A's manager Bob Melvin voted American League's top skipper

OAKLAND - Few people in baseball are having a better offseason than Bob Melvin.

Two weeks after getting a contract extension through 2021, the A’s manager was named American League Manager of the Year.

Melvin received 18 of the 30 first-place votes for the award given out by Baseball Writers’ Association of America, finishing ahead of Boston’s Alex Cora (7) and Kevin Cash (5) of the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Braves’ Brian Snitker won the NL award.

It’s Melvin’s third time winning the award, tied with Chicago’s Joe Maddon and Baltimore’s Buck Showalter for the most among active major league managers. He won it with the A’s in 2012 and Arizona Diamondbacks in 2007. Melvin and Maddon trail former A’s manager Tony La Russa and Bobby Cox, who both won the award a record four times.

Voting was completed before the start of the postseason, meaning Cora’s run to a World Series title with the Red Sox was not taken into consideration for the award. But even if that were the case, it’d still be hard to go with anyone other than Melvin, especially if you ask A’s GM David Forst.

“The Red Sox had an incredible year and Tampa is constantly competing with us for doing the most with the least, but I just think the personality of this team and Bob’s track record of getting the most of these guys stood out,” Forst said in a conference call. “I know he was left off one ballot, so I’m glad he won, because the last thing this country needs is another recount. Luckily we didn’t have to go back and find out what happened. My unobjective opinion was he absolutely deserved to win.”

Given the adversity the A’s faced since spring training, the job Melvin did to lead the A’s to their first playoff appearance since 2014 was truly remarkable.

With top pitching prospect A.J. Puk and projected No. 3 starter Jharel Cotton going down early in spring with Tommy John surgery, just the start of an avalanche that would end up being five pitchers lost to season-ending arm injuries in a group which included opening-day starter Kendall Graveman and Sean Manaea, Melvin was tasked with piecing together a rotation.

Despite the grim future that loomed with so many injuries, the A’s thrived with a rotation that featured major league outcasts like Trevor Cahill, Brett Anderson, and Edwin Jackson. Rookies like reliever Lou Trivino and outfielder Ramón Laureano came out of nowhere with major contributions, and the A’s went on a run to end the season as the best team in baseball after June 18 with a 63-29 record.

“At the beginning we were a little taken aback by the fact that we lost so many guys early on,” Melvin said. “But I think after that, it was kind of like a badge of honor that someone goes down and we have to continue to have expectations to win and know that we have depth in our organization. One of the first things I say to the group of about 60 players in spring training is we go through 40 to 55 players every year, so if you’re in that room, you have a chance to be a part of this.”

Going through 14 different starting pitchers, the A’s somehow managed to improve their 2017 win total by 22 games, most by any team in baseball, as they finished the 2018 regular season at 97-65 before getting knocked out of the playoffs by the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card game at Yankee Stadium.

The season ended with a future that now looks brighter than ever with Gold Glovers at the corner infield spots in Matt Chapman and Matt Olson as well as major league home run leader Khris Davis and lights-out All-Star closer Blake Treinen, leading the way.

Not bad for a club that at the start of spring training was projected to finish hovering around .500, if healthy.

“Our expectation this spring was to get the right 25 guys for when the season started and get better and gain confidence as the season went along, and that was the case,” Melvin said. “Next year is about building on the success we have and trying to up the ante and do better than we did this year.”