Venable and Murphy Win 2026 Manager of the Year Awards
The short version: Will Venable of the White Sox won 2026 AL Manager of the Year, edging Kevin Cash 15 first-place votes to 12. Pat Murphy won the NL award for the third straight year, making him the first manager in either league to win three in a row. Voting happens before the postseason, so neither the Rays’ pennant nor the Brewers’ World Series title counted.
Did Will Venable Deserve AL Manager of the Year?
Yes, and I don’t think it’s close as a story, even if it was close in the voting. Two years ago the White Sox lost 121 games, the most by any team since 1900. Last year, in Venable’s first season, they went 60-102. This year they won 84 games and became the first team in MLB history to make the playoffs after back-to-back 100-loss seasons.
Venable got 15 of 30 first-place votes and 111 points. Kevin Cash got 12 first-place votes and 98 points. Chad Tracy got the other three first-place votes and finished third.
What impresses me most is that Venable didn’t get there with a roster full of stars. He got there by developing a young core: Kyle Teel, Colson Montgomery, Braden Montgomery, Munetaka Murakami, and a pitching staff full of bounce-back stories. Then the White Sox swept Houston on the road in the Wild Card Series and took a 2-0 lead on Cleveland before the bats went cold. We broke down that ALDS exit on our Episode 375 recap.
Venable is the first White Sox manager to win the award since Ozzie Guillén in 2005.
Did Kevin Cash get robbed?
I can see the argument. The Rays were projected to finish fifth in the AL East and had about a one-in-four chance of making the playoffs on Opening Day. Cash took them to 98 wins, the division title, the top seed in the American League, and eventually the pennant.
But Manager of the Year has always rewarded the biggest jump from expectations, and nobody jumped further than the White Sox. Cash already has two of these. I’d call this one a coin flip that went the right way for the bigger story.
What About Chad Tracy and the Red Sox?
As a Red Sox fan, this is the one I keep coming back to. Tracy wasn’t even with the big league club on Opening Day. He was managing Triple-A Worcester when Boston moved on from Alex Cora. On June 25, the Red Sox were 32-46, the worst winning percentage in the American League. Then they went 32-5.
A 32-5 run is absurd. Three writers gave Tracy their first-place vote, and I understand why. The knock on him is simply that he didn’t have the job all year, which is the same reason Don Mattingly’s case in the NL was hard to fully reward.
If Tracy is the Red Sox manager going forward, that stretch says a lot about how he connects with a clubhouse. The roster still needs a right-handed power bat, but I’m a lot more comfortable with who’s running the dugout than I was in June.
How Did Pat Murphy Win Three Straight Manager of the Year Awards?
Murphy is the first manager in either league to win three in a row. He took over in 2024 and won the division in his first season. Last year the Brewers won a franchise-record 97 games. This year they won 103, the best record in baseball, and then won the first World Series in franchise history, though the vote was cast before October.
He got 20 of 30 first-place votes. Walt Weiss finished second with seven.
What makes Murphy special to me is that Milwaukee never has the payroll to outspend anybody, so he has to manage the whole game. The Brewers bunt, they run, they move runners, and they play matchups. The best example we saw live was sitting Christian Yelich against a tough lefty in NLCS Game 1 so his captain was ready to pinch-hit against the right-handed bullpen later. That’s managing nine innings, not just the first matchup.
What about Walt Weiss and Don Mattingly?
Walt Weiss won the NL East in his first year in Atlanta at age 62. The Braves went 20-6 right after the April 7 brawl with the Angels, the one where Weiss tackled Jorge Soler, and never gave up the division lead.
Don Mattingly took over a 9-19 Phillies team in late April. They had the fourth-best record in baseball the rest of the way and grabbed the last Wild Card on the final day of the season.
Both are great stories. Neither one was beating a guy who won 103 games for a small-market team.
What Does This Tell Us About Building a Winner?
Look at the two winners: a rebuilding White Sox team and a Brewers team that never has a top payroll. Both won by developing players and managing well, not by buying their way there. That’s a big part of why I keep saying the salary cap fight matters. When small-market teams do it right, they deserve a system that lets them keep the players they develop.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won 2026 AL Manager of the Year?
Will Venable of the Chicago White Sox, with 15 of 30 first-place votes and 111 points.
Who won 2026 NL Manager of the Year?
Pat Murphy of the Milwaukee Brewers, with 20 of 30 first-place votes.
Has anyone ever won three straight Manager of the Year awards?
Pat Murphy is the first manager in either league to win the award three years in a row.
Does the postseason count in Manager of the Year voting?
No. BBWAA voters submit their ballots before the playoffs start, so only the regular season counts.
Who were the 2026 Manager of the Year finalists?
In the AL: Will Venable, Kevin Cash and Chad Tracy. In the NL: Pat Murphy, Walt Weiss and Don Mattingly.
Where can I hear more?
We’ll talk awards on Rounding Third, live Sunday and Thursday nights on YouTube and Facebook. Read more in The Rounding Third Rundown, or explore every show on the Rounding Third Media Network.
