Oakland's Bob Melvin, Atlanta's Brian Snitker win Manager of the Year awards

Bob Melvin

Oakland's Bob Melvin and Atlanta's Brian Snitker were named Managers of the Year in their respective leagues Tuesday.

For me, one of these winners was a surprise and one was not.

The 57-year-old Melvin is one of the best managers in the American League, and this is his third time winning the award. In fact, 2018 might have been his best managerial job, as he took an Athletics team with the lowest Opening Day payroll in baseball ($68 million) and molded it into a 97-win club that earned an AL wild-card spot.

Oakland improved by 22 wins in 2018, the most improvement by any team in baseball. Here's the thing that stood out to me about the A's: They used 34 pitchers to get through the season and not a single one of them threw enough innings to qualify for the ERA title.

It truly was a mix-and-match situation in Oakland, as injuries forced Melvin to give starts to journeyman pitchers such as Edwin Jackson, Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill.

I found it remarkable that the A's finished second in the AL West, which might have been the deepest division in baseball. Full credit goes Melvin, his staff and his players for the year that they had.

Melvin got 18 of a possible 30 first-place votes. Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora got seven first-place votes and finished second. The other five first-place votes when to the third-place finisher, Tampa Bay's Kevin Cash.

I'm a little surprised that Snitker won the award in the National League, not that he isn't deserving. The Braves had an 18-game turnaround under his direction and were surprise champions in the NL East.

Coming into the season, everyone picked the Washington Nationals to win that division. Instead, Atlanta spent 115 days in first place and never lost more than four in a row. That's the sign of a good manager -- the absence of a long losing streak. Most "experts" had the Braves finishing third at the start of the season, but their rebuilding plan came together a year ahead of schedule and quieted skeptics.

Snitker has to be enjoying this success. He's been with the Atlanta organization for 40 years, and often, a longtime organization man doesn't get the opportunity to manage. However, he had a big year in only his second season at the helm.

That said, I thought Milwaukee's Craig Counsell would win the NL award. Counsell guided the Brewers to a league-best 96 wins and the championship of the NL Central. Despite having significant deficiencies in the starting rotation, Milwaukee reached Game 7 of the NLCS before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Everyone, and I mean everyone, had the Cubs winning the NL Central this season. And given what the Cubs and Dodgers have accomplished in recent years, who had the Brewers emerging as the team with the most regular-season wins in the NL? Certainly not me.

But, the majority of voters gave the nod to Snitker. He got 17 of the 30 first-place votes. Counsell got 11 first-place votes and finished second. Colorado's Bud Black got one first-place vote and took third.

Scott Kazmir signs 3-year deal with Dodgers

It's always been comical to me the past couple years listening to people complain about the White Sox having "too many left-handers" in their starting rotation.

If you think the Sox have too many lefties, take a look at the Los Angeles Dodgers' projected rotation for 2016.

The Dodgers signed free-agent left-hander Scott Kazmir to a three-year deal reportedly worth $48 million on Wednesday, adding him to a group of starting pitching options that includes ace Clayton Kershaw, Alex Wood, Brett Anderson and Hyun-jin Ryu.

Yes, all five of those pitchers are left-handed.

The Dodgers whiffed on their two right-handed starting pitching targets. They failed to retain free agent Zack Greinke, who eventually signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and their deal with Hisashi Iwakuma fell apart after a failed physical. Iwakuma eventually re-signed with the Seattle Mariners.

That left the Dodgers desperate for starting pitching, and they ended up signing the guy who was probably the best available arm remaining on the market at this point. Kazmir had a 3.10 ERA in 31 combined starts with the Oakland Athletics and Houston Astros last year. His stuff should translate well as he switches over to the National League.

The only "problem" for the Dodgers here is that Kazmir is left-handed, just like all their other starters. But to me, that's really no problem at all. I think you have to find five guys who can pitch and go with them, regardless of what hand they use to throw the ball.