Manager Kevin Cash is the only member of the Tampa Bay Rays franchise to be named a finalist for any of the Baseball Writers Association of America Awards for the 2023, being named a finalist for American League Manager of the Year.
Cash is a finalist for the award for the fourth time in the last five seasons. finishing third in 2019 before winning the award in both 2020 and 2021. He is joined by Bruce Bochy of the Texas Rangers and Brandon Hyde of the Baltimore Orioles.
Two Rays players who were thought to have a chance at being a finalist for individual awards fell short in the voting: Yandy Diaz for American League MVP (Shohei Ohtani of the Angels, Corey Seager and Marcus Semien of the Rangers) and Zach Eflin for Cy Young Award (Gerrit Cole of the Yankees, Kevin Gausman of the Blue Jays, and Sonny Gray of the Twins).
The winner of Manager of the Year will be announced November 14 at 6 pm on MLB Network.
Steve Carney is the founder and publisher of St. Pete Nine. One of the people most associated with baseball coverage in Tampa Bay, he spent 13 seasons covering the Rays for flagship radio station WDAE, first as producer of Rays Radio broadcasts, then as beat reporter beginning in 2011. He likes new analytics and aged bourbon, and is the owner of one of the ugliest knuckleballs ever witnessed by baseball scouts.
