Will Venable is the American League Manager of the Year. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced the award Tuesday night: 111 points for Venable, on 15 of the 30 first-place votes, with Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash second at 98 points and 12 first-place votes. It was a real race, not a coronation. The ballots were cast before the postseason, so the writers were grading the regular season and nothing else.
The case was the turnaround, and the turnaround has a clean set of numbers. Chicago won 41 games in 2024 — 121 losses, the most in modern baseball history — then 60 in Venable’s first season, then 84 this year. The 84–78 club finished second in the AL Central, took a wild card and reached the postseason for the first time since 2021. No team had ever reached the playoffs immediately after back-to-back 100-loss seasons. Venable’s club did it after three straight.
The climb came in two jumps: 19 more wins in 2025, 24 more in 2026. Venable is the third manager since 1901 to post back-to-back improvements of 19 wins or more; the other two are Miller Huggins and John McGraw. Chicago spent 96 days in first place in the Central along the way, swept Houston in the Wild Card round, and lost the Division Series to Cleveland in five games.
Venable is a former big-league outfielder, and this is his first managerial job. He was hired into the wreckage of that 121-loss season.
The vote
Boston’s Chad Tracy was third with 47 points. The full ballot:
| Manager | Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Will Venable | White Sox | 15 | 11 | 3 | 111 |
| Kevin Cash | Rays | 12 | 12 | 2 | 98 |
| Chad Tracy | Red Sox | 3 | 5 | 17 | 47 |
| Stephen Vogt | Guardians | — | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| Aaron Boone | Yankees | — | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Joe Espada | Astros | — | — | 1 | 1 |
Venable is the third AL manager — the fourth overall — to win the award one year after a 100-loss season. Frank Robinson did it in 1989, Paul Molitor in 2017, and Don Mattingly won the NL award in 2020 on the same path. He is the sixth White Sox winner and the first since Ozzie Guillen in 2005, after Tony La Russa (1983), Jeff Torborg (1990), Gene Lamont (1993) and Jerry Manuel (2000).
MLB announced the award on MLB Network and posted the moment as a short video: watch Venable named the 2026 AL Manager of the Year on MLB.com.
In the NL, a three-peat
Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy won the National League award for the third straight year, something no manager in either league had ever done. Murphy took 124 points and 20 first-place votes, and he was the only manager named on all 30 ballots. Atlanta’s Walt Weiss was second with 86. Murphy is the 10th manager to win the award at least three times, and he is still the only Brewers manager who has ever won it — his predecessor, Craig Counsell, finished second four times and placed fifth this year with the Cubs.
Both votes were finished before the first playoff pitch, so October counted for nothing in either race. The regular season was the whole argument: a Chicago team that won 41 games two years ago won 84 this year, and a manager in Milwaukee who has won this award three years running.
Sources · 4 sources
- BBWAA — official 2026 AL Manager of the Year results (bbwaa.com/26-al-mgr/), read November 10, 2026: Venable 111 points (15 first-place votes), Cash 98, the full six-man ballot, the 60–102 to 84–78 turnaround, second place in the AL Central and the wild-card berth, the post-100-loss-season winner lineage, the six White Sox winners, and ballots cast before the postseason on a 5-3-1 system.
- BBWAA — official 2026 NL Manager of the Year results (bbwaa.com/26-nl-mgr/), read November 10, 2026: Murphy 124 points (20 first-place votes), the only manager named on all 30 ballots, Weiss second with 86, the first three-consecutive-seasons winner, the 10th manager with three or more wins, and the lone Brewers winner.
- MLB.com — the official announcement video, “Will Venable Is Named the 2026 AL MOY,” linked in the story (MLB.com video is link-only; it is not embedded). MLB.com’s award recap, as carried by South Side Sox, is the source for the back-to-back 19-win improvement company (Huggins, McGraw), the first postseason after consecutive 100-loss seasons, and the 96 days atop the AL Central.
- Sportsnet — “White Sox’s Venable, Brewers’ Murphy win MLB Manager of the Year awards” (November 10, 2026): cross-check of both results and the Kayla Wolf / Associated Press Opening Day photograph.
