Handicapping the 2007 Manager of the Year Award in Major League Baseball

The Major League Baseball Manager of the Year Award has been given out annually since 1983 to the skipper in both leagues that have been deemed to have done the best job guiding their teams that season. The Sporting News gave out the award prior to 1983, beginning in 1936 when Yankee manager Joe McCarthy took the honors. The two current managers that have garnered the Manager of the Year Award the most times are the Cardinals' Tony LaRussa and the Braves' Bobby Cox, who have each won four times. The Manager of the Year Award for 2007 is up for grabs, with perhaps some history about to be made, as no skipper from the Mets, Diamondbacks, Indians, Brewers, or Devil Rays has ever been named the winner, but could be this year.

The American League Manager of the Year should come down to a race between Eric Wedge of the Indians and Joe Torre of the Yankees. Torre has the Yankees four games in front in the wild card chase after a horrible beginning to the season, when injuries to key players hamstrung their efforts. However, since the All-Star break, Torre's Yankees are playing .667 baseball, having gone 38-19 as of this writing and pulling away from both the Tigers and pesky Mariners for that last playoff spot. New York has an outside shot of overtaking the Red Sox, who had an incredible fast start but have cooled off since, but that would be asking a lot at this point in the season. The fact that New York has the highest payroll in the sport could hurt Torre's chances, as many voters figure the Yankees should be in the hunt every year no matter who is at the helm. Torre has the won the award twice before with New York, in 1996 and again in 1998.

Wedge has the Tribe going 25-13 since August 1st to wrest control of the American League Central from the defending AL champion Tigers. Cleveland is 41-21 within their own division, a huge reason that they turned a one game deficit as August began into a six game lead six weeks later. If Cleveland does indeed make the playoffs, as appears likely barring a monumental letdown, Wedge, in his fifth campaign as the head of the Indians, will more than likely be named the AL Manager of the Year. The Red Sox leader, Terry Francona, will also receive some consideration for the job he has done, as will the Angels Mike Scioscia, who has seen his squad pull steadily away from the upstart Mariners in the last couple of weeks.

In the senior circuit the Manager of the Year Award is much harder to handicap. There are at least five good candidates, and where their clubs finish the season will go a long way in determining who wins it. The Phillies would need to garner the wild card bid for Charlie Manuel to grab this kudo, having seen his team depleted all year by injuries to both position players and the pitching staff. Whoever urges their team to victory in the National League Central will perhaps have the inside track to the award, whether it's Lou Piniella with the Cubbies, Ned Yost with the Brewers, or Tony LaRussa with the Cards, which is seeming more unlikely with each passing day as they start to give back all the ground they gained.

The Diamondbacks were not expected to contend this season in the West, not after posting a 76-86 record in 2006, but manager Bob Melvin has them in front of the Padres by a couple games with three weeks to go in the regular season. His young team has exceeded all expectations, making Melvin the favorite for this award by perhaps a smidgen. Bud Black, in his first year as manager of San Diego, also deserves to be included in any Manager of the Year conversations; if the season ended today, the Padres would be the wild card, with their pitching carrying a lack-luster lineup. My hunch is that you will see a pair of teams' leaders bring the initial Manager of the Year Award to their franchise- Eric Wedge of the Indians and Bob Melvin of the D'Backs