The 2018 Major League Baseball season has come to an end. The Boston Red Sox won the World Series two weeks ago. It is now time for the major awards: Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, Cy Young Award, and Most Valuable Player.
On Tuesday, the American League Manger of the Year will be announced. The finalists in the American League are Oakland Athletics Bob Melvin, Tampa Bay Rays Kevin Cash, and Boston Red Sox Alex Cora.
Bob Melvin
Oakland Athletics, 97-65
Melvin, in his 15th season as a Major League manager and 8th at the helm of the Athletics, led the team to a 22-win increase and a Wild-Card berth. Oakland finished in last place for three straight seasons before winning 97 games in 2018. The Athletics would eventually lose to the Yankees in the Wild Card Game.
Melvin won the NL Manager of the Year in 2007 with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the AL Manager of the Year in 2012 with the Athletics. He has a career winning percentage of .504, including .514 with Oakland.
Kevin Cash
Tampa Bay Rays, 90-72
Cash got the Rays over .500 for the first time in his fourth season at the helm. It was the best record for the Rays since they won 92 in 2013. They finished in third place behind a pair of 100+ win teams. Their 90 wins was a 10 win improvement over last year’s finish, but they were not able to move up in the standings. The Rays went 17-3 from August 19 through September 10, but they were still 18.5 games behind the Red Sox.
Cash has a career winning percentage of .491 in four seasons with the Rays.
Alex Cora
Boston Red Sox, 108-54
The Alex Cora Era got off to a rough start as the Red Sox lost on Opening Day, but then won 17 of the next 18 games. They finished every month except March and September with 17 or more wins. They had fewer than 10 losses in a month three times. The Red Sox finished with the most wins in their 118 year history.
Cora took a team that finished in first place two years in a row, but lost in the ALDS both years, and turned them into a historically great World Series Champions. He did this in his first year as a manager.
Who Will Win?
Cora took a great team and turned them into a team for the ages. And he did that in his rookie year. It would be hard to choose anybody else.
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