Padres' Mike Shildt deserves to win Manager of the Year, but voter bias will prevail

If you're expecting San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt to be presented with an award at the end of the year, don't hold your breath. Though quite worthy of the National League Manager of the Year Award, Shildt will likely finish in second place behind Milwaukee Brewers' skipper Pat Murphy. Quite frankly, it wouldn't surprising to see Carlos Mendoza of the New York Mets surpass Shildt in the voting as well.

If the award were completely unbiased, Shildt should be the winner. While not a runaway, what Shildt has done in Year 1 with the Padres was truly remarkable. Though AJ Preller had a lot to do with the Padres' roster construction, Shildt took the plan and made it work.

But the Manager of the Year Award oftentimes goes to the one who does the most with the least. In other words, because the Brewers are a small market club that continually finds ways to win despite a small payroll, Murphy's accomplishments dwarf what Shildt did in San Diego this past season.

Padres' Mike Shildt deserves to win Manager of the Year, but Pat Murphy will take honor

But that ideology doesn't hold water. Now, if you want to debate why Dave Roberts has no business being anywhere near the award with three former MVPs and over $1 billion spent in free agency last offseason, we can have that discussion. But outside of the Dodgers success attempt to buy a World Series, every other manager in the sport deserves his just due regardless of whether they're operating a small, mid, or big market ball club.

Considering San Diego lost nearly all of its 2023 starting rotation (that included the NL Cy Young Award winner), one of the top-three players in baseball (Juan Soto), and one of the best closers in the game (Josh Hader), how can anyone take home the award over Shildt? The Padres skipper succeeded Bob Melvin and won more games in 2024 than the club did in 2023 with arguably less talent.

The fact that Shildt won't win has everything to do with perception, and nothing to do with reality. Before the season began, ESPN predicted the Padres would be a .500 team — just two wins better than they're prediction for the Brewers. Both teams finished with identical records despite the fact the NL Central was the worst division in MLB last season.

It may not be fair, Padres fans, but the reality is that Shildt will not win the 2024 NL Manager of the Year Award. Why? Because the Padres weren't supposed to be that bad.

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