Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt takes home the award.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro finished second in voting for Manager of the Year, with Cleveland skipper Stephen Vogt taking home the award in his first season.
Quatraro improved the Royals by 30 wins in his second year at the helm, winning 86 games and earning the first post-season appearance in club history since their title in 2015. The Royals were just the third team to ever reach the playoffs the year after losing 100+ games.
Quatraro received just two first-place votes – from Baltimore’s Roch Kubatko and Rangers writer Stefan Stevenson. Joe Posnanski and Pete Grathoff voted for the Kansas City chapter, and each voted for Vogt over Quatraro. Three writers – Maury Brown of Forbes, Melissa Lockard of The Athletic, and Jesus Linares of Pelota Brava – left Quatraro off their ballot completely.
In the National League, Pat Murphy became the first Brewers skipper to ever win Manager of the Year honors with Mike Shildt of the Padres finishing second, and Carlos Mendoza of the Mets finishing third.
The only skipper in Royals history to take Manager of the Year honors was Tony Peña, who won in 2003. He would resign about 18 months later, after an 8-25 start in 2005, so perhaps the award isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.