Blue Jays: Why Charlie Montoyo deserves to win Manager of the Year

Toronto Blue Jays skipper Charlie Montoyo is a worthy candidate to win AL Manager of the Year.

Last night, all the finalists were named for each award for the truncated 2020 season. For the Toronto Blue Jays, Hyun Jin Ryu is a finalist for the AL Cy Young award while Charlie Montoyo is a candidate to take home Manager of the Year for the American League.

While the legitimacy of the awards may be put into question due to how short the season was, regardless of who wins Manager of the Year, this award should have no question surrounding how legit it is.

Montoyo is up against Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays and Rick Renteria of the Chicago White Sox who is no longer employed by the team, for the award.

More from Toronto Blue Jays News

• Matt Chapman has been exactly what the Blue Jays needed
• Blue Jays: The goalposts are moving in the right direction
• Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays advance to the Championship Series
• Blue Jays: Comparisons for Alek Manoah’s Second Season
• Blue Jays: Adam Cimber, the unlikely decision King

While each candidate has their reasons for winning the award, I think Montoyo is the one that deserves it.

This Blue Jays team didn’t have many expectations going into the season. Despite the signing of Ryu in the offseason, many thought they were at least a year away from being serious contenders. Yet, they went on to post a winning record of 32-28 and grabbed the final playoff spot for their first postseason appearance since 2016.

Another way this could be portrayed is after a 95 loss season and the fifth-worst record across the league in 2019, the Blue Jays finished the 2020 season with a winning record. A big turnaround in a year. While there were far less games played, it’s still an accomplishment nonetheless.

Also, the Jays didn’t have a home to play in for the first 2+ weeks of the season. After being denied the right to stage their home games in Canada days before the season started, they scrambled to find a stadium to host their home games.

At first, it seemed like they were going to play home games at the beautiful PNC Park in Pittsburgh but the Pennsylvania government denied it. Then Baltimore became a possibility but ended in the same result as Pittsburgh.

The organization then decided that Sahlen Field in Buffalo, where the Bisons play, would be their home stadium for the 2020 season. It was quite the adjustment for the players who voiced their preference to host games in a major league stadium but Montoyo was able to manage his players well despite the conditions.

Also, Sahlen Field wasn’t ready halfway until August which meant that home games leading up until then had to be played at opposing teams’ fields. While opposing teams got the comfort of playing in their own stadiums, the Blue Jays didn’t.

We’ll find out if Montoyo wins Manager of the Year on November 10th.