Don Mattingly, Kevin Cash Headline MLB Manager of the Year 2020 Award Winners

After leading the Tampa Bay Rays to the American League's best record and a trip to the World Series, Kevin Cash has been named AL Manager of the Year.

His 22 first-place votes put him some distance ahead of runner-up, former Chicago White Sox manager Rick Renteria.

Cash took over as Tampa's manager in 2015 when Joe Maddon left to join the Chicago Cubs. He has led them to three straight winning seasons, two consecutive playoff appearances and a franchise-record .667 winning percentage in 2020. 

This marks the 42-year-old's first win in the AL Manager of the Year race after finishing third in each of the past two seasons. He is the second manager in Rays history to capture the award after Maddon won it in 2008 and 2011. 

The Rays have built one of the best infrastructures in Major League Baseball. Cash has proved himself to be an invaluable part of what makes the franchise successful. His ability to handle a pitching staff that relies on its bullpen as much as any team in the sport. 

Even though the final memory of Cash from last season was his decision to pull Blake Snell in Game 6 of the World Series, it's hard to fault him for trusting the strategy that got the Rays to that point. 

Tampa has set itself up for a run of sustained success with a roster already loaded with talent, more help on the way from a stacked farm system—including MLB.com's No. 1 prospect Wander Franco—and Cash in the manager's seat putting all of the pieces together. 

After leading the Miami Marlins to the playoffs, Don Mattingly was rewarded with the 2020 National League Manager of the Year award.  

Mattingly received 20 first-place votes and 124 total points to beat out Jayce Tingler of the San Diego Padres and David Ross of the Chicago Cubs.

He's the fifth person in MLB history to receive Most Valuable Player and Manager of the Year honors.

Mattingly has been Miami's manager since 2016 and has gone through a seemingly endless stream of trades and rebuilds designed to keep costs down at the expense of fielding a competitive team. 

In his first four years with the Marlins, the 59-year-old went 276-370 with no winning seasons. He saw stars such as Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich get traded one month apart before the 2018 season. 

With a roster featuring a number of veteran castoffs that was pieced together in part because of a COVID-19 outbreak early in the season, Mattingly led the group to a 31-29 record and the franchise's first playoff appearance since 2003. 

Once they got into the postseason, the Marlins proceeded to sweep the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card Round. Their season came to an end with a three-game sweep by the Atlanta Braves in the NL Division Series. 

Before the season started, the Marlins were tied with the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners and Pittsburgh Pirates as having the longest odds to win the World Series. 

Mattingly put all of the pieces together to lead Miami to its best season in 17 years and a playoff series victory. He joins Jack McKeon (2003) and Joe Girardi (2006) as the only managers in Marlins history to be named NL Manager of the Year.