I'm participating in the newly formed Baseball Bloggers Alliance to vote on post-season awards in much the same fashion as the the Base Ball Writers Association does. Over the next few weeks you'll see my votes to various NL awards. The other current member of the "Cincinnati Chapter" is Shawn at Cincinnati Reds Blog.
Anyway, I'll probably give a bit more explanation on other awards in the future, but I find the MOY award to be hard to justify without really watching a manager on a daily basis. So, like any good manager, I'll go with my gut:
1. Jim Tracy - took over a team that was 10 games under .500 and got them into the playoffs with the 3rd best record in the NL. Hard to argue with that resume.
2. Fredi Gonzalez - with a payroll of around $37 million (half the Reds payroll), the Marlins finished 2nd in a competitive NL East.
3. Tony LaRussa - this spot could go to several managers, but I think the Cardinals were the biggest surprise to me in the NL. I honestly expected them to finish in 3rd or 4th in the Central this year.