Portland Sea Dogs manager Todd Claus has been named Double-A manager of the year by Baseball America magazine after leading his team to their first Eastern League championship this season.

The 36-year-old Claus coached Portland to a 72-67 regular season record and second straight Eastern League playoff appearance in his second season with the Sea Dogs despite having 49 different players and enduring a 10-game losing streak in August.

Portland defeated Trenton three games to one in the northern division playoff before knocking off defending champion Akron 3-to-1 in the finals.