Rays skipper Kevin Cash placed second in the voting for the 2026 American League Manager of the Year Award, finishing as the runner-up to White Sox manager Will Venable. The voting results of the Baseball Writers' Association of America were announced on MLB Network on Tuesday night.
Cash led the Rays to the best record in the AL -- and it’s not like they were expected to be a juggernaut entering the season.
After missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, Tampa Bay was widely picked and projected to finish fifth in the AL East this year. On Opening Day, FanGraphs projected the Rays to finish 79-83 with a roughly 25.2% chance to reach the postseason and a 4.3% chance to win the division.
They finished 98-64, won the AL East by 4 1/2 games and earned the top spot in the league’s postseason field. This is a regular-season award, so the Rays winning the AL pennant didn't factor into the voting.
Cash still possesses what president of baseball operations Erik Neander described as “the rarest blend of strength and humility.” That has allowed him to create a culture in which everyone feels comfortable enough to get the most out of their abilities, and it’s given him the ability to evolve over time to get the most out of his roster.
That was evident this year as the Rays leaned into more small-ball tactics toward the bottom of the order, among other strategies that helped squeeze every possible win out of a group with one of the lowest payrolls in the Majors.