Rays give manager Kevin Cash multi-year contract extension

Normally, this time of year is filled with organizational changes that are less than positive. We have already seen teams part ways with managers such as Buck Showalter, Jeff Banister, and Mike Scioscia and that does not include the rumors of others potentially on the chopping block and the countless amounts of organizational turnover in front offices, scouting departments, etc.

However, we do also get some good news from time to time. The Tampa Bay Rays were a pleasant surprise to end the season. Tampa was very busy at the trade deadline as sellers when they parted ways with Chris Archer, Wilson Ramos, and others. The team hadn’t performed exceedingly poorly or anything, but with their payroll constraints and the fact that the AL East was never going to be in the cards given how well the Yankees and Red Sox were performing, a sell-off was widely seen as the best move.

It would have been reasonable to expect that the Rays were going to struggle as a result. Instead, they thrived with the new roster and the team rewarded manager Kevin Cash for their strong finish.

Around the trade deadline, the Rays were hovering a little bit above .500 and did not appear as though they would finish much better than that given their division competition. Instead of folding, the Rays roared to a strong finish under Cash to a 90-72 record on the season as they got great performances out of Blake Snell, Joey Wendle, Willy Adames, and others.

As Glaser notes in his report, Cash is now under contract through 2024 with a team option for 2025. No financial terms are available as of now for his deal, but it seems probable that he got a bit of a bump for his strong work at the Rays’ helm. Cash has been Tampa’s manager since 2015 and has posted a 318-330 record in four seasons.