Brandon Hyde is the AL Manager of the Year

Congratulations to Baltimore Orioles Manager Brandon Hyde for winning the 2024 Manager of the Year award. The Orioles hired Hyde to become the team's manager in 2019. After spending two years on the coaching staff with the Miami (Florida) Marlins (2010-2011) and four years with the Chicago Cubs (2014-2018), Hyde got his first managerial job with the Orioles (though he did manage one game for the Marlins in 2011).

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde wins AL Manager of the Year

Hyde had the difficult task of managing a team through the rebuilding process. The Orioles signed several good players that Hyde was able to get good production from, until they were flipped at the trade deadline for prospects. Obviously, many of those moves were helpful in the long run and we get to enjoy the success of those trades now, but it didn't make things much easier to go through at the time.

In Hyde's first three seasons with the team, he had a combined 131-253 record. The Orioles highest winning percentage in those years was .417 in the Covid shortened 2020 season, but things began to turn around in 2022. After leading the Orioles to an 83-79 record in 2022, surprising many people by still playing competitive baseball into mid-September, Hyde finished as the runner up to Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona in the Manager of the Year voting. This year, Hyde helped the Orioles go one step further.

Hyde seemed to push the right buttons all season long. He deployed platoons regularly throughout the infield, maximizing production from veterans like Ryan O'Hearn and Adam Frazier while giving young stars like Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg time to shine.

Hyde managed to keep Adley Rutschman in the lineup as much as a primary catcher can possibly by without overusing him. He handled injuries to some of the team's top players like Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle very well and helped the team not miss a beat when they got hurt.

One of the toughest parts about being a manager in handling the pitching staff. Knowing when to trust your starter and leave him out there or making the tough decision to pull him. With the help of pitching coach Chris Holt, Hyde routinely made the correct call. The starting rotation was young, but Hyde protected his guys and helped them develop into a strength of the team. Likewise, the bullpen was dominant, even if it looked nothing like it was projected to at the start of the season.

The competition for Manager of the Year was very tough. Cash had another great season managing the Rays to 99 wins, battling through injuries and suspensions to the team's best players. Bruce Bochy came out of retirement and helped the Texas Rangers win their first World Series.

Both are great managers and were deserving but today was Brandon Hyde's day. He took a young Orioles team that was projected to regress and led them to an American League best 101 wins (the second most wins in baseball) and a division title in the best division in baseball.

The Manager of the Year award has been given out annually since 1983. Hyde becomes just the fourth Orioles manager to win the award following Frank Robinson (1989), Davey Johnson (1997) and Buck Showalter (2014). The Orioles stuck with Hyde through the tough times and now both the O's and Hyde get to reap the benefits. Congratulations again to Brandon Hyde, the 2024 AL Manager of the Year.