Kevin Cash (right) is one of the Rays three managerial finalists.
Kevin Cash (right) is one of the Rays three managerial finalists.

Breaking: Raul Ibanez left his meeting with the Rays, and opted to remove himself from consideration in the Rays managerial search.

It isn’t clear exactly what the parameters of his exit from contention were, though that’s really not any of our business.

As Marc Topkin implied (in the tweet above), the Rays — who were looking to announce the new manager Friday — now have two candidates to choose from; Don Wakamatsu who interviewed for the position Tuesday, and Kevin Cash who met with the interview committee Wednesday.

A day after Don Wakamatsu kicked off the first of three final managerial interviews with the Rays (and a day after we re-posted an excellent profile of another managerial candidate), Indians bullpen coach Kevin Cash met with the front office brass Wednesday afternoon for his interview. Cash is a Tampa native and the second of three finalists to come in, with Raul Ibanez being the final managerial candidate to be interviewed Thursday afternoon. The Rays are expected to announce the hire Friday. Ibanez just completed his 19th major-league season, splitting the year between the Angels and Royals. And like Cash, he has been identified as someone who will make a better than average major-league manager at some point. The question remaining: How soon? Ibanez has the vote of faith from the Royals pitching coach (and former Ray) Dave Eiland,

He didn’t play much. He was always on the bench. He’d ask me different questions about the pitching side. We would talk situations all the time. A student of the game. Knows the game well. Very smart guy. He’s a good listener.

Eiland went on,

Tremendous teammate. Tremendous veteran presence in the clubhouse with the young team we had in Kansas City. Very positive. Always willing to help his teammates out. That being said, how will that translate into being a manager? I don’t think anybody has the answer to that question.

Baseball Prospectus released their top 10 prospect list for the Rays. Among the names listed are the recently acquired Willy Adames, catcher Justin O’Conner, Alex Colome and Adrian Rondon. Some of us don’t have a Baseball Prospectus subscription, and therefore couldn’t read the prospect list in its entirety. Thankfully DRaysBay put together a Cliff’s Notes version of the Rays prospects attributes. 1. SS Willy Adames + Strength, bat, arm to play from left side – Current instincts at shortstop are average Adames is one of two players given future potential of a first-division player. 2. C Justin O’Conner + 8-grade arm, improved receiving, great hands and strength – jumpy, likes to move and likes to swing; projection to back-up role. 3. RHP Alex Colome + easy velocity, can use secondary pitches to strike ’em out – erratic delivery Colome’s projection hasn’t changed, if everything clicks he’s got the ceiling of a No. 3, but the future points toward the back end of the ‘pen. 4. SS Adrian Rondon + athletic, natural, great foundation at sixteen – limited experience Re-read Scott’s take on his shock a sixteen year old signing would get such a high placement, and see it replicated here. BP sees potential for perennial all-star status. 5. RHP Brent Honeywell + pitcher’s body, arsenal works well enough – room to grow, physically and performance wise The pleasant surprise in the rankings, as second round pick Honeywell could have been just a gimmick with the screwball, but it’s working on paper and it’s working in the eyes of the beholder as well. There seems to be no question he can make the major league rotation. 6. RHP Nate Karns + pitcher’s body fully grown, arsenal ready for bigs – still stiff, meh change, not an artist Similar projection as Colome, despite an arm that should carry a load of innings. 7 .RHP Taylor Guerrieri + smooth motion, 7-grade fastball and curve – needs to prove his change 8. 1B Casey Gillaspie + present power, can adjust at the plate – limited defensive ability 9. OF Justin Williams + quick swing, hard contact, glove projects avg. – hard swing, needs to keep hitting at higher levels Matt Silverman’s Hellickson trade not only reels in a top ten, but the only other label of first-division potential. 10. LHP Blake Snell + pitcher’s body, natural on the mound – inconsistent arm slot Baseball Prospectus went on to list C Nick Ciuffo, RHP Jamie Schultz, and OF Manuel Sanchez as prospects on the rise, and OF Mikie Mahtook, LHP Enny Romero, and RHP Jose Dominguez as prospects who are ready to contribute to the Rays this season. Noteworthiness

 

 

  • With a 66% chance that the Rays will hire a manger, by the end of the week “, with no managerial experience, Marc Topkin writes, “Outweighing experience, executives say, are benefits such as how these younger managers can lead and relate to modern-day players. Unsaid is that inexperienced managers are likely more amenable to following orders from the front office, which uses data to frame and even dictate lineup and strategy decisions.” Topkin went on to note that hiring an inexperienced manager isn’t unheard of; Robin Ventura was hired by the White Sox in 2011, The Cardinals hired Mike Matheny the same year, Colorado hired Walt Weiss who had been a front office special assistant, and the Tigers hired Brad Ausmus just one year ago.

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