Brewers' Pat Murphy first to win three consecutive Manager of Year awards

Historic third straight award

Balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America was conducted before the postseason and announced Tuesday night. Murphy received 20 of 30 first-place votes and finished with 124 points. Atlanta's Walt Weiss placed second with seven first-place votes and 86 points, while Philadelphia's Don Mattingly came in third with one first-place vote. San Diego's Craig Stammen received the remaining two first-place votes.

Detail	Information
Award	NL Manager of the Year (third consecutive)
First-place votes	20 of 30
Total points	124
Runner-up	Walt Weiss (ATL) — 7 first-place votes, 86 points
Third place	Don Mattingly (PHI) — 1 first-place vote
Balloting body	Baseball Writers' Association of America
Balloting conducted	Before postseason
Announced	Tuesday night

Only three other managers have won the award three times with the same organization: Bobby Cox with the Atlanta Braves (1991, 2004, 2005), Terry Francona with Cleveland (2013, 2016, 2022), and Dusty Baker with the San Francisco Giants (1993, 1997, 2000). Cox remains the only other back-to-back NL winner.

Surgery timing and World Series triumph

Murphy, who turns 68 on Nov. 28, scheduled his hip replacement for a date after the World Series, not knowing the Brewers would reach the Fall Classic, or that the award announcement would fall the day after his operation. "The doctor gave me some dates and I just picked a date one day, and I had no idea that it was going to coincide," Murphy said. "I wasn't thinking in those terms. I was just thinking about what we had, task at hand."

The Brewers captured their first World Series title less than two weeks earlier, beating Tampa Bay in a five-game World Series after sweeping the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series. Milwaukee led the majors with a franchise-record 103 regular-season wins and has won the NL Central in all three seasons under Murphy, who spent eight years on Craig Counsell's coaching staff before taking the helm. The club plays in Major League Baseball's smallest market with a payroll in the bottom half of the sport, yet has posted the best record in the big leagues each of the past two seasons.

"I think it's just a reflection of what our team has done. First and foremost is players, hungry players that are willing to live up to certain standards and have a focus and awareness about winning."

Pat Murphy, Brewers manager, via The Score

Venable wins AL honor after historic White Sox turnaround

Will Venable claimed the American League Manager of the Year award after the Chicago White Sox became the first team in MLB history to reach the playoffs after consecutive 100-loss seasons. Chicago went 60-102 in Venable's 2025 debut after a 121-loss season in 2024, a record for the most since 1900, following 101 losses the previous season. The White Sox went 84-78 this season with 19 rookies seeing action, and only the third of those seasons came under Venable after he took over in 2025.

Detail	Information
AL Manager of the Year	Will Venable (Chicago White Sox)
First-place votes	15 of 30
Total points	111
Runner-up	Kevin Cash (TB), 12 first-place votes, 98 points
Third place	Chad Tracy (BOS), 3 first-place votes, 47 points
2024 White Sox record	121 losses (record since 1900)
2025 White Sox record	60-102
2026 White Sox record	84-78, playoff berth

Venable, a former big league outfielder, previously served on manager Bruce Bochy's staff in Texas and was part of the Rangers' World Series title in 2023. He is the first White Sox manager to win the award since Ozzie Guillen in 2005.

"I'm really proud about the playoff appearance because it's what the players believed from day one, you know, at a time when nobody, certainly nobody outside of our walls, believed that we were a playoff team."

Will Venable, White Sox manager, via The Score

After sweeping Houston in two road games in their AL Wild Card Series, the White Sox had a 2-0 series lead before losing a five-game AL Division Series to Cleveland.

Cashman accepts Murphy's apology over Yankees remarks

At the general managers meetings in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman accepted Pat Murphy's apology after the Milwaukee manager criticized New York's 2023 team for a selfish culture minutes after the Brewers won the World Series last month. When first baseman Jake Bauers gave Murphy the ball from the last out of the Game 5 win over Tampa Bay on Oct. 28, the manager used a profanity while referring to the Yankees and told Bauers: "You guys were all playing for yourself. Just remember, say, 'This is the way we used to do it,'" according to a video posted by Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin. Bauers played for the 2023 Yankees, who went 82-80 and failed to make the playoffs.

Cashman said Murphy reached out to apologize within 12 hours, explaining "how he kind of utilizes things, anything he can to motivate his players." Cashman called the gesture meaningful: "He took the time on the greatest, within 12 hours, arguably some of the greatest times that he's had walking this planet Earth outside of the birth of his kids, to realize that he said something that he regretted, that he's caught on a live mike. He wanted to take the time, track us down over here at the lowly New York Yankees to make sure he would apologize for that, so that meant a lot to me."

The Yankees were swept by Tampa Bay in an AL Division Series and have not won the World Series since its 26th title in 2009. Cashman, entering his 30th season in charge of baseball operations with the Yankees, said his new contract had been finalized but didn't reveal its length.

The AL and NL Cy Young Award winners and Relievers of the Year will be announced Wednesday. MVP winners will be revealed Thursday.