Kevin Cash

Kevin Forrest Cash

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.
• School Florida State University
• High School Gaither High School
• Debut September 6, 2002
• Final Game October 3, 2010
• Born December 6, 1977 in Tampa, FL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

A limited-duty, part-time catcher, Kevin Cash's career batting average (.183) and on-base-percentage (.248) in 246 games (641 at bats) were two of the worst in modern major league history. A skilled receiver. he rode his catching abilities throughout eight big league seasons, playing for four of the five AL East clubs. He was also used as an emergency pitcher on a few occasions.

Cash started his post-playing career in 2012 as a major league advance scout for the Cleveland Indians. In 2013, he was named bullpen coach of the Indians. After the 2014 season, he was one of three finalists for the job of manager of the Texas Rangers, but lost to Jeff Banister. A few weeks later, on December 5th, he was hired by the Tampa Bay Rays to replace Joe Maddon in 2015; Don Wakamatsu was the other finalist for the job. After a couple of sub-.500 seasons, Cash guided the Rays to a 90-72 record in 2018 and a 96-66 mark in 2019, bowing out in the Division Series after winning the Wild Card Game. Cash and the Rays went one step further in 2020, losing the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games. These records were especially remarkable considering Tampa Bay's routinely revolving door roster born out of a refusal to pay salaries inflated by major league experience.

He was named Manager of the Year in the American League for this work, and repeated in 2021 when he led the Rays to 100 wins in the regular season before bowing out to the Boston Red Sox in the Division Series. That Rays team was remarkable due to how little contribution he received from his starting pitchers, something more common to teams finishing well back in the second division. He compensated with an aggressive usage of the bullpen, including obtaining saves from a record number of different pitchers. However, that lack of strong starting came back to bite the Rays in the postseason, contributing to their early exit. In 2022 Cash led the Rays to the playoffs again, this time as a wild card entrant. Cash led the Rays to another wild card berth in 2023, finishing second in the division behind a surprisingly strong Baltimore Orioles squad. After five consecutive playoff appearances, Cash and the Rays came up short in their bid for the playoffs in 2024.

Before playing professionally, Cash played in the 1989 Little League World Series and the 1999 College World Series with Florida State University.

Notable Achievements

• 2-time AL Manager of the Year Award (2020 & 2021)
• AL Pennant: 1 (2020)
• Division Titles: 2 (2020 & 2021)
• Other Postseason Appearances: 3 (2019, 2022 & 2023/Wild Card)
• 100 Wins Seasons as Manager: 1 (2021)

Preceded by Joe Maddon

Tampa Bay Devil Rays Manager 2015-

Succeeded by current

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2015	Tampa Bay Rays	American League	80-82	4th	Tampa Bay Rays
2016	Tampa Bay Rays	American League	68-94	5th	Tampa Bay Rays
2017	Tampa Bay Rays	American League	80-82	3rd	Tampa Bay Rays
2018	Tampa Bay Rays	American League	90-72	3rd	Tampa Bay Rays
2019	Tampa Bay Rays	American League	96-66	2nd	Tampa Bay Rays	Lost ALDS
2020	Tampa Bay Rays	American League	40-20	1st	Tampa Bay Rays	Lost World Series
2021	Tampa Bay Rays	American League	100-62	1st	Tampa Bay Rays	Lost ALDS
2022	Tampa Bay Rays	American League	86-76	3rd	Tampa Bay Rays	Lost ALWC
2023	Tampa Bay Rays	American League	99-63	2nd	Tampa Bay Rays	Lost ALWC
2024	Tampa Bay Rays	American League	80-82	4th	Tampa Bay Rays

Further Reading

• Anthony Castrovince: "SF's Kapler, Rays' Cash named top managers", mlb.com, November 16, 2021. [1]
• Richard Justice: "Model manager: Cash's evolution impressive", mlb.com, December 11, 2018. [2]
• Richard Justice: "Cash, Mattingly net Manager of Year honors", mlb.com, November 10, 2020. [3]
• Bill Ladson: "No denying Cash had an award-worthy season", mlb.com, November 13, 2018. [4]

Related Sites

• Kevin Cash on mlb.com
• BR Manager page
• Article from AP on his hiring as Rays manager