Bochy up for AL MOY; Seager, Semien eye AL MVP
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ARLINGTON -- The Rangers are looking to add more hardware to the trophy case this winter.
On Monday evening it was announced that Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was named a finalist for the American League Manager of the Year Award, while shortstop Corey Seager and second baseman Marcus Semien were named finalists for the AL Most Valuable Player Award alongside 2021 AL MVP Shohei Ohtani. Voting was conducted by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Kevin Cash of the Rays -- the 2020 and ‘21 AL Manager of the Year Award winner -- and Brandon Hyde of the Orioles were the other two finalists for Manager of the Year. Bochy, who was named the NL Manager of the Year in 1996 with the Padres, is looking to become the eighth skipper to win the award in both leagues.
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In his first year with the Rangers, Bochy led the club to the first World Series championship in franchise history. The 68-year-old came out of retirement to win his fourth title, taking Texas from 68 wins in 2022 to 90 wins in ‘23.
Semien played all 162 games in the regular season, as well as every game in the Rangers’ postseason run. He slashed .276/.348/.478 with 29 homers, 40 doubles and 100 RBIs. He led the club in both fWAR (6.3) and bWAR (7.4), both of which trailed Ohtani for the AL lead.
Seager played in just 119 games after spending time on the injured list with two injuries, but he still accumulated 33 home runs and 96 RBIs. He posted career highs in batting average (.327), on-base percentage (.390), slugging percentage (.623) and OPS+ (170).
Seager trailed Semien and Ohtani in both fWAR (6.1) and bWAR (6.9).
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Shockingly, third baseman Josh Jung was not named a finalist for the AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award. The finalists were Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee, Boston’s Triston Casas and Baltimore’s Gunnar Henderson.
Jung was the AL Rookie of the Month in April and May and was the American League’s starting third baseman in the All-Star Game in Seattle, but he was on the injured list from Aug. 7-Sept. 18 with a left thumb fracture.
Jung finished the season with a .266/.315/.467 slash line, 23 home runs and 70 RBIs in 122 games.
The AL Manager of the Year Award winner will be announced on Nov. 14, and the AL MVP Award winner will be unveiled on Nov. 16, both on MLB Network at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT.