The 2026 Manager of the Year race comes with a little of everything: a turnaround in Tampa Bay, a jolt in Boston, a revival in Chicago, steady excellence in Milwaukee and a first-year spark in Atlanta. The six finalists all reached the postseason, but they got there in very different ways.
In the American League, the Rays gave the clearest answer to the “how did this happen?” question.
After missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, Tampa Bay was widely pegged for fifth in the AL East. FanGraphs opened the year projecting a 79-83 finish, a 25.2% shot at the postseason and just a 4.3% chance to win the division.
Instead, the Rays rolled to a 98-64 record, won the AL East by 4 1/2 games and grabbed the league’s top postseason seed.
Chad Tracy’s case is built on the kind of sudden responsibility that can swallow a manager whole. On April 25, he was still running Triple-A Worcester.
Shortly after that game, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow called and told him to head to Baltimore, where he was named interim manager after the surprise firing of Alex Cora. Tracy didn’t bring panic with him.
He brought calm, and Boston responded. The Red Sox were 32-46 on June 25 and owned the worst winning percentage in the American League at .410.
From there, they ripped off a 32-5 run that dragged them back into the race and into the postseason picture.
Will Venable’s season in Chicago was the kind that changes the conversation around a franchise. The White Sox had lost 100-plus games in each season from 2023 through 2025, including a Modern Era record 121 losses in 2024.
For four straight years, they were not a real playoff threat. Then 2026 arrived with 84 wins, the sixth seed and third Wild Card in the American League, plus the organization’s first postseason series victory since the ‘05 World Series run.
The National League finalists bring their own set of storylines. Don Mattingly took over a Phillies team that was in rough shape on April 26, when a Sunday loss to the Braves in Atlanta dropped them to 9-19.
The night before, they had finally snapped a 10-game losing streak, but the outlook was still bleak enough for Dave Dombrowski to fire Rob Thomson on April 28 and hand the job to Mattingly. Philadelphia then played like a different club, posting the fourth-best record in baseball the rest of the way and clinching the third NL Wild Card on the season’s final day.
Pat Murphy is trying to do something nobody has done before. He was already the first Brewers manager to win this award after guiding Milwaukee to a division title in 2024 in his first season on the job.
He followed that with a franchise-record and Major League-leading 97 wins in 2025, which made him one of only four managers to win the award in consecutive years. Now he’s coming off another franchise record, this time 103 wins.
No manager has ever taken home the honor three straight times.
Walt Weiss made his mark in Atlanta in a different way. In his first season as the Braves’ skipper, he showed his players he was in the fight with them.
That was on display April 7, when he tackled Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler during a benches-clearing brawl. Atlanta answered with a 20-6 stretch, seized early control of the NL East and never really let go.
In Other News...
Pat Murphy Added Another Brewers Milestone To His Championship Legacy
Pat Murphy keeps adding to a Brewers run that already felt hard to top, and now his latest honor only deepens the standard he has set in Milwaukee. After guiding the club to a franchise-record 103 wins and a World Series title in 2026, Murphy was named the BBWAA National League Manager of the Year for the third straight season, a stretch of recognition that speaks to both the consistency of the team and the way he has shaped it.
The backdrop makes the award even more striking. Murphy spent much of the season managing through pain before undergoing hip replacement surgery, and he accepted the latest honor from a Milwaukee hospital bed. For a manager who has already helped deliver the biggest prize in franchise history, the milestone adds another layer to a legacy that keeps growing, even as the next chapter is still being written. [Read more 🡒]
Brewers Are Already Facing A Familiar Bullpen Question Next Season
The Brewers spent part of their roster housekeeping this week making room for prospect protection, and the bullpen picture for next season is already starting to take shape around that move. Milwaukee has long leaned on a flexible relief mix, and the front office appears headed right back to that model, with optionable arms expected to cycle through the staff as the club manages workloads over the course of the year.
That approach also leaves the door open for reinforcements from Triple-A or outside the organization, which is where the next layer of intrigue comes in. Garrett Stallings and Colton Gordon are among the names in the mix for those shuttle roles, giving the Brewers a few internal possibilities as they try to piece together another workable bullpen without locking themselves into a fixed group too early. [Read more 🡒]
Logan Hendersons Rookie Finish Leaves Brewers Fans Thinking What If
Logan Hendersons rookie season gave the Brewers a glimpse of what could be coming next in their rotation, even if the official awards race never fully caught up to the quality of his work. While Kevin McGonigle and Sal Stewart took home the BBWAA Rookie of the Year honors in their leagues, Henderson quietly put together a strong first impression in Milwaukee, finishing with a 2.47 ERA across 98.1 innings and showing the kind of poise the club can build around.
The frustrating part for Brewers fans is how much more there might have been. A late start and a month on the injured list limited his chances to pile up the innings and visibility that often sway award voters, leaving his season feeling more like a preview than a finished product. Even so, the Brewers have every reason to view Henderson as a key piece of what comes next, and his rookie finish only sharpens the sense that his best work is still ahead. [Read more 🡒]