Cleveland no longer stands alone atop baseball’s manager award mountain.
Will Venable of the Chicago White Sox was voted American League Manager of the Year on Tuesday night, and that pushed Chicago into a tie with the Guardians for the most Manager of the Year wins by any franchise. MLB highlighted the milestone right after the announcement, noting, “The @WhiteSox join Cleveland atop this leaderboard of teams who have won the most Manager of the Year Awards!”
The White Sox and Guardians now each have six. Cleveland’s total comes from Eric Wedge in 2007, Terry Francona in 2013, 2016 and 2022, and Stephen Vogt in 2024 and 2025.
Chicago’s winners are Tony La Russa in 1983, Jeff Torborg in 1990, Gene Lamont in 1993, Jerry Manuel in 2000, Ozzie Guillén in 2005 and now Venable. Nine other clubs are tied for third with four apiece.
Venable didn’t run away with the vote, either. He finished with 111 points and 15 of the 30 first-place votes, while Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash picked up 12 first-place votes and 98 points. Boston’s Chad Tracy finished third with 47 points.
The case for Venable was straightforward: he guided Chicago to an 84-78 record and became the first manager in history to take a team to the playoffs after back to back 100 loss seasons.
That result lands a little harder in Cleveland because Stephen Vogt had a chance to put the Guardians alone in first place on the all-time list. Instead, he wasn’t even among the finalists this year. Vogt finished fourth with nine points, getting one second-place vote and six third-place votes.
The debate around that outcome is obvious. Cleveland finished one game ahead of Venable’s White Sox to win its third straight AL Central title. The Guardians were 70-70 and three games out on Sept. 3 before going 15-6 the rest of the way, and they did it with the lowest payroll in baseball and an offense that ranked near the bottom of the league.
Then the two clubs met again in the ALDS, where Vogt’s team erased an 0-2 deficit and won the series in five games, the first comeback of that kind in franchise history. But postseason results never entered the voting, since ballots are turned in before October begins.
Even with that backdrop, Venable’s achievement stands on its own. Taking a club that had lost more than 100 games in consecutive seasons and turning it into a playoff team is a serious feat, and the voters treated it that way. At the same time, Cleveland’s standard has gotten so high that three straight division titles still weren’t enough to get its manager into the top three.
The record chase isn’t finished. Vogt remains under contract beyond 2027, and Cleveland is expected to open next season as the AL Central favorite again.
If the Guardians keep stacking wins under him, they could reclaim the record soon enough. For now, though, the White Sox are right there with them.
In Other News...
Guardians Face A Tough Call On A Top Prospect Soon
Jaison Chourio has climbed steadily through the Guardians minor league system and is now at Triple-A, putting him on the doorstep of a decision Cleveland has been preparing for. The organization is expected to add him to the 40-man roster soon, a move aimed at keeping him out of the Rule 5 Draft and preserving one of the more intriguing young players in the system.
For the Guardians, it is the kind of roster call that comes with both urgency and patience. Chourio is viewed as a top prospect, but he still appears to be about a year away from making a regular impact in the majors, which means Cleveland has to balance protecting his future with the realities of a crowded roster right now. [Read more 🡒]
Former Guardians Prospect Gets Another Shot With A Contender
Christian Cairo is getting another fresh start, this time with a contender that has a long track record of turning depth pieces into useful big league options. The former Guardians prospect was claimed off waivers by the Dodgers from the Mets, adding another stop to a pro career that has already taken him through four organizations over seven seasons without a major league appearance.
For Cleveland fans, Cairo remains one of those familiar names who never quite got the call despite sticking around the game and keeping himself in the mix. The Dodgers made a second roster move the same day by re-signing infielder Tyler Fitzgerald to a minor league deal, a reminder of how quickly the margins can shift for players trying to stay positioned for a breakthrough. [Read more 🡒]
Guardians May Have Another Future Core Infielder On The Rise
Welbyn Franciscas rapid climb has given the Guardians another name to watch in the middle infield pipeline. The 20-year-old switch-hitting infielder from the Dominican Republic signed with Cleveland in 2023 and reached Double-A Akron this season, then backed up that progress with a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League. That combination was enough to land him at No. 98 on Bleacher Reports Top 100 prospect list, a notable step for a player still early in his professional career.
For a Cleveland system that has long valued homegrown infield talent, Franciscas rise adds to the sense that the organization may have another future core piece developing in plain sight. He is one of four Guardians prospects included on the list, which weighs both current ability and long-term upside, and his placement suggests evaluators are taking notice of how quickly his tools are translating. The next test will be whether he can keep that momentum going as he moves closer to the upper levels. [Read more 🡒]