Rays’ Cash wins back-to-back AL manager honors
Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash became the second skipper to win Manager of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons, taking the American League award Tuesday night.
San Francisco’s Gabe Kapler won the NL honor.
Cash led the low-payroll Rays to a second consecutive AL East crown. Tampa Bay (100-62) finished with the AL’s best record before losing to Boston in the Division Series.
Bobby Cox had been the only person to win Manager of the Year two straight seasons, doing it with Atlanta in 2004-05.
The Rays made it to the World Series in 2020, but Cash came under criticism for removing starting pitcher Blake Snell in the final game. But if anything, quick hooks like that were a fairly normal strategy in this year’s postseason — perhaps another example of Cash and Tampa Bay being ahead of the curve on new ways to approach the game.
Seattle’s Scott Servais finished second behind Cash in the voting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Houston’s Dusty Baker was third.
Charlie Montoyo of the Blue Jays was fourth, followed by Alex Cora of the Red Sox, Tony La Russa of the White Sox and A.J. Hinch of the Tigers.
Cash received 19 of the 30 first-place votes. ANGELS, SYNDERGAARD REACH DEAL >> Righthander Noah Syndergaard and the Los Angeles Angels agreed on a one-year, $21 million deal, ESPN reported on Tuesday.
Syndergaard, who was a free agent, was extended an $18.4 million qualifying offer from the New York Mets last week.
The 29-year-old missed the entire 2020 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery before enduring setbacks in his rehabilitation. He returned to the club in late September and made two starts, posting an 0-1 record while pitching just two innings.
Syndergaard is 47-31 with a 3.32 ERA in 121 career appearances (120 starts) with New York. He made the All-Star team with the Mets in 2016, his second season. He finished that campaign with 14 wins and a 2.60 ERA, both career-bests.
Syndergaard, a firstround draft pick of Toronto in 2010, was traded to the Mets in December 2012 in a seven-player deal that saw R.A. Dickey, fresh off a Cy Young-winning season in New York, head to the Blue Jays. KENDRICK JOINING PHILLIES AS SPECIAL ASSISTANT >> Longtime major league infielder Howie Kendrick has joined the Philadelphia Phillies as special assistant to general manager Sam Fuld.
Kendrick, 38, retired after the 2020 season following a 15-year playing career with the Los Angeles Angels (2006-2014), Los Angeles Dodgers (2015-16), Phillies (2017) and Washington Nationals (2017-20). CLEVELAND WILL BE NAMED GUARDIANS >> Cleveland will have two teams called the Guardians.
The Major League Baseball franchise and a local roller derby club have reached a resolution in a lawsuit filed over the use of the name Guardians, allowing both to continue using it. The sides on Tuesday jointly announced an “amicable resolution,” an agreement that permits the Indians to continue their changeover to Guardians — a switch that was delayed due to the legal matter.