IBWAA Names Maddon, Banister Managers of the Year

I’ve got to be honest, I thought the NL vote would be a lot closer. It likely would have been had the voting taken place after the playoffs, when Terry Collins’ Mets summarily dismissed Joe Maddon’s Cubs. As it stands though, Maddon captured 111 of 177 (62.71%) first-place votes and was named on 170 ballots (94.44%) in all. Collins received 39 first place votes, while Mike Matheny captured 17 and Clint Hurdle 6.

1st Place: Joe Maddon, Chicago Cubs – 700 points
2
nd Place: Terry Collins, New York Mets – 406 points
3rd Place
: Mike Matheny, St. Louis Cardinals – 227

My ballot had Maddon, Collins, and Hurdle. I think it’s telling that Matheny led the team with MLB’s best record and still ended up so far behind two other guys. It’s a good sign, and one I hope is displayed in tonight’s BBWAA results as well.

The AL vote was quite a bit closer, as Banister received 60 first-place votes (34.09%) and was only named on 124 of 176 ballots (70.45%). A.J. Hinch’s 43 votes lagged behind a bit, but he clearly made up ground in terms of total ballots to finish only 25 points back. John Gibbons (33), Ned Yost (17), and Paul Molitor (13) filled out the rest of the voting.

1st Place: Jeff Banister, Texas Rangers – 440 points
2nd Place: A.J. Hinch, Houston Astros – 415
3rd Place: John Gibbons, Toronto Blue Jays – 271

Because I don’t hate bunts, I went with Ned Yost as the top skipper in the AL. There are certainly varied opinions on this, but I see a great deal of value in a guy managing expectations — not to mention bouncing back from the disappointment last year — of a team that was expected to compete for a World Series again. I had Gibbons 2nd and Hinch 3rd.

I think we’re going to see tonight’s official awards shake out a little differently on a couple levels. I’d guess Maddon still wins but that it’s closer in terms of points, and I think we’ll also see Yost getting a lot more votes too. You can tune in to MLB Network at 6pm EST to see whether the Cubs take home another trophy.

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