Update: today’s press conference at the Trop — regarding the city of St. Pete’s stadium deal with the Rays — has come to pass. For a live tweeted account of today’s Stadium Saga presser, head to our Twitter feed where we re-tweeted Noah Pransky‘s account. We’ll have our takeaway of the presser shortly.
Breaking: Rick Kriseman and the Tampa Bay Rays have reached a deal which would allow the Rays to search the entire region for an apt stadium location — Hillsborough County included. The deal is pending approval from the St. Petersburg City Council when it meets Thursday, December 11.
As part of the deal, the Rays would make payments to St. Petersburg, if the team were to leave the city before its contract expires at Tropicana Field expires in 2027.
Neither St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman, nor Tampa mayor Bob Buckhorn, have had anything to say. Rather, Kriseman plans to share the details of the “unprecedented” agreement Tuesday morning, in a press conference at The Trop.
A good number of details have seen the light of day, however:
The team can only look at locations in Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties.
The Rays have until December 31, 2017 to settle on a new site.
The team would have to make arrangements to pay off any remaining bonds on the Trop.
Arrangements for tearing down the Trop would be settled later.
If the team moves, it will also provide up to $1 million in in-kind compensation as well as the annual payments. These include season tickets for marketing the city and signage in the new stadium touting St. Petersburg.
Furthermore, if the Rays were to leave the confines of Tropicana Field prior to the 2027 season, compensation payments would be based on how many years would remain on The Trop lease if the Rays left, starting at $4 million a season until December 2018, dropping to $3 million a season from 2019 to 2022 and $2 million from 2023 through 2026.
Why such a low payout?
As Noah Pransky (Shadow of the Stadium Blog) asserts,
…Kriseman, who negotiated the deal for nearly 12 months (after his predecessor was unable to finalize a deal for years), must have felt his leverage was limited and the benefit of securing a deal now outweighed the risk of continued negotiation.
The Times also reports,
By agreeing to compensation now, the City Council would forfeit the right to make further demands on the Rays if they want to leave. Any changes would have to be consistent with the memorandum of understanding. If there is a dispute about the understanding, both sides agree to have it resolved by a circuit court judge in Manatee County.
You can read more via the Tampa Bay Times, though it should be noted: Stephen Nolhgren’s Hillsborough/Tampa centric article does not include sites in St. Petersburg/Pinellas such as the available property in Carillon, or where the current facility resides in downtown St. Petersburg; sites where a new facility could be more feasible.
Pransky was also quick to point out a few lingering questions that beg to be delved discussed:
Will the team finally indicate how much they’d contribute toward a new stadium?
Will the Rays open their books if they want public subsidies?
Will it make a big enough difference in attendance?
How the heck will Tampa (editor’s note: or St. Pete for that matter) come up with enough tax dollars to pay for it?
While Tampa may have tons of potential sites for a stadium, there are still questions and concerns that need to be discussed. Furthermore, the flag of victory on Tampa’s part should not be raised, nor should the white flag of defeat be raised on the part of St. Petersburg. As I’ve said for years now, the best solution to this conundrum is one that is inclusive. That is, it will be incredibly important for the Rays to do their due diligence in this, their forthcoming search on both sides of the bay.
In the end, one side of the bay should not be favored in lieu of the other, just because a handful of local journalists (among others) find favor in that location. To that end, while certain regional studies have been long held as the gold standard in the discourse surrounding the Stadium Saga, many of the regional peripherals and demographics have changed — things that also need to be taken into consideration when discussing what should be considered a fairly complex issue.
With the start of the winter meetings Monday morning, the Tampa Bay Rays — bolstered by new manager Kevin Cash — are in San Diego where the arduous task of meeting with representatives from the other 29 teams to start, or continue, discussions on trades is under way.
As a result of all the Rays’ off-season maneuvering after trading four players and making two roster cuts, is a roster that is almost spring training-ready. Silverman was quoted,
“We’re pretty close to having a functional roster. That doesn’t mean that we aren’t going to explore substantial changes to it, but we’re comfortable heading into spring training with the bulk of the players already on our roster and already in the organization.”
Yet there are a few pressing matters involving Matt Silverman and the newly hired Cash (among others) are hiring a bench coach, finding a backup catcher to replace Jośe Molina and moving one of the surplus outfielders. The team will also begin to focus on rounding out the coaching staff, with the potential for moving one of the existing coaches to bench coach — perhaps Tom Foley, Charlie Montoyo, Rocco Baldelli, or minor league hitting coordinator Chad Mottola (a longtime Cash buddy) — or going outside the organization to fill the newly created spot left in the wake of Dave Martinez.
While the Rays might want to add someone with managing experience to the staff, previous managerial experience is not a prerequisite. Per Silverman, they are more focused on someone who fits in and complements the current staff.
Cash has spoken with most of the current coaches and is excited by what he’s heard so far. It should be noted, he’s worked as a player with Foley and assistant hitting coach Jamie Nelson.
Of the potential moves, dealing outfielder Matt Joyce, and signing a free-agent starter to fill in for Matt Moore during the first half of the season are at play. Joyce has received more attention than David DeJesus and the Rays are talking with several teams about their outfield surplus. Wil Myers also appears to be at least a subject of discussion.
“With some of the free agents coming off the board teams are more focused on the trade market to fill vacancies,” said Silverman. “…We’ve had more knocks on our door than we’ve had in the prior weeks.”
As it relates to Joyce, who is projected to make $4.9M through arbitration, Silverman noted,
“That has been a place where we have had discussions with teams, but we’ve also had discussions with teams about every other aspect of our roster, and I expect those conversations will gain more momentum this week.”
Speaking to the latter, there is a feeling that there may be enough pitching depth at Triple-A Durham to fill in for Moore while he mends from Tommy John surgery.
“There’s a possibility of a signing like that [Erik Bedard], whether it’s at the major-league level or a six-year free-agent guy in Triple-A,” Silverman said. “But even without that type of a signing, we’re comfortable about our rotation heading into spring. We saw flashes (last season) of what Colome and Karns can do, and there are other options in the mix. Those are the types of players competing for that fifth spot when Matt continues to rehab.”
The Rays have also “been active” on both trade and free agent options in the search for a backup catcher, and Silverman is open-minded to both veteran and younger options.
Regardless of what happens over the the following week, Silverman and company have finally been afforded the opportunity to take a step back and breathe, after what has amounted to a hectic — yet productive — start to the off-season. With the biggest moves behind them, the time has come to mold the almost Spring Training ready roster, some 74 days before pitchers and catchers report to camp.
Marc Topkin writes, “Details of Cash’s multiyear deal have not been released, but the Tampa Bay Times has learned that he will not be the lowest paid manager in 2015, as has been speculated. Details of manager salaries are hard to come by, but that would mean an annual salary in excess of $600,000. There is also believed to be at least one option year in his deal. Maddon’s first contract was for two years with a two-year option.”
Kevin Cash during a simulated game. (Photo courtesy of David Richards/USA Today Sports)
A little more than a month after Joe Maddon announced his abrupt exit from the Tampa Bay Rays have confirmed that Kevin Cash has been hired as the new manager of the Tampa Bay Rays.
Cash, who turns 37 Saturday, has no managerial experience, spent ’12 season as #BlueJays advance scout, last two as #Indians bullpen coach
The Rays wasted no time in announcing the managerial decision after Raual Ibanez’s unexpected withdrawal from consideration Thursday. Cash is a product of Tampa Bay who graduated from Gaither High School, and spent part of the 2005 season with the Rays. The presumed skipper went on to spend one year as advance scout for Blue Jays — where part of his duties were to prepare binders, statistics, and reports on opposing players — then joined the Indians in 2013 as the bullpen coach.
Cash is said to have an advanced feel for in-game managerial decisions and, per Danny Russell (DRaysBay), is credited with the pitching successes of both Scott Kazmir and Ubaldo Jimenez in 2013, Carlos Carrasco and Cy Young winner Corey Kluber in 2014, and with instigating the trade for catcher Yan Gomes. Indians GM Chris Antonetti put it best,
He may not have managerial experience but he is very well equipped to handle the various challenges.
In a release, Rays principal owner Stu Sternberg said of Cash, “His energy and dynamic personality will fit seamlessly with our clubhouse.” Sternberg continued, “We are fortunate to have such a talented individual, and Tampa Bay native, to lead our club, as we strive to achieve new heights as a team and organization.” Cash was a finalist for manager with the Texas Rangers earlier this off-season.
New #Rays manager Cash, 37 tomorrow, becomes youngest active manager in majors, youngest since A.J. Hinch (#Dbacks in 09), per @STATS_MLB — Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) December 5, 2014
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.
Kevin Cash, who is one of three finalists in the Rays managerial search, was the Indians’ bullpen coach in 2014. (Photo courtesy of Getty)
With the news that the Tampa Bay Rays started their final round of managerial interviews today by meeting with Royals bench coach Don Wakamatsu, we wanted to put something together to celebrate the beginning of the end.
The interview interview with Wakamatsu lasted most of the day, with the Royals bench coach saying, “I was thoroughly impressed with the group. It was an in-depth interview, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to be part of it. They were really impressive.” One down, two interviews to go.
In my mind, Kevin Cash is the heir apparent to the open position left in Joe Maddon’s wake. After all, many are of the consensus that Cash has shown the ability and patience to work with pitchers through rough times and the eye for talent. Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona publicly vouched for Cash,
When he was still playing, I thought he was a potential coach in waiting. He’s a guy who is going to rise through the coaching ranks quickly and will be a manager.
Rays Manager Finalist Profile: Kevin Cash, by Daniel Russell (of DRaysBay)
You might already know Kevin Cash as a local boy, having grown up in Tampa and attended Gaither High School before enrolling at Florida State, where he played on the ‘Noles 1999 College World Series team.
The nephew of former major leaguer Ron Cash, Kevin had baseball in his blood. When he wasn’t drafted out of college, Cash joined the Cape Cod League and began a transition to catcher, flashing defense that looked to be among the best of any prospect in the game, as noted by Baseball America. Toronto liked what they saw as well, and signed him to a contract.
Once he had joined the Toronto system, Cash honed his trade under longtime Blue Jays catcher Ernie Whitt, the manager for Team Canada. By his second year as a professional, Cash had broken into the major leagues and received a third overall ranking in the Blue Jays system from Baseball America. In fact, it was the presence of Cash that allowed the Blue Jays to move another one of their top prospects, Jason Werth, to the outfield.
Unfortunately for Cash, his bat never followed his development behind the plate. Across two seasons of attempts at the major league level, Cash accumulated a meager .174 average and was traded to the defensive minded Rays for young starter Chad Gaudin ahead of the 2005 season. He would only feature in 13 games, however, and the Rays never promoted him back to The Show in 2006.
Cash was granted free agency at the end of the season, and signed with the Boston Red Sox. He caught 12 games for the World Series winning team in 2007, then 61 games in 2008 as the primary back up, aka “Tim Wakefield’s catcher.” In 2009 he signed with the Yankees and played an injury replacement role behind Jorge Posada and Jose Molina, catching 10 games for another World Series winning team, though he would be released in September of that season upon demotion.
In 2010, Cash signed with the Houston Astros, be was re-acquired by Terry Francona’s Red Sox for a utility infielder. He caught 49 games that season, then played one more year in the minors for the Rangers before hanging up his cleats at the end of 2011. Cash would later become a finalist for managing the Rangers, as he is with the Rays, this off-season. This was not an unforeseen future.
After he retired from baseball, Cash re-joined the team that signed him as a professional scout for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2012. At the time, Boston writer Nick Cafardo was the one to announce Cash’s retirement and subsequent hire, and concluded the announcement by noting, “Cash is one of those guys you always thought would wind up being a major league manager.” Perhaps that was prescient.
As a pro-scout for Toronto, his duties included including preparing the binder for the club on how to pitchers should approach the opposing team’s batters, and how the hitters should approach the opposing pitchers. He never scouted the minors, but he did keep tabs on the system’s catchers.
Then, before the 2013 season, Cash got a call from his former manager now in Cleveland, Terry Francona, whom he played for across three seasons. Cash joined Cleveland as the bullpen coach, and immediately started to impress the staff with his ability to coach the players.
“When he was still playing, I thought he was a potential coach in waiting,” Francona toldmlb.com. “He’s a guy who is going to rise through the coaching ranks quickly and will be a manager.”
Friend of the site Steve Kinsella noted Cash was credited with the success of several Indian arms under their new regime,including the resurrected Scott Kazmir and Ubaldo Jimenez in 2013, as well as Cy Young winner Corey Kluber and (most of all) Carlos Carrasco – who doubled his strikeout rate and nearly halved his walk rate – in 2014. Cash shares the development credit with Cleveland pitching coach Mickey Callaway, but his touch hasn’t been just with the pitchers.
Another friend of the site Jason Collette noted in an article for Fangraphs that it was Cash’s major league scouting that led the Indians to Yan Gomes, who was acquired from Toronto and then blossomed in Cleveland, and he’s worked with other catchers in the system to develop their defense. He’s even a bit of a recruiter, being credited with helping the Indians land first baseman Nick Swisher.
As the bullpen coach for the Indians, Cash also got high marks for his ability to judge the decisions to come in-game, as noted by former Rays catcher Chris Giminez to Roger Mooney:
“A situation would come up, the (bullpen) phone would ring and sure enough, the pitcher he told to anticipate that moment would be told to start getting ready.”
“His biggest thing is being prepared batter to batter. He knows his stuff, and he’s not afraid to tell the relievers to prepare for situations. More often than not, those situations would happen and the relievers were ready for them.”
Gimenez also provided descriptions that gave Cash the aura of another Moddon:
“He’d fit right in. He always has the players’ backs. He’s got a goofy, funny personality. He’s not afraid to joke with the guys. And he’s so prepared. It would be a seamless transition if he gets that job.”
Whether or not that fits into GM Matt Silverman’s desire for a new voice has yet to be seen, but the descriptions of cash seem to be the full package. Someone players trust, take advice from, and want to be around.
Kevin Cash also got high marks for his people skills from his boss, general manager Chris Antonetti, as noted in Marc Topkin‘s Tuesday morning column:
“Kevin cares about each player, not only as a player but as a person. He works to connect individually with each guy to build a trusting relationship, understand the player’s strengths, and think about ways to help him succeed. Beyond his extraordinary interpersonal skills, humility, and leadership qualities, Kevin is an avid learner that always seeks ways to improve. He constantly asks questions of those around him to learn from them to help him be a better coach.
“All of these attributes will undoubtedly continue to serve him well as he assumes additional leadership responsibilities. He may not have managerial experience but he is very well equipped to handle the various challenges that come with the job.”
These are the highest of marks possible for someone who would be come the youngest manager in the game, if he were chosen by the Rays, at age 36. Jon Heyman already noted Cash has “a strong chance” at winning the job, and if he does it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Noteworthiness
As most of you are aware, midnight tonight (Tuesday, December 2) is the deadline for clubs to tender contracts to arbitration eligible players, or to decide that such players aren’t worth the risk in arbitration. “What does it mean to have a contract tendered,” you may be asking? Steve Adams (of MLB Trade Rumors) summed things up well,
In Major League Baseball, players become eligible for arbitration once they’ve accumulated three years of MLB service time (the top 22 percent of each year’s group of players with two to three years of service also qualify as “Super Two” players). Prior to arbitration, players have virtually no say in their earnings. They typically make the league minimum or perhaps maybe a few thousand more. (MLBTR’s Zach Links wrote a lengthy piece on how pre-arb salaries are determined earlier this year.) It is via arbitration that they can begin to earn more substantial salaries.
Per a tweet from the Rays, Tampa Bay has tendered all six arbitration eligible players:
#Rays have tendered contracts to all six arbitration-eligible players: RHP Cobb, INF Forsythe, OF Jennings, OF Joyce, LHP McGee, LHP Smyly.
They have also tendered contracts to all the other unsigned players on their roster. Whether that means Matt Joyce and Desmond Jennings are safe and sound with the Rays in the 2015 season fails to be seen — both are still rumored to be on the trade bubble.
Finally, according to O’Connell Sports’ Twitter feed, outfielder Corey Brown of Plant High School signed a minor league deal with the Rays. He will be invited to Major League Camp.
