American League Manager of the Year: Ron...

...Washington

First of all, keep in mind that Manager of the Year balloting only takes into account the regular season -- so erase, if you can, another dismal playoff performance and the fact that Texas did what the Twins couldn't do by eliminating the Yankees from the postseason.

That being said, it's a close call for the American League's top manager award.

And a "hometown call" is either going to go in Ron Gardenhire's favor because he's the local guy or against him because the local fans see every flaw -- real or imagined -- in his performance. Is it Gardy's fault that Francisco Liriano has some ace statistics but hasn't performed as needed in the games when he needs to be an ace? Is it Gardy's fault that Jesse Crain's sizzling streak ended during the final weekend of the regular season? Is the fact that Joe Mauer didn't hit 90 home runs, bat .550 and drive in 225 runs while catching 162 games (as some people seem to expect in return for his megacontract) the manager's fault?

It will not be an injustice if Gardy comes in second to Ron Washington.

Go back to spring training, and the talk of the major leagues was how Seattle was putting together a team that would challenge the dominance of the Los Angeles Angels in the AL West. Texas and Oakland were afterthoughts.

The Rangers finished nine games ahead of Oakland, with the Angels and Mariners at division's bottom.

In the bullpen, Washington entrusted his closer role to a midseason call-up from 2009, Neftali Feliz, who made the jump from set-up man to 40-save closer. The set-up men were a collection of young and old that Washington managed to put in the right spots to win his division without heavy breathing in the final weeks.

And Cliff Lee, you say?

The prize July acquisition was 4-6 with a 3.98 ERA in his 15 regular-season starts after joining the Rangers. I remember a comment or two along the way about how Brian Duensing was better. Duensing was 8-2, 2.99 during that same span. Better performance, yes. Better pitcher, uhhhhhhhh, welllllllllllllll, get serious.

In the longer view, Washington in his fourth year took a team that hadn't won a title in more than a decade -- and continually disappointed under the managing genius Buck Showalter -- and pushed the right buttons to win his division. Gardy took a team that has been expected to contend annually and got the predictable outcome. It was a team deep enough to absorb the loss of Justin Morneau, and the right replacements were chosen and acquired when Joe Nathan was sidelined.

Gardy did a good managing job -- and I have no problem saying it was the second best in the American League.