The Rays are having a bit of a disappointing season so far in 2024 but it’s unlikely that manager Kevin Cash is going to be on the hot seat because of it. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times recently took a look at some things the franchise could do but noted that Cash is incredibly safe since his contract runs through the 2030 season.
It was reported back in February that both Cash and president of baseball operations Erik Neander had been signed to long-term extensions. Topkin reported at that time that the deals went beyond 2028, but the exact length was vague. This additional reporting from Topkin puts the specifics out in the open, at least for Cash’s deal.
The Rays have generally been incredibly successful in the Cash era. He took over in 2015 after Joe Maddon left to take the skipper job with the Cubs. The Rays posted losing records in the first three seasons under Cash but then went 90-72 in 2018. That would have been good enough for the third American League Wild Card spot but there were only two at that time. In the five completed seasons since then, the Rays have qualified for the postseason in each of them, going as far as the World Series in 2020.
The club is just 34-38 this year and is currently in last in the American League East, but they’re not entirely buried in the standings, still just six games out of a playoff spot. Even if the club can’t quite get back in the mix, it’s understandable that it wouldn’t fall on Cash’s head. The overall track record of his tenure is strong and this season’s struggles can be attributed to factors outside of his control.
Wander Franco was supposed to be Tampa’s long-term franchise shortstop but he’s been away from the club since August as he is under investigation for engaging in a sexual relationship with a minor. The Rays also traded away players like Tyler Glasnow, Manuel Margot and Andrew Kittredge in the offseason to lower the payroll. Many of the players that stuck around have endured slumps, with Randy Arozarena, Yandy Díaz and others performing well below their previous levels this year.
Perhaps the club will climb back into this year’s race or maybe pivot to a deadline selloff, a decision that will reportedly wait until closer to the July 30 deadline. Either way, it seems like Cash is going to be the bench boss for many years to come.
Cash is the perfect manager for a team like the rays
I still wonder if it is possible for a small market team like that to win a WS however…
They can make the playoffs. If you can make the playoffs you can win the world series. Been some bad luck for low payroll teams. As many opportunities they’ve had they should have another title or 2. It’s getting more difficult though. Teams are being ran better. Teams are spending more $. Much harder than it was 10 or even 5 years ago. I think we will get at least 1 more and within the next decade. After that it depends on rule changes and industry trends.
The thing with the small market teams is that all of their best players have some sort of flaw to them that made big teams dump them (arozarena personality, paredes only pulls for example)
Moneyball proved it is possible to win with no money, but star power shines brightest in the playoffs and small market teams can’t afford the 5 tool or 4 tool player
They don’t need 4 5 tool players. They find even just 1 thing someone does well and use them in ideal situations. They certainly won’t be buying mega contract free agents. But they can get them in draft, international signings and even trades. Teams don’t want to trade top 100 prospects. So instead of trading for a AA AAA with more floor limited variables they go after A ball or lower. You can find a real difference maker that way. But just signings and draft is where they have the best easiest path to finding them. Pirates have one of the best rotations in baseball. They certainly didn’t get it with a 300m payroll. Cleveland has put together some nice rotations. Tampa as well. They can’t buy a elite player but they can rent one for 2 months.
Baltimore is a small market by itself. Now if they are stealing the DC market $ they aren’t small market. But any team that gets the number 1 pick in years with a Adley Holiday in the draft that’s a great start. With great development you are Baltimore. Some drafts have no studs, some have 3. Last year had 5. Depends on the year and how the lottery goes.
If Skenes was a free agent how much $ would he get? Pirates got him for 10m plus minimum wage for the next 6 years.
YDGM
“If Skenes was a free agent how much $ would he get? Pirates got him for 10m plus minimum wage for the next 6 years.”
One of the worst contracts in baseball.
That’s simply not true. Most small market teams have learned from the Rays blueprint in one way or another
That is, draft talent and trade stars they can no longer afford for more prospects
Develop them
Watch them mature, come up and compete
And repeat
Not like the Rays of old or the current O’s, Brewers, Guardians have castoffs from other teams
Worst contract for skenes because teams would have already shelled a Yamamoto sized deal to him if he was international
snmf
Right
He’s worth hundreds of millions more than he’s getting
That’s why it’s so cheap to go to a game
Any team in the postseason can win the World Series. Sadly, it doesn’t mean much to win the World Series today.
Any playoff team can win but the 200 300 million payroll team is usually better than the 100 million one. And the larger payroll is going to make the playoffs more often and not have to play in wild card as often. Small market teams have windows. Large market teams can contend every year. Only thing stopping them is a weak front office. You seen what happened when Dodgers got smarter. Yankees are even a bit smarter though plenty of room for improvement. Mets should really improve.
Cashing out
The 2003 Marlins beat a Yankee team that had a payroll of $110 million more than theirs so anything is possible.
The Marlins won twice being a small market team.
1909 when NY CHI PHI BOS dominated, the Pirates defeated another small market team Detroit. So don’t tell me smaller markets can’t compete.
The Royals went to the World Series in back to back years and won it in 2015, and they are certainly a small market team.
The Indians were up 3-1 against the Cubs in 2016 and blew it, but they are also a small market team.
Odd fact about the ’15 Royals: they had a higher payroll than the Mets team that they beat
The Marlins won once as a small market team. The 97 team was full of high priced vets who were gone the next year. The 03 Marlins were a small market team. A small market team would never have Alou,Bobby Bo, Sheffield, Kevin Brown just to name a few unless they developed them.
Kansas City, St Louis, Marlins, Cinci, Minnesota, A’s, and Baltimore have all won at least one WS during the free agent era.
Cleveland, Tampa, Padres, Brewers, Rockies, and Pirates have all been to the WS in the free agent era.
Please stop with the “small market” can’t win.
When all those teams won however they were in the top half of the league in spending. So to win a small market team needs to save their money for a big year to go all in for whereas the big markets can have the big spending year every year.
It’s not. No matter how hot they get or how well they play in the regular season, they lack the star power to win it all.
Exactly what I’ve been saying, while I think top 20 payroll teams can compete, how can a team like the rays or a’s or modern day marlins win it all with all these quirky players and no stars
At any given time, two or three small market teams can “compete” for the World Series.
While the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Astros, Cubs, etc. are either there every year (or miss out only through their own choices or mismanagement).
This is the way the league, the networks, the players, etc. all want it.
The rest of the small market teams are there to fill out the schedule and to act as farm teams for the trade deadline.
In the wild card Era (1995-present) only the 2003 Marlins have won a world series and been in the bottom half of the league in spending.
If the Guardians or Orioles won the world series this year they would be the lowest payroll teams to win a world series in the wild card era.
It’s great to dream but lets not kid ourselves. It’s extremely hard for a small market team to win it all. Cleveland came close. Tampa gave it a run. But only the Royals actually did it and at a time that was hard it was still much easier than now. A large chunk of the free agent era free agents cost less than 10 million a year. Now we are talking 200 300 400 500 million contracts. 10 12 14 years. 30 40 million a year. Miami beating a team with 100m more payroll was impressive but it used to be a handful of teams had a mega payroll and mega used to be 100 150. Now every large city can do up to the tax 230m whatever it is and mega markets pay the tax and push it up to 300. While small markets can only push it up to 130.
It’s possible but it won’t happen often. If Baltimore is considered a small market they have a chance. They are a small payroll right now. The Pirates pitching could carry them in the playoffs if they all stay healthy. Cleveland could put together a staff. Tampa could always come up with something. No room for error though and might need some luck.
Guaranteed contracts also kill small market teams. If a small market team makes one mistake like a Wander Franco with TB, Votto with CIN, Mauer with MIN, and they don’t play at an elite level, it really handcuffs those teams. Big market teams can hand out 7-8 of those deals and if they bust, oh well.
I agree, I was just illustrating how rare it was for a small market to compete since they can’t maintain a high payroll year after year. Even when the Royals won it, they were in the top half of the league in spending. The Marlins were the only team to ever win it without going all in on spending which shows how rare it is for a low payroll to win.
I choose to use payroll instead of small market because sometimes small markets go all in on spending to open a window like San Diego did (which is a smaller market than Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, and Oakland). The main point is that small markets can’t maintain that level spending and keep the windows open like big markets can.
Don’t let SD fool you. Would you rather have all of SD to yourself or share Pittsburgh with Steelers Pens? No brainer for me. Pirates are 3rd tier team in that city. You wanna attend a baseball game in March April or even May in Pittsburgh Cleveland or SD? I will go with SD as I am not a fan of cold and wet.
St Louis is a small city but they have a wide area outside of the city of fans. Sell 3 million tickets easily. No NFL. Atlanta is a large city but not as large as others but a huge area of fans. They dominate the south. Multiple states.
Cleveland has Cincinnati in same state and Pittsburgh few hours away who has Philly in same state.
You have to look into everything. Not just population but what does the population earn $ wise. What other forms of entertainment are they competing with.
And just looking at payroll isn’t perfect. 1 year SD spent like 70 million or something buying international draft prospects. Payroll might not have been high but they bought the best farm system in baseball so that has tons of value that a KC Pittsburgh Cleveland couldn’t do.
SD had the second smallest tv contract in the mlb before it got dropped because they don’t have much territory due to the proximity to LA. They are financially similar to other small markets but they went all in to open up a window of contention. The Padres can’t keep up the current level of payroll like other small markets. The Orioles were top 10 in payroll last time they were in contention in 2017 but they had to pull back because that payroll isn’t sustainable. Small market teams only win when they spend and they are forced to pick and choose when to spend unlike the big markets who can spend every year.
SD is about done for with those awful contracts. Hope their tv deal was long term. Great time to have tv deal come up though. City was in love with them.
Good for the Rays. He seems to be a good manager, all things considered. Nice when they keep their personnel long-term.
Highly disagree… I think most Rays fans would agree with me as he makes VERY questionable decisions on a daily basis with no rhyme or reason. Cash gets the benefit of the doubt by outside fanbases and the media simply due to his record as a manager and the Rays’d low-cost spending… But if you watch every game, he doesn’t know how to manage his players. I think he relies a lot on his assistance coaches to really push the team.I do have to note the irony when you said ‘keep personnel’… If they adopted that method for players as well, they’d be doing a LOT better.
I disagree. His record obviously matters, thats kind of the goal… win.
Also, can you name a single player the Rays had that they traded away at their peak who were BETTER after leaving the Rays? There isnt one, outside of maybe Wade Davis. While it isnt easy for the casuals when Longoria gets traded for Denard Span, it has always worked out for the Rays. They would be doing ALOT worse if they had an aging Longo at 25 million a year or Wil Myers or David Price or Shields or Cobb or Matt Moore or Hellickson or Upton or anybody else that the casuals wanted them to lock up long term that have been bad since being traded or let go.
As far as front office personnel, it would be a dream if they could retain them all but they get hired elsewhere and promoted. Baldelli, Montoya, Friedman, Maddon, Bendix, Bloom, Shelton and the list goes on and on and on.
The goal is to win the World Series which he has not been able to do. So his record holds very little weight until he actually does so.
You could also argue that the team won in spite of him rather than because of him. He made awful decisions like taking Blake Snell out against the Dodgers in 2020 and now, the season after he got an extension, the team is awful in every fundamental stat. Plate discipline, base running, defense, pushing unproductive players because ‘data’… It’s all caught up to him at last and no peak years from a group of players can bail him out now.
You are forgetting how important team dynamics can be. Team chemistry is a thing, and when you don’t resign Kevin Keirmaier, trade Glasnow, and don’t extend guys who previously expressed wanting to stay… It destroys team chemistry. Now the Rays are made up of a bunch of individuals padding stats. They all know they won’t be on the Rays in 2-3 years and are now just trying to hit home runs and steal as many bases as they can for their next contract.
Cash’s inability to change the game plan and adapt is in clear view. We have 3-4 black holes in the roster and instead of trying bunts and simplify the game, he tells them to keep swinging at balls that they all are clearly not recognizing.
Seeing what Bendix has done with Miami has made me glad we didn’t retain him of course. And Maddon overstayed his welcome when he wanted to stick around only to dip out a few weeks later.
But the good players like Glasnow… Like Snell, like Ben Zobrist, like Longoria… Even if they were in decline, they still had something left in their tanks. That’s not including all the prospects (Nate Lowe/Jake Cronenworth) and clubhouse guys they traded either (Ji-man Choi).
But outside of the Archer trade, how many of those trades delivered valuable players to the Rays? Yeah we can follow some of the trade trees, but very few of them actually materialized and so we’re simply salary dumps by the Rays. Cobb/Moore/Price were all productive after being traded. Yes they declined as all players do, but they still could have been leaders in the clubhouse which the Rays desperately lack right now (and have lacked since KK left). All while still being good enough to be a #4-5 starter.
Cheap contract probably. Maybe they could even trade him eventually. Cash considerations.
A smart team doing smart things. No surprise there. Hopefully the Cardinals don’t read this and get inspired to lock Oli in for 10 more seasons.
DonOsbourne;
Nice to read you again. I’ve been away. Am having a bad day due to some nonsense in the comment section, so my return here is limited. Therefore, allow me to lay some points out and be as politely blunt as I can be……
The Cardinals were one of my favorite MLB organizations. For over half a century I’ve believed that Cardinals fans – which used to be throughout the south and west before expansion came in 1960 – were/are the best and smartest baseball fans in America. It goes back to Branch Rickey and his style of playing baseball – which was copied by the rest of MLB over the years.
Jeff Luhnow was hired by the owner Busch (I forget which one) to start an analytic department for the Cardinals in the early 2000’s. He brought in Mark Elias and Sig Mejdal. Brilliant people. They were the ones responsible for the drafts that built the Cardinals team that won their last championship. The Astros owner knew it was the drafting, and hired away the 3 of them to build the Astros into a power. Which they did (now Elias and Mejdal have done the same in Baltimore). They took the Rickey/Cardinals Way of playing baseball and married it to analytics.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals Baseball Ops head took to wearing Branch Rickey bow ties and talking about “Cardinals Tradition”. He doesn’t know, understand, or believe in any of it. He and his fellow butt-kissers took credit for the Cardinals WS team, and have been flailing around ever since. Mr. Rickey – a Catcher himself – would never build a team around an offensive Catcher that can’t call a game or handle the pitching staff. Batting 4 or 5 times a game doesn’t offset the lack of ability behind the plate – which is far and away the most important responsibility of any player on a baseball team.
The Cardinals are a money machine. It’s a pity that in this day-and-age marketing trumps producing a quality product. Maybe someone next in line in the Busch family will stop the foolishness and return the Cardinals to what made them something special – not just in organized baseball, but in American culture.
Samual, I mean this with all the respect in the world, but no one, and I mean no one, has the time and energy to read your elaborate posts. Keep it short and you might actually get some positive interactions.
MUTE
I agree with you on most points. However it was Bill DeWitt who hired Luhnow, etc. The Busch family sold the team in 1995. I believe Bill DeWitt had the best of intentions when he bought the Cardinals. I think his son loves the idea and profitability of owning a major league baseball team, but cares very little about the team or the game itself.
Good to hear from you.
lol I guess one person here reads samuals posts
Likely one of his burner accounts.
baseball_is_boring I read it. You too, can read long posts as well, but you have to start simple. Try curious George and in no time you’ll be able to read longer comments with no problem!
@sameul
It was the dewits that hired lunhow, the Busch’s haven’t owned the team since 96
Good he is locked up. When he is a free agent and if he wants record contract just let him walk. Good manager but still only a manager.
He now becomes another asset they can trade.
As a Rays fan, please someone take him away. The dude can’t coach in the postseason and gives very little sense of baseball IQ during games. He got bailed out by peak performances by Arozarena/Siri/many relievers/Diaz. Now they aren’t all peaking at the same time and the Rays are essentially as bad as the Athletics and Marlins (look up their run differential).
He’s doing well with what he’s been given. The pitching staff is on the shelf but he’s keeping the team close to .500 ball. Based on fWAR, his team should be sitting at 30 wins and 42 loses so 34-38 is pretty decent. And his team is only 6 games out of the wild card spot so you never know what happens. Imagine if he had a healthy rotation.
I feel like an equivalent who wouldn’t have pulled Blake Snell that one time could have been found
This wasn’t hidden news… Every Rays fan knew this. I knew it was a mistake at the time and now my worries have proven true. Cash road the coattails of players in their peak years and assistance coaches, and he always buckled in the postseason. He just makes awful decisions and refuses to adapt. His failure to help prospects acclimate to the big leagues should also be noted as most of the prospects that came up floundered.
In the end, I sure hope they fire him sooner than later… If we’re stuck with him until 2030 this team is doomed.
Yeah! Its all his fault that some players dont play well! Cash is the one who made Wander holler at that 15 year old girl too!
I wish the Red Sox would sign Cora to a long-term contract, and do so with Bailey as well. I sense that they are trying to low-ball him, rather than appreciate that he’s done a good job and is respected by his players. Yes, they’re going to have to pay him accordingly, but they keep hinting that Varitek is the answer, despite never have managed him.