Torey Lovullo of the Diamondbacks and Paul Molitor of the Twins have been named Manager of the Year in their respective leagues, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced on Tuesday. As a reminder, voting was conducted prior to the postseason, so the results of the playoffs had no bearing on the award’s recipients.
Lovullo, 52, wins NL Manager of the Year honors in his first season as a big league manager. Lovullo inherited a club that went 69-93 in 2016 but was able to help the D-backs flip that record to 93 wins and 69 losses. Lovullo’s D-backs claimed the top Wild Card spot in the National League and remained competitive throughout the season, even as center fielder A.J. Pollock missed nearly two months on the disabled list and Shelby Miller missed nearly the entire season due to Tommy John surgery.
Lovullo received 18 first-place votes and 111 voting points in the BBWAA’s weighted voting system, topping runner-up Dave Roberts of the Dodgers (five first-place votes, 55 points) and third-place finisher Bud Black of the Rockies (three first-place votes, 43 points) in the voting. Brewers skipper Craig Counsell finished fourth and took three first-place votes, while recently dismissed Nationals manager Dusty Baker finished fifth and received one first-place vote. A full breakdown of the voting can be seen here.
Molitor’s Twins became the first club in Major League history to go from a 100-loss season to a playoff berth when they secured the second American League Wild Card spot. The Twins surprisingly led the American League Central for much of the first half before sliding into the middle of pack and looking to have largely fallen out of contention at the non-waiver trade deadline. Minnesota dealt closer Brandon Kintzler to the Nationals and left-hander Jaime Garcia to the Yankees after dropping six of seven games (while the red-hot Indians and Royals soared to the top of the division), but Molitor’s club proved to be resilient.
From Aug. 1 through season’s end, the Twins went 35-24 as a number of their young talents surged in the second half. Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco and Eddie Rosario surged over the final couple of months, helping the Twins to fend off an Angels club that remained in contention for a Wild Card spot into the last week of the season.
Molitor landed 18 first-place votes and finished with 112 points in the BBWAA’s voting system, as can be seen in the full breakdown of the voting. Indians skipper Terry Francona finished a close second with 11 first-place votes and 90 total points in the balloting. Astros skipper A.J. Hinch picked up the 30th and final first-place vote, finishing third in the balloting with 56 points. Former Yankees manager Joe Girardi was a frequent recipient of second- and third-place votes, rounding out the ballot with 12 points and a fourth-place finish.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Good for Lovullo!
While it may have taken him a while to be given an opportunity, he really didn’t disappoint.
I was initially bummed Lovullo didn’t get the Twins manager job when he was interviewed, but it worked out great for everybody.
it’s s a well deserved win even though gun to my head you asked me who was managing the dbacks this year…. I wouldn’t have had a clue.
I have high hopes for Cora, but the Sox never should have let Luvollo go.
Louvello would have taken the Sox job in a heartbeat too. Thats what stings for them
Lovullo even showcased his leadership skills when he filled in for the recovering Farrell. Sox mishandled Lovullo, but made a good choice in Cora.
Ditto.
I expected Black and Hinch, but both well deserved
I don’t see how anyone can argue the final tabulation?
Good, solid choices…
Roberts should have got it
well, I think roberts should get a special award for not ringing puig’s neck on a daily basis.
When you lose 15 of 16 games with a team that has a combined payroll of $250MM, you don’t deserve any awards
Solid choices for league MOY. But, Hinch should get the MLB manger of the year award. If such an award existed.
This is MLB Manager of the Year
Pretty sure they were trying to say that there should be an award that is rated higher than each league having a MOY. Like Luvullo as NL, Molitor as AL but the best in all of baseball regardless of league: Hinch.
At least that’s the way I read it.
If that was it wouldn’t he have just beaten Molitor out for AL MOY?
In our eyes, yes. In that poster’s eyes, I have no idea. That was just my interpretation of what they meant.
As expected. Funny what going from a complete unmitigated disaster one year to making the playoffs the next year can do for you.
Right!? And this goes for both teams.
To help a team bounce back from the dismal 100+ loss season with no real additions to the roster… that’s pretty amazing. Molitor is a great choice in the AL.
I really feel like Counsell deserved more love here. No one expected the Brewers to be above 500, let alone almost win the division.
Kind of hard to win MOY not making the playoffs
But why? I think it’s a little more impressive to get a team with one all star above .500 than get a team that spent big in the offseason to not choke.
Congrats Torey Lovullo! We miss you here in Boston. It’s a shame the Red Sox let you walk.
Both deserving. Of course, selfishly I wanted Hinch to win it but I totally see why you’d give it to Molitor.
I was so hoping it was Baker and Girardi
Hinch was robbed. Molitor is WAY overrated. The success of the Twins had NOTHING to do with his managing and ALL to do with the overall maturing of the players on the team. Were he the TRUE AL MOY, the team wouldn’t have folded at the deadline, necessitating the trade off of Garcia and upper management, by their actions, throwing in the towel. Instead of being extended, Molitor should have been canned; he’s more suited to a role as a coach rather than a manager. Of course, the organization didn’t have the guts to pull the plug on “Mollie” following the team’s rebound and Wild Card finish due to a favorable season ending schedule and the success of the teams developing young talent facing a collection of September minor league call-up pitchers.
Not true at all
Did Buxton, Rosario and Polanco surge offensively in the second half? = YES
Did Escobar up his game when Sano went down to injury? = YES
Did the Twins have an easy second half schedule? = YES
Were the Twins Scheduled against mostly losing teams down the stretch? = YES
After September 1 don’t teams call up minor league pitchers to flesh out their rosters for the stretch run and so they can see them against MLB batters? = YES
Does Molitor NOT know and understand the pitchers in his bullpen? = YES
Does Molitor OFTEN use the WRONG reliever at the WRONG time? = YES
Does Molitor USUALLY wait for hits as opposed to manufacturing runs? YES
These don’t sound like the credentials of the AL MOY !!!!
Do you think Molitor asked the front office to trade away his closer and newly acquired pitcher at the deadline?
Why would a manager push a lot of buttons to score runs when the team already ranked pretty highly in the runs-scored department?
I agree with you that his pitching decisions were often questionable, but don’t you think that he had some influence on his young players that they rode into the playoffs? Dozier has gone on record saying that Molitor is a phenomenal manager.
As for the schedule, the Twins had a pretty difficult schedule through June and July, which could have buried them, but they were at least able to hold their own.
If I am not mistaken, don’t the managers vote for manager of the year?
So, both of the finalists for the Twins vacancy a couple years ago win a MOY.