NEW YORK (AP) – Rocco Baldelli of the Minnesota Twins has narrowly beaten out Aaron Boone of the New York Yankees to win AL Manager of the Year.

Both received 13 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America revealed Tuesday night, but Baldelli got more second-place votes in his first year on the job. The 38-year-old is the youngest to win the award.

Baldelli took over a team that won 78 games in 2018 and pushed them to 101 victories and an AL Central title. He worked tightly with Minnesota’s analytics-focused front office – a shift from predecessor Paul Molitor, who won this award in 2017 – and oversaw a turnaround propelled by the team’s major league record 307 home runs.