Terry Francona, Dave Roberts voted Sporting News managers of the year

Justin McGuire

Terry Francona, Dave Roberts voted Sporting News managers of the year image

Terry Francona of the Indians and Dave Roberts of the Dodgers are Sporting News’ 2016 American League and National League Managers of the Year, respectively, as selected by a panel of 29 major league managers. SN has given Manager of the Year awards since 1936.

Francona, a veteran skipper in his fourth season with the Cleveland, led the team to 94 wins and its first AL Central title since 2007. Roberts, who once played for Francona, guided the Dodgers to the NL West title despite a slew of injuries to key players.

Joe Girardi of the Yankees finished second in the AL while Dusty Baker of the Nationals and Joe Maddon of the Cubs tied for the No. 2 spot in the NL. Voting was conducted before the postseason began.

MORE: Sporting News MLB Players of the Year, 1936-2015

Francona: 'He pushes the right buttons'

Francona won two World Series titles (2004, 2007) with the Red Sox, but this is the first time his fellow managers voted him the SN award.

Cleveland generally was predicted to contend, but most experts picked the defending World Series champion Royals to take the AL Central crown. Instead, the Indians won by eight games despite getting only 43 plate appearances from injured outfielder Michael Brantley, one of the team's top hitters.

"I know people use the term, but he (Francona) pushes the right buttons," outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall told Sporting News. "There's a lot of stats and data, and he has a lot of pieces of paper to look at to make his decisions. Everything he does, he's informed on it, and it's in the best interests of the players and the team both."

Added outfielder Coco Crisp, who also played for Francona on the Red Sox: "It's similar to the atmosphere that was in Boston .. It's real loose. Come here, be yourself, have fun and get your work done, then get the job done. It's a loose, comfortable, fun atomsphere."

Mike Hargrove (1995) and Eric Wedge (2007) are the only other Cleveland skippers to win the SN award.

MORE: Tigers' Michael Fulmer named SN AL Rookie of the Year

Roberts: 'A a great environment for cultivating winning'

Roberts replaced Don Mattingly during the offseason, becoming the first African-American manager in the Dodgers' long history. Los Angeles won 91 games despite placing 28 different players on the disabled list, more than any team in the past 30 seasons.

As a result of the all the injuries, Roberts made an MLB-record 606 pitching changes and used a franchise-record 55 different players.

The most significant injury was to baseball's best pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, who missed 10 weeks with a mildly herniated disk in his lower back. But Roberts and the Dodgers thrived in their ace's absence, going 50-35 and overtaking the Giants in the NL West.

MORE: Dodgers' Corey Seager named SN NL Rookie of the Year

"I think that (he) creates a great environment for cultivating winning," pitcher Rich Hill told Sporting News. "You know that there's a guy at the helm who is willing to be there for you in any situation. His door is always open. Very easy to talk to, and somebody who's been there. He's played the game at the highest level and he understands what it takes on a day in and day out basis to be successful."

Roberts joins an impressive list of Dodger managers to win the award: Hall of Famers Leo Durocher (1939) and Walt Alston (1955, 1959, 1963).

Jesse Spector contributed to this story.

VOTING RESULTS

American League (voting by AL managers)

1. Terry Francona, Indians-8

2. Joe Girardi, Yankees-4

3. Jeff Banister, Rangers-1
John Gibbons, Blue Jays-1
Scott Servais, Mariners-1

National League (voting by NL managers)

1. Dave Roberts, Dodgers-7

2. Dusty Baker, Nationals-3
Joe Maddon, Cubs-3

4. Terry Collins, New York Mets-1

THIS WEEK’S SN AWARD SCHEDULE

Monday: Rookies of the Year (AL and NL) and Managers of the Year (AL and NL)

Tuesday: Comeback Players of the Year (AL and NL)

Wednesday: AL All-Star Team | NL All-Star Team

Thursday: MLB Player of the Year

Justin McGuire