Upper management

For once, the voters got it right.

When I started to think about who should win the Manager of the Year awards, the names of Ozzie Guillen and Bobby Cox popped into my head. Without a doubt, they both deserve it.

Guillen did the unthinkable with the Chicago White Sox. He led the Sox to the best record in the American League by using his bullpen wisely and figuring out a way to win with a rookie closer. One of the biggest positives about Ozzie is that he believes in his players, even when they are slumping. As we saw in the playoffs, he went with the same lineup almost every day. He believed in the squad that was on the field at that time.

In the offseason, White Sox general manager Kenny Williams gave Ozzie exactly what he needed. Williams traded away power (Carlos Lee) and brought in speed (Scott Podsednik and Tadahito Iguchi). This gave Guillen the ability to manage like a National Leaguer. He could have the Sox bunt and hit-and-run at any point in the batting order, and that kept the defense off balance. By having runners moving, he could create holes in the defense. This team was made to play for Ozzie.

The only other AL manager who had a chance to win the award was the Cleveland Indians' Eric Wedge, whom I chose in my AL awards column. He led a team of young, no-named players to within a couple games of making the playoffs. I would look for the Indians to compete for the AL Central title next year, especially if they can get Manny Ramirez.

As for Cox, he was dealt a much different hand than the ones he had the past 15 years. The Atlanta Braves no longer were a pitching machine that scored runs in key situations. They had become a team of youth and energy.

Cox's teams in the '90s were veteran clubs that would play smart baseball and take advantage of every mistake the opponent made. (It also helped that, in a three-game series, he could throw John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux.) The Braves played Cox's style of ball: good pitching, no mistakes, timely hitting. This year's Braves were different. Armed with newfound youth and vigor, they won with guys such as Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann and Adam LaRoche.

Atlanta's pitching staff was in disarray, but Cox still was able to get solid innings out of Smoltz and Tim Hudson (when he was healthy). However, it was guys such as Jorge Sosa and Horacio Ramirez that kept the club in the race.

Cox earned this award by showing he can win in other ways. He has the ability to change his style of managing to fit the type of personnel he has in the dugout. It also didn't hurt that Andruw Jones had an MVP-caliber year.

The only other option for the NL award was Phil Garner of the Houston Astros. Garner doesn't get a lot of respect around the league, but he brought the Astros back from a 9-13 start in April to a 22-7 run in July to put Houston back in the playoff hunt.