The Twins' Paul Molitor was named the American League Manager of the Year and the D-backs' Torey Lovullo was announced as the National League Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Tuesday.Both managers presided over huge turnarounds by their teams from 2016 to '17 and guided their clubs to the postseason. Molitor helped transform the Twins from a 103-loss, last-place team in 2016 to a surprise AL Wild Card team this season. Lovullo, in his first year as the D-backs' manager, led them to a win in the NL Wild Card Game and an NLDS appearance, after Arizona finished fourth in its division a season ago.
Under Molitor and Lovullo, the Twins made their first postseason since 2010, and the D-backs made their first playoffs since '11. Minnesota jumped from a 59-103 record to an 85-77 mark, a difference of 26 wins. Arizona jumped 24 wins, finishing 93-69 in 2017 after posting the exact opposite record, 69-93, the year before.
Following the announcement, make your voice heard by voting for Best Manager in the Esurance MLB Awards, where baseball legends, media, front-office personnel and fans come together to pick the winners, with postseason accomplishments factored in. Then tune in Friday at 8 p.m. ET on MLB Network and MLB.com as this year's best stars and moments are revealed.This marks the third Manager of the Year honor for both the Twins and D-backs franchises. Minnesota last had a Manager of the Year in 2010, when Ron Gardenhire won in the Twins' last playoff season; their other Manager of the Year was Tom Kelly in 1991. For the D-backs, Kirk Gibson was named NL Manager of the Year in 2011 -- their last playoff appearance before Lovullo brought them back -- and Bob Melvin won the award in '07.
Lovullo is only the eighth skipper to capture a Manager of the Year Award in his first full season as a Major League manager -- but this is actually the fourth consecutive season with a first-year winner. Dave Roberts, a runner-up this year, was Manager of the Year as a first-time manager for the Dodgers in 2016, as was Jeff Banister for the Rangers in '15 and Matt Williams for the Nationals in '14.Molitor can now add a new type of trophy to his resume after his Hall of Fame career as a player. In fact, he is now just the second person to make the Hall of Fame as a player and then go on to become a Manager of the Year. The other: Frank Robinson, who was AL Manager of the Year for the Orioles in 1989.
David Adler / MLB.com
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