Hiring Kevin Cash was a win for the Rays, soon to become their biggest
NEW YORK — Tasked with a challenge a team doesn’t want to face too often, Rays officials in 2005 went searching for a manager they hoped would be a long-term solution. They considered unconventional candidates and eventually made a surprising decision.
They hired Joe Maddon, who stayed nine seasons, took them to the playoffs four times (once to the World Series) in a six-year span, received two Manager of the Year awards and won 754 games.
When Maddon left after the 2014 season, the Rays again sought someone fresh and different who similarly would stick around a while.
Which is how they even more surprisingly decided on Kevin Cash, who is now in his 10th season, took them to the playoffs each of the last five years (once to the World Series), received two Manager of the Year awards and will go into play Sunday four wins from surpassing Maddon’s franchise-best total.
Both turned out to be winners.
Getting it right with Cash was the tougher task.
“When we hired Joe, the organization didn’t have a track record, didn’t have expectations. So I think there was less pressure on Joe to win and establish himself early on,” team president Matt Silverman said.
“Kevin inherited a situation where we were in flux. Joe had departed, and there were actually shoes that could be filled. So, I think it’s even more admirable, the job that Kevin did coming in the wake of Joe’s departure.”
Maddon was hired shortly after Stuart Sternberg took over as principal owner. With Silverman and Andrew Friedman in charge, the organization began the transformation from lowly Devil Rays into the annually contending Rays.
Maddon, 51 at the time, had managed in the minors, spent 12 years as a big-league coach and served three stints as interim manager during a 31-year career with the Angels. His perpetual positivity, off-beat personality, and willingness to embrace new ideas and methodologies made him the right man to replace Lou Piniella and lead the updated Rays way.
Cash came with a shorter resume, and much less certainty of success.
He was 36 at the time, having played parts of eight season in the majors as a backup catcher, worked a year-plus as an advance scout and spent 2013-14 as Cleveland’s bullpen coach under mentor Terry Francona. Though he hadn’t managed even one of his kids’ softball or baseball games, a strong (albeit unsuccessful) interview for the Rangers job furthered his candidacy.
“You don’t know,” Silverman said, acknowledging now that Cash’s success was “a 99th-percentile outcome” as a product of design and good fortune.
“You can only learn so much in the interview process and by talking to people within the industry. He had a great reputation. He was respected by everyone that we spoke with. And he had a presence about him that we believed was going to translate into the clubhouse with the players, with the staff, but also all of baseball operations.
“He quickly showed he was curious, he wanted to learn, he wanted to sort of challenge the norm. And he was very interested in integrating himself within the entire player development system. … He grabbed the reins and made his mark.”
The players, some of whom wanted bench coach Dave Martinez to take over, at first didn’t know what to make of Cash.
“I was excited for the change, but I had slightly mixed feelings about having Cash as a manager initially because he was relatively close to my age and had just recently finished playing,” said former Rays star Evan Longoria, who was 29 then. “I didn’t know how that dynamic would work.”
Cash wasn’t sure himself how things would work out.
The Texas experience buoyed Cash’s confidence going into the Tampa Bay interview and helped him get the job. But that was the easy part. It helped that the Rays gave him a five-year contract and have since extended it several times, most recently through 2030.
“The confidence to think I could do it, I was way early on that one. Then I realized, ‘Oh, wait a second ...’” Cash said. “I probably didn’t get confidence to actually manage a team, manage a clubhouse, until maybe two years into the job.”
He leaned heavily on his then-veteran coaching staff, which included Tom Foley, Jim Hickey and Derek Shelton, noting “those guys had a lot of presence that I certainly didn’t have,” and players such as Longoria and pitcher Alex Cobb.
The learning curve took different shapes, but Cash said the toughest part was grasping how to handle “the consistent difficult conversations and explaining things to players.” More specifically, when “insinuating to a player that we think we have a better option,” whether that’s in releasing or demoting someone, or as simple as a pinch-hit decision.
Maddon, who signed a five-year, $25 million deal to manage the Cubs (and led them to a streak-busting World Series title in 2016), eventually became impressed by his replacement.
“I honestly didn’t know what to think (of Cash’s hiring),” Maddon said. “I know that Terry Francona always spoke well of him; I wasn’t around Cash enough even as a player to get that vibe from him. I didn’t know that he was that kind of managerial timber. But Tito was very adamant about it, so you’ve got to listen. And it played out pretty much how Tito had said.”
Maddon says Cash turned out to be “the perfect guy” to take over the Rays, similarly navigating a few initial rough seasons and then going on a run that will soon break his franchise wins record.
Maddon praised Cash “for always being the same guy,” for being a good listener and a quick learner. He said he was happy for Cash’s success and that of baseball operations president Erik Neander, who was both of their bosses.
Longoria, who played seven seasons for Maddon and three for Cash, said he figured out quickly the new guy knew what to do.
“Kev is a great leader and easy to play for,” Longoria said. “All the guys loved and respected his style, and I think that’s why he’s been able to accomplish so much.”
Silverman said similarly nice things. “What I really love about Kevin is that, for the most part, he’s the same guy and the same personality as the guy we hired,” Silverman said. “He has the same work ethic, the same curiosity, and the same dedication that he did when he started.”
Cash remembers getting his first win, beating Buck Showalter’s Orioles in Game 3 of the 2015 season. He knows there is a shadow box with the ball and lineup card prepared by the clubhouse staff but has no idea where it is, or other things else commemorating his success. He doesn’t have anything on display at home.
Cash said he “probably should have appreciated more how challenging this could have been” and felt both “honored” and “very fortunate” to have held the job long enough to break the record. In his 10th season, he is the longest-tenured manager in the majors with his current team.
Cash said his 755th win will be significant.
“Because of the respect that I have for the franchise and for Joe,” he said, “it means a lot.”
Just managing
Rays’ managerial history (through Saturday):
Manager, years W-L Pct
Kevin Cash, 2015-present 751-626 .545
Joe Maddon, 2006-14 754-705 .517
Lou Piniella, 2003-05 200-285 .412
Hal McRae, 2001-02 113-196 .369
Larry Rothschild, 1998-2001 205-294 .411
• • •
Sign up for the Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.
Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on Instagram, X and Facebook.
