Awards season is upon us this MLB offseason. Just last week, we saw the Washington Nationals be crowned World Series champions, but now it’s time for the individual awards. All finalists for Rookie of the Year, Manager of the Year, Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards for both the American and National League have been announced and will be revealed beginning November 11th. Now it’s time for the End of the Bench’s predictions for each award. Here, we are going to look at the Manager of the Year award in the National League.
NL Manager of the Year:
Craig Counsell, MIL
Mike Shildt, STL
Brian Snitker, ATL
I’ll start this one off saying this, how was Davey Martinez not a finalist? Very surprising. Anyways…
Much like the AL race, NL Manager of the Year can go to anyone of these three finalists. Counsell has managed the Brewers since 2015, with his first two years being a little shaky. Over the last three seasons, Counsel has led the Brewers to a 271-216 record, including two consecutive postseason berths in the last two years. It also helps when you have reigning MVP and one of the best hitters in the game right now Christian Yelich in your lineup. Even after Yelich went down due to injury in early September, the Brewers continued winning. Counsell knows his players and they have shown they will go to battle for him. The Cardinals named Shildt the interim manager after firing Mike Matheny last year. He ended 2018 with a 41-28 record, good enough to finish 3rd in the division. The Cardinals’ brass obviously liked what they saw and extended Shildt, giving him the managerial position. 2019 was expected to be a tough year in the NL Central with the Cubs, Cardinals and Brewers all capable of taking the division. However, it was Shildt’s Redbirds who were able to edge out Maddon and Counsell, winning 91 games and being crowned division champs. Then we have Brian Snitker, who like Shildt was initially just the interim manager after the Braves fired Fredi Gonzalez in 2016. Atlanta liked what Snitker brought to the table, naming him their manager after the 2016 season. Although the Braves underperformed in 2017, they have since won back-to-back NL East championships, with Snitker also being the 2018 NL Manager of the Year. The last manager to win the award in back-to-back years? Bobby Cox in ‘04 and ‘05 managing, you guessed it, the Atlanta Braves. Can Snitker follow in his footsteps?
Again, I can see any one of these guys winning the award. Making my prediction, I’m gonna go with the guy who helped turn the 3rd place team in 2018 back into division champions in 2019.
Winner: Mike Shildt, STL
