2026 MLB Manager of the Year: White Sox's Will Venable, Brewers' Pat Murphy win BBWAA awards

Chicago White Sox manager Will Venable and Brewers manager Pat Murphy were named the Managers of the Year in their respective leagues on Tuesday night as part of the BBWAA's awards week. Murphy is the first manager to ever win the award in three consecutive seasons.

The annual awards, which also include Manager of the Year, Reliever of the Year, Cy Young and MVP, are voted on by 30 members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (that's two per MLB city in each league). Votes were submitted before the beginning of the playoffs, meaning that only regular-season contributions are taken into account.

National League: Pat Murphy, Brewers

Murphy, manager of the World Series champion Milwaukee Brewers, has been voted the National League Manager of the Year, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced on Tuesday. He is the first person to win three consecutive Manager of the Year awards and the tenth person with three Manager of the Year wins in total.

Ballots for the BBWAA's awards are submitted between the end of the regular season and the beginning of the postseason. They are regular-season awards and Milwaukee's World Series win did not factor into the voting.

Of course, Murphy did not need the World Series win to boost his Manager of the Year case. He guided the small-market Brewers to baseball's best record (103-59) and run differential (+214) during the regular season, and their fourth consecutive NL Central title. Their 103 wins are a franchise record and baseball's most since 2023.

Murphy just completed his third season as Brewers manager and has three Manager of the Year wins to show for it. Bobby Cox (2004-05), Kevin Cash (2020-21), and Stephen Vogt (2024-25) are the only others with two consecutive Manager of the Year awards. Vogt was not an American League Manager of the Year finalist this season.

Atlanta Braves manager Walt Weiss and Philadelphia Phillies manager Don Mattingly finished behind Murphy in the voting. Mattingly took over as an interim after the Phillies fired Rob Thomson on April 28. Philadelphia had baseball's fourth-best record after the managerial change. Weiss guided the Braves to the NL East title.

American League: Will Venable, White Sox

Venable, who helped orchestrate a 24-win year-to-year improvement and guided the team to its first postseason berth since 2021, has been named the American League Manager of the Year, the Baseball Writers Association of America announced on Tuesday. He beat out Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash and Boston Red Sox manager Chad Tracy.

The White Sox went 84-78 in 2026 after going 60-102 in 2025 and a hideous 41-121 in 2024. Those 121 losses are the record in baseball's Modern Era (since 1900). Venable's White Sox are the first team in history to reach the postseason after losing at least 100 games in the previous two seasons (they also lost 101 games in 2023).

The huge steps forward seem to be what secured the award for Venable. He took over in 2025 and the White Sox improved by 19 wins that season, only to turn around and improve by 24 more wins this past season. They were arguably the most surprising playoff team in 2026 and Venable gets his due here.

Venable joins the following White Sox manager of the year winners:

Ozzie Guillen, 2005

Jerry Manuel, 2000

Gene Lamont, 1993

Jeff Torborg, 1990

Tony La Russa, 1983

Cash finishes as the runner-up in a very close vote. Venable got 15 of the 30 first-place votes while Cash got 12. Tracy finishes in third place, with Guardians manager Stephen Vogt fourth and Yankees' skipper Aaron Boone sitting fifth.

Cash's Rays improved by 21 games to win an AL-best 98 and win the AL East after finishing in fourth place in 2025. Tracy took over the Red Sox after Alex Cora started 10-17 and was fired. Tracy went 77-58 and earned the second AL wild card.