The Kansas City Royals saw a 30-game improvement in 2024 under manager Matt Quatraro, one of six finalists for Manager of the Year honors announced Monday.
Quatraro, 50, oversaw a stunning turnaround for the Royals, who were coming off a lackluster last-place finish of 56-106 in 2023. A similar squad in 2024 became a winning team under Quatraro, with record of 86-76 and a second place in the American League Central Division.
This year, the Royals earned a 2-0 sweep of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Wild Card Series before losing an American League Division Series to the New York Yankees three games to one.
Quatraro will have stiff competition in the American League from two division rivals, AJ Hinch of the Detroit Tigers and Stephen Vogt of the Cleveland Guardians.
Hinch matched Quatraro in leading an 86-76 team to postseason success. Hinch’s Tigers swept the Houston Astros 2-0 in the American League’s other wild-card series and took the Guardians to five games in the ALDS before losing 3-2.
Meanwhile, the first-place Guardians and Vogt had the most successful season of the group, winning 92 games and taking that postseason series with Detroit to reach their first American League Championship Series since 2016. They lost in five games (4-1) against the Yankees.
The National League nominees for the award were Pat Murphy of the Milwaukee Brewers, Mike Shildt of the San Diego Padres and Carlos Mendoza of the New York Mets.
Murphy and Shildt led 93-69 teams that reached the postseason. While Murphy saw his season come to an end at the hands of Mendoza’s 89-73 Mets, Shildt led the Padres to a 2-0 wild card series victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Mendoza’s team defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1 in a National League Division Series to reach the National League Championship Series, its first since 2015.
–Field level media
