Doolittle's take: Vogt did more than fill the shoes of Terry Francona -- he made it seem as if he'd been leading the Guardians for years. He led a Guardians club, not expected to contend, to the AL Central title.
Vogt did this while doing managerial things that catch your eye. He leaned heavily on the game's most dynamic bullpen to circumnavigate a slew of rotation injuries and underperformance. He also oversaw a transition in Cleveland's collective offensive approach, which mixed in a little more slugging from the same group of hitters than had been evident before.
It's a remarkable achievement, one recognized by a dominating showing in the balloting.
Alas, that spread in the final vote -- 27 first-place votes for Vogt to two for Quatraro -- is really hard to grok. The bottom line is that the Royals lost 106 games in 2023, then won 86 in 2024, a stunning turnaround, especially because it did not happen because of a sudden wave of prospects arriving at Kauffman Stadium. Quatraro is quiet, steady, consistent and a perfect fit in the lineage of successful Royals field generals. He is the epitome of what you think of when you think of someone who wins Manager of the Year.
The competition was steep. Hinch did perhaps the best managing job in a career that has been full of virtuoso performances. Vogt was fantastic. But the sheer scale of Quatraro's accomplishment with the Royals seemed too much to overlook. Yet, it was. This was a miss by the voters.
Here's how my EARL leaderboard had it:
1. Quatraro, Royals (105.3 EARL, finalist)
2. Vogt, Guardians (104.9, winner)
3. Kotsay, Athletics (103.9)
4. Hinch, Tigers (103.2, finalist)
5. Boone, Yankees (101.8)
Note: EARL is a metric that looks at how a team's winning percentage varies from expectations generated by projections, run differential and one-run record. While attributing these measures to managerial performance is presumptive, the metric does tend to track well with the annual balloting.
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