Rays sign MLB’s longest-tenured manager Kevin Cash to contract extension, team president also extended contract

Thursday morning, the Tampa Bay Rays announced that the contracts of president of baseball operations Eric Neander and manager Kevin Cash have been extended. Principal owner Stuart Sternberg made the announcement.

Sternberg said, “I believe there is no one better than him in baseball.” “What we have all achieved together is remarkable, and the best is yet to come.”

The deals for each of Neander and Cash would lead “ahead of the team’s planned 2028 move” to a new ballpark, report Tampa Bay TimesHowever the exact terms of the deal are not yet known.

Neander, 40, joined Rays as a trainee in 2007 and has climbed the ladder of success. He was named general manager in 2016 and was promoted to president of baseball operations in 2021.

Cash, 46, has been the Rays manager since the beginning of the 2015 season, taking over following the highly publicized departure of Joe Maddon. Cash is now the longest-tenured MLB manager following the retirement of Terry Francona at the end of the 2023 season.

With Neander and Cash in leadership positions, the Rays have made the playoffs in five consecutive seasons. The franchise made the playoffs only four times in its first 21 seasons. They went 99-63 last season after a historic 13-0 start to the year.

The current group won the 2020 pennant, but an ALDS loss in 2021 — after a 100-win season — and a Wild Card Series loss last season have left a bit of a disappointment. This is where we can catch the “the best is yet to come” part of Sternberg’s quote.

The Rays are expected to be a playoff-caliber team again in 2024. Continuity under the leadership of Neander and Cash will be key in the ballclub’s effort.