out for the last month of the season. And yet they wound up with the same record as the Braves. Won the same amount of playoff games as the Braves. With all the guys that got thrown at this year on the Mets, it’s a wonder anyone was healthy for a full season, and everyone played with injuries. Buck managed that beautifully. He earned this award.
Thats correct, Ricky Bobby also said “Well let me give you a saying from Colonel Sanders. I am to drunk to taste the chicken!”
I hate to be pedantic but if you read the last sentence a little closer you’ll see Mystery Team actually wrote…..”To quote Ricky Bobby’s Dad.” Not Ricky Bobby! Haha
I confused the Bull Durham quote about winning being better than losing.
You mean as opposed to losing to the Phillies in the playoffs after a 100+ win season after playing over .700 baseball for four months. Still takes nothing from the way that the job Snitker did with the Braves and guiding then to a great year.
To say the Mets season was a failure for losing the division is ridiculous. They had a 100+ win season and lost to the same team in the playoffs that beat the 111 win Dodgers. And unless you actually follow the Mets, you really cannot understand the impact the Showalter had on this team compared to Rojas and Calloway.
What Homer?
I don’t know if it’s a should’ve won robbery. If you’re arguing the Braves came back from 10.5 down to win the division, the counter is the Dodgers ran away with the West will posting even more wins. There just wasn’t a great candidate so it went to the one who got their team back in the postseason rather than the recent heavyweights.
Robbery is AA not winning Executive of the Year since he’s been in Atlanta. The second Ozuna contract is the only true F you can point to on his record card.
I’d give AA an F on the Cole Hamel’s contract too.
Give him an F on the Will Smith for Odorrizzi deal as well. Another 10 million totally wasted when all the Braves had to do was let Smith ride the BP bench as his contract expired the last 2 months. Might as well have burnt the money on the mound in front of the fans. Odor was much worse for the Braves than Smith was for the Astros.
LoL, being a bit dramatic there.. It’s still a 1 year deal at very little money where he took a swing at veteran with a solid track record. Tantrums about deals like that are just someone trying to find something to whine about
Odorizzi is good for 3-4 innings but falls completely apart afterwards. The Braves should’ve realized this prior to trade which I thought was bad for Houston.
@Yay: Try to keep up. My focus was on the total waste of taking on Odorizzi’s 2023 contract just to dump Will Smith—-something you’re apparently blissfully ignorant about. AA lost 10 mill on that deal (after the face saving Odor for Allard deal got 2.5 mill back.). No whine, no tantrum, just facts. Smith was playing on an expiring contract in 2022. The Braves FO knew Odorizzi would trigger his $12.5 (6 mill option, 6.5 buyout) million player option for 2023. The Smith for Odorizzi deal was poorly considered given the Braves coming proximity to the first luxury tax tier. As a result of the lack of strategy, the FO just scrambled to get 2.5 mill of that 12.5 mill back by dealing Odorizzi for Allard. Poor planning by AA to take on the 2023 contract. In addition to the financial idiocy, the Braves didn’t even need Odorizzi at the time of the deal. They had more than competent AAA depth in Elder and Muller. After Odorizzi’s awful performance, they turned to those two anyway. AA gets an F for poor situational awareness on the 2023 Odorizzi contract—not just becasue Odorizzi was awful in 2022.
No per usual your focus was on trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill because you don’t like AA or the Braves.
I’ve been a Braves fan since they moved to Atlanta when I was 9 years old. I grew up 15 minutes away from Atlanta Fulton Co Stadium. You can stick your childish “you don’t like AA and the Braves” where the sun doesn’t shine. “Per usual your focus” is insulting someone making a case based on facts that you’re either incapable of understanding or choose to ignore. Must be awful for you going through life w/the blind allegiance of a lemming. No one has to worship at the shrine you’ve built for AA to be a Braves fan. Unlike you, I’m willing to admit that AA isn’t perfect even though I’m a fan of the organization that he’s built. I’m a Braves fan—-not a fanatic.
Poor Braves to be stuck with such a terrible fan then
Mets clubhouse leadership floundered due to inexperience managers, Buck helped to restore respect and order I think, plus it is really great to see he is very humble, the way he embraces players, and the way he thanks the fans. As manager in NY ½ your job is managing the media. No other city is quite like it, Boston and Philly are tough but still not the ssme.
The Mets got it right when they hired Buck….only wish he still was at the helm of the Yankees…..our WS drought would not be happening if he was in charge…..
Francona should have been UNANIMOUS.
Cleveland had 17….that’s right 17 rookies make their major league debut.
He also should win father of the year getting that team to the playoffs!
Franconia +11 wins, Hyde +33 wins in the toughest division in MLB,uhmm.
And what 3rd or 4th place?
Yeah 4th place out of 5…that’s second last!
Almost a wild card, they expected to be last, again in the toughest division in baseball.
Almost only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, love making, and apparently the AL EAST.
Al east only MLB division in the al.
Congratulations, to those two and their teams/fans.
Excellent managers, HOF managers. Buck is in the wrong NY uniform….
I thought he was, back in the 90s, and got the boot in favor of Torre?
Ouch! But, you’re right, another deadly Cashman non-move to add to the ledger (dips feather pen and opens oversized book).
Tito will probably get in, don’t know how zero pennants may impact Buck. I believe the only HOF manager with over 1,000 wins and no trip to the World Series is Frank Robinson (who got in as a player).
“Buck is in the wrong NY uniform….”
Is it cotton? It breathes, you know.
Haha! How about suede?
Who goes around feeling people’s material?! What can be gained feeling material?
We’re living in the material world, so…
There’s that
And to show how meaningless or absurd this award is clip, Boone got second, he with the managerial acumen of a cockroach.
Nevertheless, it’s great to see him back in the game. And this is coming from an extraneous Tiger’s fan. Both managers are iconic
The only iconic thing to come out of last night’s result is LOLmets endures.
Man, can you imagine ever firing Tito? Who could be that stupid!?
Yawn…two World Series titles later…
That was the most ultimate collapse/meltdown I have ever seen in ball. Someone had to have been let go. Not saying it should’ve been Tito, because I wasn’t in that locker room
“Had to have”
Ohh, yeesh
I do think Tito was becoming much more of a “buddy” and less of a “boss” towards the end of his tenure in Boston. It also had to be exhausting having to constantly micromanage players with such varying and/or divisive personalities (Manny, Millar, Schilling, Pedro, Beckett, Papelbon, Lackey, Lester, etc…)
He must’ve been getting to the end of his rope and I can’t blame him. His book is worth a read for info like this.
Well deserved. Congrats to both.
While arguments can be made for others, both of these guys are deserving.
I wouldn’t have argued against Brandon Hyde winning in the AL, considering how his team outperformed expectations. But Francona did a good job too, so no complaints.
How is it Dusty Baker wins a World Series and is only 4th in the AL voting yet Dave Roberts, with his team’s massive spending and expectations, doesn’t even make the World Series and he barely misses the NL nod?
Voting takes place before the post season.
Thank you for that reminder.
Baseball77
Ballots are submitted prior to the postseason. IMHO, Roberts was the better regular season manager, Baker the better postseason manager. Also, spending is not the issue, but rather doing better than expected with your roster. You could argue Astros won the number of regular season games that were expected and Dodgers would about a dozen more regular season games than expected. Because I liked the Atlanta roster better than Mets, I actually go with Buck for the NL manager award among the front-runners. I did not like how that team was constructed compared to Dodgers and Atlanta, and they did quite well. Phillies were the overachievers but it is hard to get manager of the year when you only are the manager for two-thirds of the season. Still, as I type this, Rob Thomson was the most impressive in the NL.
I forgot that awards are voted on prior to the postseason. However, I don’t really think Roberts’ team overachieved any more than Baker’s team. Both were expected to dominate. Not trying to argue that either should have won MOY for their league. Just seems weird that one landed in 4th place while the other got barely edged out for 1st place.
Yeah, I can certainly see Francona for the obvious reasons. His team, in all their youth/inexperience, after duping seasoned vets, still brought the ALDS to a GM 5. Hard to argue against that one.
But, my initial reaction was with MannyMVP, that Rob Thompson had a miraculous turnaround for his club after he took the helm.
So, I wonder if only being the manager for half a season actually hurt him (in the writers’ minds)? Nevertheless, I think Buck did an outstanding job because, of course, he’s an outstanding manager.
Servais got hosed. 21 years since the M’s get that playoff monkey curse off their back and he gets no love?? This is a joke
Totally agree with that but at least Brandon Hyde didn’t win. If Hyde won imo it would’ve been the ultimate middle finger to the M’s skipper.
Why? Because I feel like this year B Hyde did the exact same thing that Servais did the yr before- they each took young rebuilt squads to winning records after losing records the year before. Both of them exceeded expectations. Their teams blew away their preseason Win-Loss predictions. No-one expected BAL (in that division) to be fighting for playoff spots in the final week of the season. Servais did the same exact thing in a tough division last yr. So… Servais got hosed twice!
Dr2022- You misunderstood the Aaron Boone votes. Booney was 5th behind 2nd place Hyde with 79 points and 3rd place Servais with 43 points.
Booney was 5th behind 4th place Dusty Baker. Aaron Boone had a total of 4 points from a single 2nd place vote and one 3rd place vote. 4 pts for Boone seems about right
So Showalter wins the NL MOY by inheriting the roster with the highest payroll, then blows a 10 game lead to the Braves and loses in the Wild Card but he wins because….they made the playoffs like expected?
Yet Rob Thomson takes over as the interim manager of a Phillies team that was 22-29, plays most of the season without Bryce Harper and promptly wins the pennant yet isn’t even a top 3 finalist.
This makes sense how?
Ballots are submitted prior to the postseason according to the BBWAA. So none of what happens in the playoffs is taken into account.
Right, but as KC42 noted, the Mets coughed up the division lead before the playoffs started. Still, can you blame Buck for the late-season letdown by his rotation?
They gave up a 10 game lead got it back then choked another 7 game lead.
KC,
Ballots are submitted prior to the postseason.
Even with that, I think Rob Thomson has a strong case.
@KC42 Not defending it, but I’m aware of the reasoning:
Showalter came into a completely dysfunctional Mets team. Cohen’s first year was a clown show. 2021 would have EASILY fit with the absolute worst of the Wilpon years and Showalter, almost on his own, came in and turned the LOLMets franchise around for 5-3/4 months.
I wouldn’t have voted him for 1st. He was clearly fatigued by September and making less than optimal decisions. At the same time, the FO didn’t have the wit to make smart moves at the Deadline when they were only up by 3.5 games, so it’s hardly all on Showalter. He didn’t get an PA, either, that I can recall.
“then blows a 10 game lead to the Braves”
They went 61-39 over their last 100 games. 51-30 in the second half. The Mets didn’t so much blow it as the Braves went on a tear and took it.
They won 101 games, tied (with the Braves) for 3rd-most in baseball.
I agree that Thomson should have gotten a lot more consideration, but Buck is not a bad pick. Team won 77 games in 2021 without Buck, then 101 in 2022 with Buck. This isn’t rocket science.
Hyde and Thomson were my choices. I didn’t even think of Buck as Top 3.
I think Thomson did a great job, but to your comment, the vote happens prior to postseason and the voters were enamored with three managers who had 100+ win teams.. And let’s not forget that the Phillies had a losing record in September, limping into the playoffs. If you are casting your vote on October 4th, it’s hard to say Thomson did a better job than Showalter or Snitker.
No different than the GG awards. No rhyme or reason. Each writer votes on a multitude of factors. Not all the criteria is the same from voter to voter.
Really just pot luck for the winner.
Philly Rob got jobbed..
Agree, Rob got robbed
I’m guessing the voters reasoned that Rob didn’t manage an entire season.
But on the other hand, they could’ve also reasoned that the other managers all started with a clean slate, on even footing with all the other managers on Opening Day. Rob inherited a team that was 11 games behind in the division and 5.5 games behind in the Wild Card.
So, did they reason rightly — or wrongly?
Wrongly. Unless there’s a stipulation that a candidate must be present for x number of games, Thomson surely deserved votes.
If there was no such stipulation, I’d have given him extra credit for leading the team out of a hole.
In the infamous words of Tanner Boyle(badness bears fame); “youcan take this 3rd place trophy and stick…..”
Service got robbed!
Poor Chico Esquela. Beisbol Had been bery bery good to him. But Chico was never the same after watching Abbot and Costellos “Who’s on First” He was never fit to be a Manager in the majors after viewing it over 100 times.
Chico wrote a tell all book about his time with the Mets “Bad Stuff about the Mets.”
Sample: “Tom Seaver- he once borrow Chico’s soap and no give back”
Chico found booze as his only comfort. Chico was last seen in Tijuana drunk outside of a drinking establishment trying to take his pants off over his head.
A tip of the cap to Chico Esquela.
Hyde and Thomson got robbed, end of story.
Scott Servais, the Brandon Hyde of 2021, misses out. Then takes a team from 10 games under .500 to make the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. The voting process is a “Sham.” Plain and simple.
I can certainly see your position, but I think Francona is as deserving with what he did with the Guards this season, don’t you?
Frankly, the Mariners may be better than the Guardians. It’s tough because there were at least a few excellent managers in the league.
As far as Hyde, that poor guy was handed a very low-budget, inexperienced, guaranteed-to-lose roster for a few seasons. He’s patiently developed the team and navigated their challenges, and this year performed beyond expectations with that squad despite them trading Mancini, so there’s an easy argument for him too.
It seems that their division finish has an impact to some degree too (speaking about the O’s), because there’s a tendency by the writers to select managers that finish higher. Doesn’t take away from the job Hyde did though.
Servais was in the exact same situation as Hyde last season. And he took that team to 90 wins and built a clubhouse culture that is an unbreakable bond. Just look at the victory dances after each win. There’s no doubt Francona did an excellent job with what he had, but not compared to the uphill climb Seattle has had to go through for the past two decades. To get that monkey off of their backs and repeat what they did the year before, with all the injuries, and young players. The League will always have its view centered on East of the Rockies. Always has and always will.
From the late great words of Ed Orgeron, “We comin!”
To tell you all you need to know about this award clip, and how much logic or thought goes into it, you’re putting more into it then whoever elects these managers, Aaron Boone got second and third from what I heard. Truly absurd. A baboon could’ve done a better job than Aaron Boone this year. And made more sense at his press conferences.
Much of Francona’s success was facilitated by the other teams in his division underperforming dramatically, to the point where Cleveland was the only team in the central with a winning record, while Hyde was managing in a division with 3 of the 6 AL playoff teams.
I agree, the ALE is a much more difficult division.
I’d vote for Girardi for stepping down. That maybe the biggest reason for the team to make it to the WS. Great job, Joe!
All hail Tito.
Should have been Tito and Snitker. Buck took a $300M team and won nothing but a wild card and choked the division away late as well. How is he rewarded for that? Buck should have been maybe three or four in the voting honestly. That was just way too much money spent to consider where they finished a success.
Boone didn’t win? Hmmmm
Judge doesn’t hit 62 homers if Boone doesn’t put him in the lineup.
Confused to how Buck beats out Snitker.
@MTeam, agreed. And pretty sure Buck agrees with you too. At this moment, betcha he’s a bit baffled. Humble dude. A players coach, a coaches coach. Miss him down here in Os land.
Is this a trivia question? Name the only manager to win MOY 4x, with 4 different teams in 4 different decades?
Such bs and not warranted!
@tanner829 2: good morning. You chose to share via general reply, not to reply directly to a specific post. Pretty harsh commentary; borderline troll status. Care to elaborate? Cheers!
Don’t tell half the Cardinals fans that Marmol got 4th place. They still were hoping for Whitey Herzog.
Considering Buck’s history, if the Mets fire him now, they’ll win the WS within two years.
I’m an unapologetic Buck fan. After 17 years of irrelevancy, he got my Os to the playoffs 3x in 5 years. Forever grateful. That said; your point humorously taken! The one year we had a legitimate shot with Buck at the helm, the Royals dominated us. And then there was the late inning RP help gaff in Toronto to boot. Ugh.
In the NL, I didn’t think anyone stood out.
In the AL, Tito & Hyde should win the award 9-10 times. Just a bad time for Hyde to have an outstanding season.
And some of this is the voters finally realizing that Tito is a 1st ballot HOF manager, and one of the best of all time.
Don’t see Showalter. Had his division wrapped all year and completely choked in the last set against a division rival and had to take a wild card. To me that takes him out of it right there.
It’s a difficult thing for me to know whether a manager is doing a good job or not, since payroll capabilities are so disparate. The adage that “anybody can win with a high payrolll” is simply not true, although I’m sure it helps greatly.
I’m just not sure how to measure one manager over another besides wins and losses, which we know isn’t always the right or best way. Even the voters don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes; how much the front office is influencing decisions. That is another issue that may not be the same for all managers.
Without an equal environment, who knows which managers are doing the best jobs.
Congratulations to both of these fine gentlemen, either of whom I would take as manager for my team, the Nationals. But I think the Phillies manager should have won the NL award.
Tito is always a fine choice, and especially this year with all the kids he’s got out there right now. But I’m disappointed to see Servais get overlooked again. He has done nothing but manage the best bullpen in baseball absolutely masterfully over the past couple of years. Won 90 games with a negative run differential. At some point, the man’s gonna get some love.
I just realized…Manager of the year doesn’t matter……
Francona I get. Showalter I don’t
I’m happy for both of these great managers. Terry Francona is the best manager in baseball, imo, and I’m a Yankees fan; I sincerely wish he was the Yankees’ manager.
Buck didn’t deserve to get fired by George. He’s certainly one of the best managers & baseball minds in baseball.
All six men who were the finalists for this award were worthy of being named Manager of the Year in their league, so I don’t know how anyone could legitimately object to any one of these six men receiving the award. All six did great jobs.
It should have been snit he lead the Braves all the way back to win the division buck could not keep the Braves from winning