I am in no way a huge supporter of Ned Yost, but I've found myself cursing his name less and less the last couple of months. Amazing what winning can do to a guy's attitude. I seem to remember Ned's name getting tossed around last summer as a top candidate for Manager of the Year before our collapse late in the season. So.....why not this year? As I see it, he only has one other competitor, and that's Piniella. If the Cubs win 100 games or so, I can see Lou getting the award. But if the Brewers finish with 90-95 wins and get the Wild Card, is Ned a shoe-in? The Cubs were picked by most writers as the NL Central favorites, if not the NL pennant favorites. The Brewers lost some of their "trendy-pickedness" that they had entering 2007 and some writers even picked us to finish behind the Reds! Does Ned deserve it? I think so. He's kept the team on a pretty even keel the whole season. After a rough start, the Brewers didn't panic and haven't really endured a long rough stretch since.