AL Manager of the Year; Marlins’ Mattingly wins BBWAA award in NL.
Skippers for Rays (AL), Marlins (NL) are named Managers of the Year
Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash won the AL Manager of the Year award on Tuesday night, and Miami’s Don Mattingly took home the NL honor.
Long regarded as one of baseball’s bright young minds, Cash guided Tampa Bay to an Al-best 40-20 record during the pandemic-shortened season. But he was roundly criticized for pulling ace left-hander Blake Snell in the sixth inning of the decisive Game 6 in the World Series against the champion Dodgers.
Voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America concluded before the beginning of the playoffs. Rick Renteria, who was let go by the White Sox after the team made the postseason for the first time since 2008, finished second, followed by Toronto’s Charlie Montoyo.
Mattingly guided the Marlins to their first playoff appearance since 2003 despite dealing with a COVID -19 outbreak that paused their season and ravaged the roster.
The Marlins’ 31-29 record was Mattingly ’s first winning season in his fifth year with the club.
Mattingly, the first Manager of the Year for the Marlins since Joe Girardi in 2006, was the AL MVP with the New York Yankees in 1985. He is the fifth person to win both MVP and Manager of the Year.
“They’re just different. The first one feels personal and this one feels more like a team thing,” Mattingly said, “and that’s why I’m proud of it because we’ve struggled for a couple years and for us to move forward is important, and I think this is a sign that we’re heading in that direction.”
San Diego’s Jayce Tingler finished second in voting, and David Ross of the Chicago Cubs was third.
Mets: Steven Cohen promises splashes of cash Mets fans expect from his billions — within reason. “If I don’t win a World Series in the next three to five years,” he said Tuesday, “I would consider that slightly disappointing.” Four days after buying the Mets from the Wilpon and Katz families in a deal that valued the team at a baseball record $2.42 billion, Cohen unveiled his philosophy to turn around perennial underachievers he promised will act “like a major market team. “Are we going to act like drunken sailors in the marketplace? No,” he said. “I want to be thoughtful. You can spend a lot of money today and then tie up your team in bad contracts for the next five years.” His first decision was to bring back Sandy Alderson as team president. Alderson said Luis Rojas probably will return for a second season as manager.
Red Sox: Alex Cora wants to make one thing clear — he deserved to have his dream job as manager of the Boston Red Sox taken away earlier this year. He also is eager to prove he is worthy of his second chance to direct the team he led to a World Series title in 2018. Cora was introduced as the new Red Sox manager on Tuesday, just 10 days after his one-season suspension for his role in the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme during their 2017 championship run came to an end. Cora was Houston’s bench coach prior to being hired by the Red Sox in November 2017, and promptly led Boston to the 2018 championship after a franchiserecord 108 regular-season wins. Now he’s back armed with the task of rebuilding both his reputation and a team whose roster looks totally different from the one he previously oversaw. “It’s been a tough year,” Cora said Tuesday. “I put this organization in a tough spot. And for that, I’m sorry.”
Notes: Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa blew out a tire on the grey Lexus he was driving in a collision with a curb that left the vehicle smoking when he was arrested on misdemeanor DUI charges in February, according to an affidavit filed by the Arizona Department of Public Safety. La Russa was charged in late October by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office after tests taken the night of his arrest showed his blood alcohol concentration was .095 — above the legal limit of .08. He has pleaded not guilty. ... The Pirates named former big-league catcher John Baker their director of coaching and player development.
Obituary: Ray Daviault, a pitcher who played his only season in the major leagues as a member of the 1962 expansion New York Mets, has died. He was 86. Daviault died Friday in a pool accident at his home. Daviault, a right-hander, was 1-5 with a 6.22 ERA in 36 games for the Mets, including three starts. He pitched two hitless innings in the Mets’ first home game, a 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh at the Polo Grounds.