Will Venable wins AL Manager of the Year award after huge turnaround with White Sox

Will Venable of the Chicago White Sox won the American League Manager of the Year Award on Tuesday, receiving 15 first-place votes and 111 points from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He edged out Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays, who had 12 first-place votes and 98 points, and Chad Tracy of the Boston Red Sox, who finished third with three first-place votes and 47 points. Venable achieved the honor in his second year as skipper after the White Sox lost 102 games in 2025 and a franchise-record 121 games two years ago, leading the team to an 84-78 record and a wild-card berth.

In the National League, Pat Murphy of the Milwaukee Brewers made history by becoming the first manager to win the award in three consecutive seasons since it began in 1983. Murphy received 20 first-place votes and 124 points, well ahead of Walt Weiss of the Atlanta Braves (seven first-place votes, 86 points) and Don Mattingly of the Philadelphia Phillies (one first-place vote, 25 points). Craig Stammen of the San Diego Padres finished fourth with two first-place votes and 24 points.

Murphy guided the Brewers to a franchise-record 103 wins and the first World Series title in franchise history. The team topped the majors in wins for the second consecutive season despite trading ace Freddy Peralta, losing Jose Quintana in free agency, and seeing Quinn Priester miss the entire season with an injury. Relying on a breakout season from likely NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob Misiorowski and a major-league-high 80 starts from rookie pitchers, the Brewers secured their fourth straight division title, taking the top spot for good on May 19. From Aug. 15 through the end of the playoffs, the Brewers went 39-13.

At age 67, Murphy is known for a combination of tough love and quips. He pulled rookie Cooper Pratt from a game in August for failing to hustle and pinch-hit for team leader Willson Contreras after Contreras failed to run hard on a grounder. "I love the guy. I love that he's honest," Contreras said after winning World Series MVP honors. Murphy spent years as head coach at Notre Dame and Arizona State before entering professional ranks, including a stint as interim manager for the San Diego Padres in 2015 before joining Craig Counsell's staff. "I'm just really, really grateful. Really thankful that we did it," Murphy said after the World Series win.

Voting for the awards was conducted before the postseason. Kevin Cash, the longest-tenured manager in the majors with 12 seasons in Tampa, led the Rays to an AL-best 98-64 record after the club went 77-85 in 2025. Chad Tracy took over the Red Sox early in the season after Alex Cora was fired following a 10-17 start; Boston went 77-58 under Tracy, including a 32-5 stretch. Don Mattingly replaced Rob Thomson as Phillies manager after a 9-19 start, and Philadelphia went 79-55 the rest of the way to finish second in the NL East behind Weiss' Braves, who went 94-68 in his first year after Brian Snitker retired.