Where Craig Counsell Finished In Manager Of The Year Voting

This week has been all about awards in Major League Baseball. 

On Monday, the league announced both the National League and American League Rookie of the Year. On Tuesday, the league presented both the National League and American League Manager of the Year awards. 

Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell was not in the running to win this prestigious award. He wasn't named a finalist for the National League Manager of the Year Award a few weeks ago, so he obviously wasn't going to win it. 

The three finalists were Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy, Atlanta Braves manager Walt Weiss, and Philadelphia Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly. Murphy wound up winning his third straight National League Manager of the Year award in another landslide. 

Murphy received 20 of the 30 first-place votes. Weiss received seven first-place votes. Mattingly received one, and San Diego Padres manager Craig Stammen received two. Those four managers rounded out the top-4 in voting for this award. 

Although Counsell didn’t receive any first-place votes, he did receive one second-place vote from a voter in Cincinnati. Gary Schatz of BBWAA was the only voter to give Counsell a top-3 vote among the 30 writers. 

That one second-place vote helped Counsell finish sixth in the National League Manager of the Year award. Murphy (first), Weiss (second), Mattingly (third), Stammen (fourth), and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (fifth) finished ahead of him in this voting. 

This is the second straight year that Counsell has received votes for the National League Manager of the Year award. Last year, he received more votes overall and finished fourth. The Cubs manager received seven second-place votes and three third-place votes.

Counsell has never won this award in his 12 years as a manager. He has gotten close, though. 

The long-time manager finished as the National League Manager of the Year runner-up in 2018, 2019, and 2021 with the Brewers. He also has two fourth-place finishes (2017, 2025) and a sixth-place finish (2026). 

Counsell deserves a lot of credit for the way he managed throughout the 2026 season. Even though the season didn’t end the way that the Cubs wanted, Counsell had to navigate a pitching group that couldn’t stay healthy. 

Cade Horton missed most of the season after Tommy John surgery. Justin Steele suffered a setback in the spring and didn’t pitch at all in 2026. Ben Brown missed the final 3 ½ months with a neck issue. Despite all that, the Cubs still finished 89-73 in the regular season. 

Counsell has now received votes for this award in seven of his last 10 years as a manager.