HadMatter reported in yesterday's comments that Florida Marlins manager, Fredi Gonzalez, was named National League Manager of the year.
Working with Major League Baseball's lowest payroll, Gonzalez guided the Marlins to an 84-77 record, which was good enough for third place in the National League East. The impressive showing by the youthful squad has earned Gonzalez The Sporting News National League Manager of the Year award. --- The 84 wins were the third-most in Marlins history. The only Florida squads to win more games were 1997 (92) and 2003 (91). Both of those teams won the World Series. The really neat thing about this award is that Fredi was chosen to be the recipient by a panel of his fellow managers. Congratulations Fredi! On the American League side of things: The Sporting News also named Tampa Bay's Joe Maddon as the American League Manager of the Year. A complete Sunshine State sweep.