Rays reward Cash for 90-win season with new contract
The Tampa Bay Rays, who won more games than any American League team that didn’t make the playoffs, have rewarded manager Kevin Cash with a contract extension that runs through 2024, plus a club option for 2025.
The 40-year-old Cash had one year remaining on a five-year, $5 million deal he signed when he replaced Joe Maddon after the 2014 season.
Financial terms were not disclosed. Both Cash, who had no previous managerial experience when he was hired, and management said it was an easy decision to continue their relationship after a bounce-back season.
“Kevin has a long list of positives . ... It’s been a joy to see him blossom,” general manager Erik Neander said Tuesday. “He’s very deserving of this extension. We’re excited for the years ahead.”
The budget-minded Rays surprisingly won 90 games, finishing third in the AL East behind the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, despite trimming payroll last winter and purging the roster again in July to transform themselves into a young team with a promising future.
Cash, who turns 41 in December, has led the Rays to a 318-330 record over four seasons.
“There’s reason to be really excited about the way our team played, the youth and the athleticism, and the way these guys really came together in the second half of the year,” Cash said.
The Rays lost 12 of 15 to begin the season, digging themselves into a hole few people thought they were capable of escaping after trading Evan Longoria, Steven Souza Jr., Corey Dickerson and Jake Odorizzi and losing starting pitcher Alex Cobb to free agency.
The club chopped more salary in July, trading pitchers Chris Archer, Nathan Eovaldi and Alex Colome, as well as catcher Wilson Ramos and outfielder Denard Span to make way for younger players.
With first-time All-Star Blake Snell leading the majors with 21 wins and an AL-best 1.89 ERA and Cash overseeing an innovative plan to use “openers” and “bullpen days” to compensate for a shortage of proven starting pitching, the Rays went 41-25 after the All-Star break, including 19-9 in September.
DECISION TIME FOR BRAVES >> After a massive rebuilding job and three straight 90-loss seasons, the Atlanta Braves suddenly returned to prominence in large part because of a bountiful farm system led by Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies and a seemingly endless supply of dynamic young pitchers.
The Braves’ first playoff appearance since 2013 ended in a 6-2 loss to the Dodgers in Game 4 on Monday, so now they must decide if manager Brian Snitker will continue to lead the way.
Snitker is not yet under contract for 2019, though there’s nothing to indicate he won’t return for his third full year at the helm. The decision rests with general manager Alex Anthopoulos, who held meetings Tuesday with Snitker and the coaching staff but wasn’t available to the media.
Freddie Freeman gave Snitker a robust endorsement.
“I’d love to have him back,” the slugging first baseman said. “He did a remarkable job. It’s really hard to handle 25 to 35 personalities, and he’s one of the best at it.”
PADRES FIRE STAIRS >> The San Diego Padres have fired hitting coach Matt Stairs after one year on the job as the team continued to rank at the bottom of the majors in key offensive stats.
The rebuilding Padres finished last in the NL West at 66-96, five losses worse than 2017.
Stairs’ replacement will be the Padres’ 10th hitting coach since Petco Park opened in 2004. He had replaced Alan Zinter, who was fired on Sept. 1, 2017.
Stairs spent the 2017 season as the hitting coach for the Philadelphia Phillies, his first professional coaching position. He played parts of 19 seasons in the major leagues with 12 different franchises, including the A’s from 1996-2000 and the Padres in 2010.