No, John Gibbons did not make the cut for this list. Apolovies moreso to the final cuts, Charlie Manuel, who may not be long for his current position, and Buddy Black, who just may be moving up the list with a bullet before too long himself.

I voted for Scioscia by just a hair over Gardenhire .. sure, you have a HOFer in Cox on the list, and maybe even another one in Leyland ... but I think Captain Mike is the best right now.

 

Manny Acta.  Or did he get fired when I wasn't looking?

He's the best, I'm not sure he's the "best" though.  He understands stats, and how they influence in-game decisions.  Wow!

For example, someone convinced him that bunting was mostly a losing proposition by showing him the run expectancy tables.

Jim Leyland?  The guy who uses moustache-balling Todd Jones, the second biggest late game top-stepper after Joe Borowski, as his closer? 

I go with Tito.  He's got the demeanour and is as solid tacticly as they come.

Interesting that the managers considered for this poll consist of (a) future hall-of-famers, (b) 2007 playoff managers including a few who never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever would've been considered six months ago, coincidentally all in the same irrelevant division!, and (c) Ron Gardenhire.

Since it's very hard to objectively say who the best manager is with the limited information we as fans have I think it basically comes down to personal preference. With that in mind I'm making it two Other votes for Acta. Of the non-Other candidates I'd probably pick Leyland, but that's just going off his reputation - it sounds like he's a really great motivator, but how would I know. I think I'd consider Cox, Tito, Wedge and Joe Maddon as well.

Leyland and Wedge may actually deserve a little bit of respect for giving the closer's job to men who are not the best pitchers in the bullpen - it frees them up to use better pitchers for the truly difficult situations - tie game in the seventh or eighth.

Bobby Cox is going to the Hall of Fame, and I have all sorts of respect for Mike Scioscia. But Lou Piniella has won in New York, Cincinnati, Seattle, and Chicago. That impresses me to no end. Joe Torre, like Casey Stengel before him, was a loser in multiple stops before coming to New York. Leyland (Pittsburgh and Detroit) and Cox (Toronto and Atlanta) are the only other guys in this group who have taken two different teams to the post-season. Piniella had 89 and 90 win seasons with the Yankees, two 90 win seasons (and a championship) in Cincinnati, four 90 win seasons (three division titles) in Seattle, and he got the Cubs to play some October games this year.

Only Tampa Bay has resisted his powers - but Tampa Bay can do that.

And by "always" I do mean over the last 4/5 months =)

Leyland and Wedge may actually deserve a little bit of respect for giving the closer's job to men who are not the best pitchers in the bullpen - it frees them up to use better pitchers for the truly difficult situations - tie game in the seventh or eighth.

Agreed.  But we sure would've wondered about Cito had he used Duane Ward and Tom Henke in the 7th and 8th and let Jim Acker collect all those "saves"...