GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Just like the American League Division Series, A.J. Hinch and the Tigers came up just short of Stephen Vogt and the Guardians.

Vogt, the Guardians’ first-year skipper, was named AL Manager of the Year on Tuesday night.

Hinch, Vogt and Kansas City’s Matt Quatraro were named the finalists last week by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. The final results were announced live Tuesday night on MLB Network.

Vogt took 27 of the 30 first-place votes. Quatraro took two and Hinch got one. Quatraro got 19 second-place votes and six third-place votes. Hinch got six second-place votes and 18 third-place votes.

Hinch earned the recognition primarily to the team’s second-half surge. On Aug. 10, the Tigers were 55-63 and 10 games out of a playoff spot. Two weeks earlier, they had traded away several key players, including ace Jack Flaherty, to stock up on future prospects. Instead of giving up on the season, Hinch and the Tigers became the hottest team in baseball.

Detroit Tigers Manager A.J. Hinch, left, celebrates with pitching coach Chris Fetter after the team clinched a playoff berth with a win over the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 27, 2024. (Getty Images)
Detroit Tigers Manager A.J. Hinch, left, celebrates with pitching coach Chris Fetter after the team clinched a playoff berth with a win over the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 27, 2024. (Getty Images)

From there, the Tigers went 31-13 to secure a wild card spot, with Hinch embracing “pitching chaos” and using a bevy of relievers to patch holes in a depleted starting rotation. Then, they were able to beat Hinch’s former team, the Houston Astros, in the wild card round to advance to the American League Division Series. They lost that best-of-five series to Cleveland, 3-2.

As odd as it seems given the vibes around the team, Hinch and the Tigers had the smallest win improvement compared to the other two Manager of the Year finalists. Detroit went 78-84 in 2023. Comparatively, Cleveland won only 76 games, and Kansas City won just 56.

Vogt’s Guardians went 92-69 — 6.5 games better than Kansas City and Detroit — to take the AL Central. They also beat Detroit and advanced to the ALCS.

The Royals went 86-76, the same record as the Tigers, but that adds up to a 30-win improvement year over year. It was up to voters to decide who deserved more credit for their turnaround, Quatraro or Kansas City’s general manager J.J. Picollo, who used an expanded payroll to bring in impact players like Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo.

Hinch would have been the first Tiger to win Manager of the Year since Jim Leyland took the award in 2006. Sparky Anderson also won it in 1984 and 1987.