There are a number of MLB skippers worthy of taking home the Manager of the Year award, but Joe Maddon of the Chicago Cubs is a no-brainer to take home the National League honors in 2015.
Yes, Mike Matheny led the Cardinals to the best record in the MLB, Clint Hurdle guided the Pirates to their best season since 1991, and Terry Collins helped the Mets to their first NL East title since 2006.
However, this is the first year Maddon managed the Cubs it was also his first managing in the National League. The fact that he was able to exert such overarching influence in a few short months is nothing short of admirable.
Maddon was hired in November after spending nine years with the Tampa Bay Rays and had much success there, but this is perhaps his best work yet. Let's take a look at what he's done in 2015.
While the 61-year-old was put in a favorable situation in Chicago, such success was not expected in year one. He led the Cubs to a 97-65 record, which was their best campaign since 2008. The last time they won more than 90 games before that was 1989.
At this point in the season the Cubs have five rookies (Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Addison Russell, Javier Baez and Jorge Soler) on the roster - all of whom have made significant contributions to the team. Yes, they're tremendously talented, but much of their success has to do with Maddon and his style of managing.
"He creates an atmosphere where guys play loose," one rival scout told Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
As you can see by the way he eats in the dugout:
"Maddon has done a better job than anyone ever has in 'changing the culture' in Chicago, says a rival exec," Heyman added.
It's no easy task for a young player to absorb all the pressure when making his MLB debut. The Cubs invested an awful lot in these young players and all of them were likely aware of that, but Maddon eased the tension by expressing confidence in his roster, encouraging the players and being candid in his responses to reporters.
Maddon constantly talked his guys up in the media, yet was open about their struggles and shortcomings, which ultimately made them better as time went on. Perhaps with the exception of Schwarber, every other rookie experienced a bad slump or was the subject of negative rumors.
Bryant led the National League in strikeouts with 199 and at one point struck out 86 times over the course of 65 games. His average dipped to .244 at the beginning of August as he struggled mightily throughout July. What did Maddon have to say about that?
"I'm very much aware that that's going to happen," Maddon told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times. "That he's going to have his hard times. It's going to be difficult. He's going to look like a first-year player on occasion. Because that's what he is. At those moments, it's up to us as a staff to really help guide him through that."
"He's out there every day. It's something new for him to be under this kind of a microscope. All of a sudden he's an All-Star. So there's a lot going on there."
As for the others...
Baez struggled throughout the offseason and failed to make the Opening Day roster, but Maddon continually praised the youngster and even made a trip down to Puerto Rico to visit Baez in January.
"I'm a new member of the Cubs as a leader, and Javier is a big part of our future," Maddon told the Chicago Tribune. "I come to give support and develop a relationship -- that you trust me."
Soler once again battled injury troubles this season. He was sidelined for the entire month of June and missed nearly a month from late August to late September. There were rumors circulating that Soler was perhaps in danger of being left off the postseason roster because he had missed a lot of time and only had seven home runs and 42 RBIs in 90 games. His .724 OPS was also a bit of a concern.
Well, Maddon stuck with the 23-year-old and he went 4-for-7 with three runs scored, six walks, two home runs and four RBIs in the NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals en route to the Cubs' first NLCS since 2003.
And lastly, Russell was not known for his offense this season. The 21-year-old batted just .242/.307/.389 with 60 runs scored, 13 home runs and 54 RBIs in 142 games. Nonetheless, Maddon remained optimistic because of Russell's poise at the MLB level, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Not before long, Russell was the team's starting shortstop and provided a significant upgrade over Starlin Castro (which was another internal situation Maddon handled with class). He drastically improved the team's defense on the left side of the infield, which contributed to the Cubs' 50-25 record in the second half of the season.
"The thing that stands out is how simple he is in his approach to defense," Maddon told the Chicago Tribune.
"What he does is right. What he does is the way I'd teach it. He is simple, and I've always said, for me, defense should really lack chrome."
His influence in developing and encouraging younger players comes as no surprise, however. Maddon's tenure in Tampa Bay was all about cultivating talented, yet inexperienced players such as David Price, B.J. Upton, Ben Zobrist, Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza and Evan Longoria, among others.
Let's also not forget how Maddon has made the most out of a mediocre bullpen, stayed creative with his lineups and maximized production from other players such as Chris Coghlan, Chris Denorfia and Kyle Hendricks.
"He's had the most impact a manager could have on a team in his first year," catcher David Ross told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. "His importance can't be overstated. Just his calmness, how collected he is, how he communicates, how nothing seems to be a big deal. His personality in general really rubs off on this group.
"His personality is probably as good of a fit for this team as you can get."
Oh yeah, and he also bought Cubs fans a round of drinks after his introductory press conference in the offseason. Does this guy get any better?
Given the resources Maddon possessed this season compared to the Cardinals (who have been competitive for the past 20 years), the Pirates (who have made the postseason three straight years with pretty much the same core of players) and the Mets (who arguably have the best pitching staff in the MLB, which kept them afloat during the first half), he certainly deserves his third Manager of the Year Award and his first in the National League.
