Outside The Confines: Even more awards!

More awards, you say? Sure! There were two major ones this week. The Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year awards were doled out since our Monday links roundup, so let’s have a look at the winners!

First, I think it’s probably safe to say there are not a lot of surprises here, except perhaps in terms of Manager of the Year nods, where regular-season wins certainly mattered more than postseason wins, with Gabe Kapler and Kevin Cash getting the wins.

For the Rookie of the Year wins there were no surprises at all, as the Rays’ Randy Arozarena and Reds’ Jonathan India took home the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year award for their tremendous efforts (Randy’s felt like it lasted forever!)

Now on to the links (and it’s been a busy week so far).

• Stephanie Apstein looks at what Gabe Kapler did to turn the Giants around and earn his MoY win.
• Alden Gonzalez focuses on Kevin Cash winning the first AL back-to-back manager wins.
• Dan Szymborski explains (or defends?) his NL Rookie of the Year ballot.
• The Cleveland baseball team is now able to use the Guardians name, as they reached an agreement with the roller derby club who already had the name. Story from AP.
• Zack Meisel and Daniel Kaplan have additional Cleveland news, as the Dolans are looking to sell a larger share of the team. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Tyler Kepner gives a stirring case for Minnie Miñoso to get his due and get inclusion in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
• On a similar note, Jay Jaffe continues his series looking at the case for every player eligible for this year’s Era selection, this time with Jim Kaat.
• The lack of front-office diversity came to a head at GM meetings as White Sox’s Ken Williams couldn’t help sharing his frustration with other managers. Story by Ken Rosenthal. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Related, MLB is now making changes to the “Selig Rule” that focuses on internal promotions (and can thus keep deserving outside candidates from getting a shot). Story by Brittany Ghiroli. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Joakim Soria has retired, and Brendan Gawlowski looks over the pitcher’s career.
• Dan Lyons looks at the one-year deal signed between Noah Syndergaard and... the Angels?
• Alden Gonzalez grades the Syndegaard move.
• And of course Ken Rosenthal gives his two cents as to why the Angels would sign a one-year deal with Thor. (The Athletic subscription required.)
• Speaking of big moves, the Blue Jays locked José Berrios down for seven years (story by Michael Shapiro) and the Detroit Tigers finally remembered how to sign mutli-year deals with a five-year signing of their own, with Eduardo Rodriguez (story by Andrew Gastelum).
• Guess who’s back, back again?

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Make it so.