The 2010 National League Manager of the Year Award will be announced at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. And this is a race with no clear frontrunner, as Bobby Cox, Charlie Manuel, Dusty Baker, and Bud Black all have pretty convincing arguments.
2010 N.L. Manager Of The Year Award: Will Bobby Cox Walk Away A Winner?
In his final season, Cox guided the Braves to a 91-71 record and the NL Wild Card, sending the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2005. Along the way, he had to deal with some injuries, roster turnover, and unproven young players, but his team was able to finish strong.
Manuel led the Phillies to the best record in baseball and the team's fourth consecutive first-place finish in the NL East. Despite injuries to Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Placido Polanco, the Phillies kept rolling along and tore away in the second half following the acquisition of Roy Oswalt.
And Black was able to take the Padres' playoff chances down to the final day of the season. Working against Black is the fact that his Padres gave away a large division lead in the final six weeks and missed out on the postseason, but one shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the Padres weren't expected to be there in the first place. They were perhaps the surprise of the season.
Any one of those four could win and it wouldn't come as a huge surprise. Bruce Bochy could also get some consideration for the job he did with the Giants, although the voting for this award is done before the start of the playoffs.
If Baker wins, it would be his fourth. If Cox wins, it would be his fifth. Bochy has won once before. Neither Manuel nor Black has ever won.
Last year's winner was Jim Tracy, for the work he did with the Rockies.
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