ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As Kevin Cash’s undistinguished playing career was wrapping up 10 or so years ago, he was just hoping for opportunities to stay in the game.
He did some advance scouting for Texas at the tail end of 2011 and for Toronto in 2012, then got hired in Cleveland by Terry Francona, his former Boston manager, as the bullpen coach for 2013-14.
Cash, somewhat surprisingly, got interviewed for Rangers manager right after the 2014 season, but was passed over for Jeff Banister. A month later, Cash got another expected call, to talk with officials of his hometown Rays about replacing Joe Maddon, who opted to leave the team after a mostly successful nine-year run.
Cash was 36 at the time and had never managed a game at any level, but the Rays saw enough to hire him with the expectation he would grow into the job.
That turned out to be a pretty good call.
Cash on Tuesday night won the Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s American League Manager of the Year award for the second straight year, finishing ahead of Seattle’s Scott Servais and Houston’s Dusty Baker. Cash got 19 of the 30 first-place votes.
San Francisco’s Gabe Kapler was voted NL Manager of the Year.
Cash, who turns 44 next month, is the first to win back-to-back AL awards and second overall in the 38-year history of the award, joining Hall of Famer Bobby Cox, who won for the NL Braves in 2004-05. (Only eight managers have won more than twice, including Maddon, who got two with the Rays and one with the Cubs.)
Cash, who finished third in the 2018 and 2019 voting, also is just the third manager to finish in the top three in four consecutive years, joining Cox (2002-05) and Houston’s Art Howe (1999-2002).
Longevity is another sign of Cash’s success as the Tampa native is now the second longest-tenured manager in the majors with his team, trailing only Francona, who joined Cleveland in 2013.
Cash started this season having to get past the somewhat controversial ending to 2020, when he led the Rays to their second World Series in franchise history, but was criticized for his decision to replace starter Blake Snell with Nick Anderson in the sixth inning of the sixth and, ultimately, final game of the Series.
Cash had more issues to manage once the season began, as the Rays got off to a mediocre 13-15 start, sustained a litany of injuries and transitioned through a series of roster moves to a younger core, leading to them using a team-record 61 players, including 38 pitchers.
Through all that, they won a franchise-record 100 games, earned a second straight AL East division title and claimed the top seed for the AL playoffs.
Voting for the BBWAA awards is done at the end of the regular season, so the Rays’ Division Series round upset by the Red Sox was not a factor.
The Rays like much of what Cash does, and how he does it, which they showed after his first four seasons on the job, reworking the remaining year and options in his contract to a six-year extension worth around $10 million. It runs through 2024 with a 2025 option, and they continue to express their praise.
Baseball operations president Erik Neander often raves about Cash’s authenticity and accountability, his work ethic and drive to get better, and his leadership, specifically his ability to get players to buy into the selfless approach necessary to make some of the Rays’ unique strategies work. Overall in seven seasons, Cash has a 554-478 (.537) record.
The players like his style also, lauding the relaxed clubhouse culture, open communication and positive reinforcement.
“I think he’s a tremendous manager,” said outfielder Randy Arozarena, via team translator Manny Navarro, after winning the AL Rookie of the Year award Monday. “I think he’s a great guy. He’s a great teammate. He’s a great coach. He knows how to support your team. He’s always got your back. He’s always there to support you. If he’s got something to say, he’ll say it. He’s not afraid to speak his mind.
“And I think that’s what gets the chemistry going really well inside that clubhouse because he does a really good job. I think he’s a real manager and a real person. And I think he’s very deserving of the Manager of the Year award) We’ve gone to the playoffs last couple years, and he’s done a good job being able to manage that. And I think he deserves to be a finalist in the Manager of the Year.”
