I've flown 737's for four different operators.
At Ansett it was SOP to "De-select" speed to leave the AT in ARM for min speed protection (Some choose to call it Alpha floor- it isn't!).
Boeing came out against this as they felt the possibility of uncommanded throttle activitey near the ground increased the risk of tail strike, and the other operators I've flown for have an "All in or all out" automation policy.
I personally liked having the AT in HOLD mode, but Boeing is the final arbiter.
Incidentally, another AN SOP was to fly manually, but leave the AT in MCP SPEED mode. It maintained the bug speed, then went into RETARD at 26ft RA.