American League Manager of the Year

Submitted By: Dan

The postseason baseball awards will be announced after the conclusion of the World Series, but the selections have, for the most part, already been made.  LeRoy in the Afternoon will begin announcing its picks today and continue until the conclusion of the MLB Postseason.  All picks have been discussed, although not all are unanimous among the LeRoy Crew.  Readers should feel free to voice their opinions, anger, and frustration regarding the picks.  We will begin in the American League.

Today's Pick:  American League Manager of the Year

There could be a variety of choices for American League Manager of the Year this season.  Some would be partial to Joe Maddon, whose Tampa Bay Rays finished the 2010 season with the best record in the American League and an AL East division crown.  Others may be more inclined to pick Joe Girardi, who feel that his managing of the New York Yankees in September made them better prepared for the Postseason and, thus, better prepared to repeat in the World Series.  Ron Gardenhire of the Minnesota Twins always seems to make something out of nothing in the cold and frozen north and is a worthy candidate.  One may even go with Cito Gaston and his surprising Toronto Blue Jays.

But the best answer for AL Manager of the Year is Ron Washington.  Washington's Rangers provided a typical high-octane offense but managed to couple it with strong pitching from former closer C. J. Wilson, Nippon Professional Baseball star Cobly Lewis and midseason acquisition Cliff Lee. Washington seemed to survive everything this year, from the troubled sale of his team to a cocaine scandal. It helped that the rest of the division was terrible, but Washington earned the title. He's an easy choice.

The sale of the team was probably the biggest bump in the road for Washington.  The on-field product was solid and Washington's failed drug test went off the radar like a blip during the Cold War.  Tom Hicks, owner of the financially-strapped Hicks Sports Group (which includes the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars), wanted to sell the team to a group headed by Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan for a reported $525 million.  However, team creditors (who gained control of the franchise after Hicks declared bankruptcy) refused to sell to Ryan because a second group of potential buyers had offered more money than Ryan's group.  It is easy to perceive the sale from the side of the creditors.  Hicks wants to sell the team to Ryan out of some sense of failure.  Ryan, a former Ranger, had previously taken a front office position with Texas and took control of the reins of the organization, which had seem doomed since the signing of IF Alex Rodriguez in 2001.  Ryan immediately changed the focus of the organization to pitching; namely abandoning the 100-pitch pitch count and preaching stamina and accumulating innings pitched to his minor league starting pitchers.  After lengthy court proceedings, a federal judge eventually sided with the creditors over Hicks.  The sale eventually went to auction, which is exceptionally rare in MLB. 

The last time this happened was in 2001 with the Montreal Expos.  The Expos were never purchased, and eventually became funded by the 29 other teams in MLB.  This culminated in the eventual contraction of the Expos and the relocation of MLB's 30th franchise to Washington, D. C.  Given the struggles and distractions surrounding the team and Washington's ability to guide his team through all of this turmoil, it is hard to choose any other candidate for AL Manager of the Year.

Note:  With Strolling Nolan still squarely in the picture in Texas, a winning Rangers team may not be a surprising thing to see in the future.  In fact, ten years from now, they may be the ultimate American League powerhouse.

Coming Tomorrow:  American League Rookie of the Year