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Washington Nationals: Baker Finishes 3rd In NL Manager Of Year Voting

By Ricky Keeler

Aug 17, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker (12) calls out towards a player in his dugout in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Rockies defeated the Nationals 12-10. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 17, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker (12) calls out towards a player in his dugout in the ninth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. The Rockies defeated the Nationals 12-10. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tonight, Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker lost the National League Manager Of The Year award, which ended up going to Dave Roberts

For the second straight night, the Washington Nationals came up short in winning a BBWAA award. Last night, Trea Turner was the runner up to Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager for NL Rookie Of The Year. Tonight, manager Dusty Baker finished third in the NL Manager of the Year voting as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts won in his first season. Baker got four first place votes, but Roberts got the most with 16 (Joe Maddon finished second). Here is the link to the BBWA total votes and the official ballots by the writers:

This is the seventh time that Baker has finished in the top three in the voting for the Manager Of The Year award. which is decided by the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association Of America). Baker has won this award three times in his career. The last time he finished in the top three for this award was 2012, when he finished as the runner up to then Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson. It is a first for Baker as he has never finished third in the voting before.

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Baker did a good job in his first year as manager of the Washington Nationals. He took a team that underachieved in 2015 when they won only 83 games and got them an NL East title and a 12-win improvement. He made it to the postseason with his fourth different team.

In 2016, Baker did a great job of changing the clubhouse culture and getting production out of everyone on his 25-man roster. Over his last five years as manager, Baker’s teams have won 90+ games in three of them. He also did a good job of getting players rest at the right time.

While I didn’t have a BBWAA vote, I had a IBWAA vote and I voted for Roberts over Baker on my ballot. In his first year, he was able to manage a team that had 28 players go on the disabled list, including their ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw. Los Angeles overcame a eight game deficit in the NL West in late June to win the division over the San Francisco Giants.

Next: Gio's Role In Nats Rotation Up For Grabs

Tomorrow night, the National League Cy Young Award will be announced live on MLB Network at 6:00 p.m ET. Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer is one of the finalists for the award along with Cubs pitchers Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks. If Scherzer wins the award, it will be his second Cy Young and his first in the National League (2013 with the Tigers).

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