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Managers of the Year are awarded
Award week continued plodding along on Tuesday night, with the Manager of the Year awards being handed out in each league. If we’re being honest, this is the award I am both least interested in and least equipped to evaluate, so forgive me if this section is a little underwhelming.
On the American League side, though, it was a bit of a blowout with Kevin Cash of the Rays winning the award. In a way, this is a bit surprising to me. Typically this award is handed out to the manager of the team who surprised people the most, or at least made a big leap from the year before. The Rays were expected to be good, though. With that said, I don’t think it’s undeserved. I think there’s a fair argument for Cash being the best manager in baseball given the way he juggles all of the depth with different platoons and things like that in the lineup, not to mention maneuvering the pieces in the bullpen. Of course, our last impression of Cash was one of the worst moves in recent history, taking context into account, but that shouldn’t take away from what he is as a manager.
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And now I’ll stop saying nice things about the Rays for as long as possible. Believe it or not, Ron Roenicke did not get any votes in this category. Cash got 22 of 30 first-place votes, with Rick Renteria (who has since been let go) getting five, Charlie Montoyo getting two and Bob Melvin getting one.
Over on the National League side, Don Mattingly of the Marlins won the award, making it a sweep for the state of Florida. This was totally not a surprise, as the Marlins were far and away the most surprising team in baseball. I’m not as familiar with Mattingly as a manager, though I will say I’m pretty sure he’s not as good as Cash. I’m a little annoyed we’re just kind of brushing aside that his team almost caused a huge COVID outbreak after he let them choose whether or not they wanted to play in the midst of a team-wide outbreak, but it’s been clear for months now we’re just going to let that slide. Cool!
Anyway, Mattingly somewhat surprisingly got fewer first-place votes than Cash, ending the vote with 20. Jayce Tingler finished second with six first-place votes, while David Ross, Brian Snitker, Dave Roberts and Craig Counsell each getting a vote as well.
Giants sign Jason Vosler to one-year deal
There was a major-league signing on Tuesday as well, with the Giants agreeing to a one-year deal with infielder Jason Vosler. Not to brag, but I think I know most baseball players. I have never heard of Vosler, which is not to say it’s a bad move but rather that I’m a bit surprised he got a major-league deal. The infielder is actually a former Northeastern star who was drafted by the Cubs in the 16th round back in 2014. He has yet to make his major-league debut, but in 2019 with the Padres in Triple-A he hit .291/.367/.523.
Vosler is mainly a third baseman, which wouldn’t have made him a very good fit for the Red Sox, who have Rafael Devers and plenty of depth behind him.