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Twins' Baldelli edges Boone to win AL Manager of the Year

Alex Trautwig / Major League Baseball / Getty

Rocco Baldelli's rookie season in the dugout was one for the ages.

The Minnesota Twins skipper was named 2019 American League Manager of the Year, edging out Aaron Boone of the New York Yankees and Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays to claim the award.

Baldelli and Boone each received 13 of 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America, but Baldelli's 13 second-place votes gave him a 10-point win.

Cash and Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch were the only other skippers to receive first-place votes.

Player Team 1st 2nd 3rd Points
Rocco Baldelli Twins 13 13 2 106
Aaron Boone Yankees 13 9 4 96
Kevin Cash Rays 3 3 9 33
Bob Melvin Athletics 3 10 19
AJ Hinch Astros 1 1 4 12
Terry Francona Indians 1 1 4

Baldelli spent several years on Cash's staff in Tampa Bay before joining the Twins last winter. He made an immediate impact with his new team, as Minnesota jumped from 84 losses in 2018 to 101 victories and its first AL Central title in nine years under his watch.

He's only the eighth manager to win the award after guiding his team to a 100-win season, and first since the Seattle Mariners' Lou Piniella in 2001.

At 38 years old, Baldelli is the youngest winner in the award's history. He's also just the second AL manager (and eighth in MLB overall) to win the award in his first full season as a skipper after the Texas Rangers' Jeff Banister claimed the award in 2015.

Baldelli is the second Twins manager to earn the honor in the last three seasons after Paul Molitor - the man he replaced - won it in 2017. He's the fourth winner in the franchise's history, joining Molitor, Tom Kelly (1991), and Ron Gardenhire (2010).

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