AL Manager of the Year

Well, let's continue with the awards discussion...

This one I'm really curious on how you'll all respond.

Likely top canidates:

Joe Girardi, New York Yankees
Ron Washington, Texas Rangers
Mike Scioscia, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Don Wakamatsu, Seattle Mariners (Ehhhh...)
Jim Leyland, Detroit Tigers

 

The list should begin and end with Mike Scioscia...name another first-place manager who had to start as many pitchers as he has.

 

Ron Washington, they love those who get up off the deck.

 

The Angels overcame the early-season death of their top pitching prospect and have given those starts to 30-year-old rookie Matt Palmer (9-1) and 21-year-old Sean O'Sullivan (3-2).

Their former MVP has missed about 50 games and yet, last month, all nine regulars were hitting over .300, which hadn't been done since 1934.

The choice is obvious, BYH be damned.

 

Trey Hillman in a landslide.

 

Joe Mauer. His stats are that good.

 

Agreed. That doesn't even cover everything that the Angels had to overcome this season.

The only reason Adenhart was even in the majors was because injuries had already hit the rotation hard. John Lackey opened the season on the DL and didn't make his first start until May 16. Kelvim Escobar ended up with one start for the season (though that was kind of predictable).

The Angels also had to remodel the bullpen on the run when Scot Shields broke down and Jose Arredondo flopped. In addition to the time Vlad Guerrero missed, Torii Hunter was also out for over a month after carrying much of the load the first half of the season.

If they hold on to win the AL West after all that, Scioscia deserves it.

 

How many people had the Texas Rangers doing anything this season? The owner is trying to sell the team, they have one of the lower payrolls in all of baeball and they play in triple digit weather for most of the summer.
They have only one player hitting over .300 and have had to get through a Josh Hamilton injury that caused him to miss most of the first half. The Rangers have two rookies in the starting rotation and another seeing significant time out of the bullpen. Still, they are solid contenders in the A.L. West pennant race and in the wild card.
And they are 7-2 vs Boston, a respectable 4-5 against the Yankees and 9-3 against the Angels.

 

Washington was my pick when we had an awards thread in July. He wouldn't be a bad choice, either. Maybe it should go to the manager of the AL West winner since both teams have had their share of adversity.

 

You be damned too!!!!

Hey I said last week I thought he should be the AL MOY. One can be hilariously overrated and still be the MOY.

I can tell you who won't win it: Ron Gardenhire.

 

I think Washington gets it, even if the Rangers don't win the wild card.

 

Interesting that there are three AL West managers in there. So, if you accept the list--any chance the western vote is split and Girardi heads out the backdoor with the cheese?