Chicago White Sox manager Will Venable and Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy won the 2026 Baseball Writers’ Association of America American League and National League Manager of the Year awards on Tuesday night, November 10. Announced on MLB Network, the results rewarded a historic three-peat in Milwaukee and an unprecedented roster turnaround on Chicago’s South Side.
Murphy became the first manager in Major League Baseball history to win a Manager of the Year award in three consecutive seasons, according to the BBWAA National League release, and only the 10th skipper to capture the trophy at least three times overall. Venable earned the American League honor in his second year at the helm after guiding Chicago to the first postseason berth in MLB history following three straight 100-loss campaigns.
Thirty BBWAA writers in each league, with two voters representing each MLB city, cast their ballots before the start of the postseason using a 5-3-1 point system for first, second, and third place. While postseason performance does not factor into the voting, both winners backed up their regular-season marks in October. Milwaukee went on to win its first World Series championship, while Chicago swept the Houston Astros 2-0 on the road in the AL Wild Card Series and took a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series before falling in five games to the Cleveland Guardians.
2026 AL Manager of the Year voting results
Venable is the sixth White Sox skipper to win the award and the first since Ozzie Guillen in 2005, joining Guillen, Jerry Manuel (2000), Gene Lamont (1993), Jeff Torborg (1990), and Tony La Russa (1983), per the BBWAA American League announcement. He is also the third AL manager and fourth overall to win a year after a 100-loss season, alongside Frank Robinson (1989 Orioles, 87-75 after going 54-101 in 1988), Paul Molitor (2017 Twins, 85-77 after going 59-103 in 2016), and Don Mattingly (2020 Marlins, 31-29 after going 57-105 in 2019). No AL manager appeared on all 30 ballots in 2026.
1. Will Venable, Chicago White Sox
Venable captured the AL award with 111 points on 15 first-place votes, 11 second-place votes, and three third-place votes. After Chicago lost 101 games in 2023, a post-1900 record 121 games in 2024, and 102 games during Venable’s 60-102 debut season in 2025, he engineered a 24-game improvement to finish 84-78 in 2026, taking second place in the AL Central and claiming a wild-card spot. According to the Chicago White Sox’s official account, Venable praised his players for building belief early in the year and never backing down.
2. Kevin Cash, Tampa Bay Rays
Cash finished second in the AL race as a finalist with 98 points, drawing 12 first-place votes, 12 second-place votes, and two third-place votes. He led the Rays to the American League championship during the 2026 campaign.
3. Chad Tracy, Boston Red Sox
Tracy took third place and rounded out the AL finalists with 47 points, collecting three first-place votes, five second-place votes, and 17 third-place votes. He took over the Red Sox in April and steered Boston to a postseason berth.
4. Stephen Vogt, Cleveland Guardians
Vogt finished fourth in the AL standings with nine points, earning one second-place vote and six third-place votes.
5. Aaron Boone, New York Yankees
Boone placed fifth in the American League tally with four points, receiving one second-place vote and one third-place vote.
6. Joe Espada, Houston Astros
Espada finished sixth in the AL voting with one point from a single third-place ballot.
2026 NL Manager of the Year voting results
The two winning skippers share a personal connection from a decade ago. Before joining manager Bruce Bochy’s coaching staff with the Texas Rangers for their 2023 World Series title and taking the Chicago job prior to the 2025 season, Venable was a former MLB outfielder who played briefly under Murphy with the San Diego Padres in 2015, FOX Sports reported.
1. Pat Murphy, Milwaukee Brewers
Murphy won the NL ballot with 124 points on 20 first-place votes, seven second-place votes, and three third-place votes. He led Milwaukee to a major-league-best 103-59 regular-season record and a major-league-best plus-214 run differential. Murphy accepted Tuesday’s honor while recovering from hip replacement surgery, which he had scheduled for after the World Series without realizing it fell on the night of the BBWAA announcement. “But I thought it was a safe date to do it,” Murphy said, as published by FOX Sports and the Associated Press.
2. Walt Weiss, Atlanta Braves
Weiss finished as the NL runner-up and a finalist with 86 points, picking up seven first-place votes, 16 second-place votes, and three third-place votes.
3. Don Mattingly, Philadelphia Phillies
Mattingly claimed third place as an NL finalist with 25 points, supported by one first-place vote, three second-place votes, and 11 third-place votes.
4. Craig Stammen, San Diego Padres
Stammen finished one point behind Mattingly in fourth place with 24 points, receiving two first-place votes, one second-place vote, and 11 third-place votes.
5. Dave Roberts, Los Angeles Dodgers
Roberts placed fifth in the National League voting with seven points on two second-place votes and one third-place vote.
6. Craig Counsell, Chicago Cubs
Counsell took sixth place with three points from a single second-place vote. Murphy’s predecessor in Milwaukee, Counsell previously finished second in NL Manager of the Year voting four times without winning the award.
7. Don Kelly, Pittsburgh Pirates
Kelly rounded out the NL tally in seventh place with one point from a single third-place vote.
Remaining BBWAA Awards Week schedule
The Manager of the Year honors followed Monday’s Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year announcements, where Detroit Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle won the AL award and Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart won the NL award. The BBWAA will announce the AL and NL Cy Young Award winners alongside MLB’s Relievers of the Year on Wednesday, November 11, before wrapping up awards week with the AL and NL Most Valuable Player announcements on Thursday, November 12.