Managers take a lot of heat over the course of a season, but there's little doubt that a good skipper can be the difference between success and failure for a club. So which of them had the biggest impact in…
MLB.com analyzed the cases for the six finalists nominated for the 2026 Manager of the Year Award ahead of the official announcement on Tuesday. The American League nominees are Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays, Chad Tracy of the Boston Red Sox, and Will Venable of the Chicago White Sox. The National League finalists include Don Mattingly of the Philadelphia Phillies, Pat Murphy of the Milwaukee Brewers, and Walt Weiss of the Atlanta Braves.
Five of the six nominees were not finalists in 2025, and both Tracy and Mattingly were promoted from interim roles midseason. Cash led the Rays to an AL-best 98-64 record, while Venable guided the White Sox to 84 wins following three straight 100-loss seasons. In the NL, Murphy led Milwaukee to an MLB-best 103 wins, Weiss won 94 games and the NL East in Atlanta, and Mattingly took Philadelphia to the wild card.
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