Melvin honored:
The A’s skipper wins a Manager of the Year award for a third time.
Twice before, Bob Melvin had earned Manager of the Year honors from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He did so again Tuesday following Melvin’s toughest task to date — taking the A’s and their depleted rotation into the postseason.
Melvin, 57, beat out Boston’s Alex Cora and Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash for the American League manager award. In his seventh full season with Oakland, Melvin helped the team to 97 wins, the A’s most since 2002, despite injuries to the entire projected rotation and the lowest Opening Day payroll in the majors.
“This was a group effort, probably more than I’ve ever been a part of,” Melvin said on MLB Network after the award was announced. “To accomplish what we did takes a lot of buy-in ... that allows us to accomplish what we did against all odds.”
Melvin received 18 first-place votes to Cora’s seven and Cash’s five, and his overall point total was 121 to Cora’s 79. Melvin also won Manager of the Year recognition with the A’s in 2012, when unheralded Oakland won the AL West title on the final day of the season, and in 2007 with Arizona, when the Diamondbacks won a league-best 90 games.
The A’s entered 2018 with few expectations after three consecutive last-place finishes, and promptly lost starting rotation candidates Jharel Cotton and A.J. Puk to Tommy John surgery. Opening Day starter Kendall Graveman was largely ineffective and also required Tommy John surgery, as did right-hander Daniel Gossett. Left-hander Sean Manaea later required shoulder surgery, ending his season in August.
“In the beginning, we were taken a little aback, losing so many guys so early,” Melvin said on a conference call. “Later on, it was a badge of honor.”
“I don’t know if there’s a more difficult task than what we gave him this year,” general manager David Forst said. “A lot’s been written about our starting rotation disappearing after Opening Day, and all these guys came in and contributed — it’s the job of the manager to take all these guys we give him and create a winner, and that’s what he did this year.”
Oakland finished with the fourth-best record in baseball and claimed the AL’s second wild-card spot before losing to the Yankees in the wild-card game.
“We’ve got a confidence level now,” Melvin said, “and success to build on behind it.”
In Cora’s first season as a manager, the Red Sox won a major-league-high 108 games and won the World Series. Cash’s Rays won 90 games despite losing many highprofile players in trades over the past year; the team’s “bullpenning” technique helped fuel a late-season surge that nearly put Tampa Bay into the postseason.
“All three of the guys up for the award were deserving of it,” Melvin said.
“The Red Sox had an incredible year and Tampa competed with us as far as doing the most with the least,” Forst said. “But I think the personality of this team stood out, with Bob’s track record of getting the most out of people and putting players in the best position to succeed.”
Melvin, who is from Menlo Park and played at Cal and for the Giants, was named the Sporting News AL Manager of the Year in October. Two weeks ago, he was given a contract extension through 2021 with a team option for 2022.
Since the award began in 1983, eight managers have earned honors three or more times, with Melvin joining Dusty Baker, Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa, Jim Leyland, Joe Maddon, Lou Piniella and Buck Showalter.
Melvin and La Russa (1988, 1992) are the only A’s managers to receive BBWAA recognition.