So far, we have predicted the New York Yankees winning their
division en route to a World Series victory while the Washington Nationals will
come up just a little short in Bryce Harper’s last hurrah. We have predicted a
couple movements in the power rankings with strong showings this season by the
Seattle Mariners and the Philadelphia Phillies, and we even predicted who would
win the prestigious Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman Awards for the best
relief pitcher in both of their respective leagues. None of that could be
possible for any of these players or any of these teams though without a good
manager, which is why the next award we will be predicting is the Manager of
the Year Awards for the 2018 season.
So, you would think since I specifically mentioned the
Seattle Mariners and the Philadelphia Phillies not only in my previous
paragraph but in my standings prediction as well that I would automatically go
to that well again here for my managers prediction, right? Wrong! I like to
shake things up a bit, and I don’t like to be predictable with my predictions,
so keep reading.
Once again, in my opinion, the New York Yankees have
everything working against them here with another major award. Sure, the team
has a new manager in Aaron Boone and sure, the team has a young nucleus of
players that could get younger with the call ups of Gleyber Torres and Miguel
Andujar, but the team is almost too good for their own good if you know what I
mean. If the Yankees don’t win the World Series in 2018 it will be a huge
disappointment to many, but if they do I can see many fans, writers and voters
coming out with a feeling that they almost expected it. Like the Yankees are
once again supposed to win every
game, you know? So, sorry Aaron. I can’t see you winning the AL Manager of the
Year Award, even if you should. Instead, that award will go to the Kansas City
Royals manager Ned Yost who will keep his team in the hunt for a playoff spot
until the final week of the regular season, all without a major part of his
core and his team that all left to free agency this winter.
In the National League I have to go with the manager of the
San Francisco Giants, Bruce Bochy. Bochy is nearing the end of his managerial
career in my opinion and this may be Boche’s last true shot at not only this
award, but at a World Series championship as well. Last season the Giants were
horrible finishing with a 64-98 record, which was good for dead last in the
National League West Division. I don’t feel like with just the additions of
Evan Longoria, Andrew McCutchen and Austin Jackson that the team will be
strides better than they were in 2017, but I also don’t believe that the likes
of Jeff Samardzija, Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and others can be as bad as
they were in 2017 either. I think it will be a team effort and a collective
effort that will not only bring the team back to the postseason, but it will
also bring Boche an NL Manager of the Year Award as well.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)