Guardians' Terry Francona named AL Manager of Year for 3rd time

Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona was named American League Manager of the Year on Tuesday for the third time in his career.

Francona received 17 first-place votes for 112 points. Baltimore Orioles skipper Brandon Hyde came in second and  Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais finished third. Dusty Baker of the Astros, Aaron Boone of the Yankees and Kevin Cash of the Rays also received votes.  

Francona, 63, led the youngest team in baseball to a division title, making it to the second round of the postseason after beating the Tampa Bay Rays in the wild-card round.

"It should be considered an organizational award, because that's how I feel," Francona said. "You start hearing people talk about you personally, it makes you a little uneasy, but for the things that it allows me to brag about our organization, that makes me really happy.''

It's Francona's third Manager of the Year Award -- all with Cleveland -- after taking home the honor in 2013 and 2016. He just completed his 22nd season managing in the big leagues after stops in Philadelphia and Boston before becoming the Guardians' skipper in 2013.

Cleveland wasn't expected to make the postseason, considering its lack of experience and offensive firepower, but Francona got his players to buy into a contact-oriented offense while playing stellar defense and running the bases in an aggressive manner. The result was a 92-70 regular-season record after winning 80 games in 2021.

Francona has 1,874 career regular-season wins and two World Series titles.

Francona made it through the season after major health issues forced him to leave the team in 2020 and 2021. The 63-year-old said he was re-energized by his young team, which had 17 players make their big league debuts this season.

He intends to return in 2023, but Francona and the Guardians have an open agreement that would allow him to step aside if he needed.

Hyde, 49, was the man behind the Orioles' first winning season in seven years, guiding Baltimore to an 83-79 record. He did it with a ragtag group of pitchers, many of whom were released or DFA'd by other teams. Hyde has been the Orioles' manager since 2019.

Servais, 55, guided the Mariners to their first playoff berth in two decades, ending the longest postseason drought in baseball. Seattle won 90 games for the second consecutive season while beating the Toronto Blue Jays in the wild-card round before losing to the Houston Astros.

Servais was also nominated for manager of the year in 2021, losing out to Cash.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.