The Manager of the Year award is often so much more than simply the manager of the team with the best record in baseball. It can credit a manager for getting the most of a underwhelming roster, one who exceeded expectations, or one who led their team through a tumultuous season and still found success.
The 2022 Manager of the Year crop is represented by multiple different examples of how to lead a team. There’s the ever-consistent Dave Roberts, who has been at the forefront of a dominant NL West run for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
There’s Buck Showalter, who led the New York Mets to a 100-win season in his first year with the team. But on the flip side, there’s Brandon Hyde, whose Baltimore Orioles won just 83 games, but were expected to be one of baseball’s worst teams.
Here, we’ll break down all six candidates for Manager of the Year in the American and National League before the winners are revealed next week.
The winners for this award will be announced on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 3:00 p.m. PT on MLB Network.
American League Manager of the Year Finalists
Terry Francona, Cleveland Guardians
The Guardians handily won the AL Central in 2022 with a 92-70 record, whomping the disappointing Chicago White Sox by 11 games. Francona has been with the Guardians since 2013, and has already won two of these awards in that 10-year span.
He has made the playoffs six times in 10 years, making the World Series and losing to the Chicago Cubs in 2016. Francona is one of baseball’s elite managers, and being named a finalist yet again is a testament to his abilities.
Brandon Hyde, Baltimore Orioles
In his first three years with the Orioles, Hyde never came close to finishing with a .500 record. His 25-35 record in the shortened 2020 season was by far the closest he got. Heading into 2022, the Orioles’ win total was set at just 62.5, meaning they were projected to potentially lose 100 games.
Instead, the Orioles won 83 and were just three games away from making the postseason. They even did this despite trading Trey Mancini away at the trade deadline. Hyde had the full buy-in from the Orioles clubhouse and would be a more than deserving winner.
Scott Servais, Seattle Mariners
The Mariners were the darlings of baseball in 2021, but when they failed to reach the playoffs, they made big moves to ensure it wouldn’t happen again. Behind Servais, the Mariners won 90 games and the Wild Card round against the Toronto Blue Jays.
And while the record states they got swept by the Houston Astros, they put together arguably the most competitive sweep effort in MLB history.
National League Manager of the Year Finalists
Dave Roberts, Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers did not have the playoff success they were expecting or hoping for, losing to the San Diego Padres in the NLDS. However, Manager of the Year is a regular season award, and no team had a better regular season than the Dodgers.
They won 111 games — five more than any other team — and did so without their ace (Walker Buehler). Roberts has had unprecedented success leading the Dodgers, making the playoffs in all seven years and winning the NL West in six of them.
Buck Showalter, New York Mets
The Mets went all out building their 2022 roster and determined that Showalter was the right man to lead them. They turned out to be right, as the Mets won 101 games, tied for third-most in all of baseball this season.
Like the Dodgers, they did not go far in the playoffs. However, Showalter’s debut season in New York is easily one of the team’s best seasons in recent memory.
Brian Snitker, Atlanta Braves
The only thing better than winning 101 games in the NL East is winning 101 games and holding the tiebreaker to win the division. Snitker formulated yet another late-season comeback to steal the division away from the Mets.
The Braves had the fourth-best run differential in baseball despite an ugly start to the season. But Snitker has shown he can adjust with the best of them.