Williams a finalist for NL Manager of the Year

By Dan Kolko

Nationals

November 04, 2014, 1:46pm

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Matt Williams was recently selected as the Sporting News National League Manager of the Year, an award voted on by his peers. Tonight, we found out that he's one of three finalists for the league-endorsed NL Manager of the Year award, voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Also nominated for this Manager of the Year award are the Giants' Bruce Bochy and the Pirates' Clint Hurdle.

Bochy won the award back in 1996, when he managed the Padres, while Hurdle is the defending champ, so to speak, having won NL Manager of the Year in 2013. Williams, in his first year as a big league manager, led the Nationals to a 96-66 record and a NL East title. The Nats finished 17 games ahead of the Braves and Mets, who tied for second place in the division. This comes after the Nationals missed the playoffs in 2013, going 86-76 and finishing 10 games behind Atlanta. The award is voted on after the end of the regular season, so postseason results do not factor in. The Orioles' Buck Showalter, the Royals' Ned Yost and the Angels' Mike Scioscia are the three nominees for American League Manager of the Year.