The Tampa Bay Rays are a professional baseball franchise based in St. Petersburg, Florida. They are a member of the American League (AL) East in Major League Baseball (MLB). [1] The team joined MLB in 1998 as an expansion team with the Arizona Diamondbacks. [2] In November 2007, Rays owner Stuart Sternberg renamed his team from the "Tampa Bay Devil Rays" to the "Tampa Bay Rays", which he described as "A beacon that radiates throughout Tampa Bay and across the entire state of Florida." [3] The Rays have won two American League Championships, first in 2008, and again in 2020. [4] The Rays have played their home games at Tropicana Field since their inaugural season. [5] Andrew Friedman is the Vice President of Baseball operations, in essence the general manager. [6]
There have been five managers for the Rays franchise. [7] The team's first manager was Larry Rothschild, the only manager who have spent his entire MLB managing career with the Devil Rays and managed the team for four seasons. Through the end of the 2014 season, Joe Maddon is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games managed with 1,459 and the most regular-season game wins with 754. Maddon was the first manager to have been to the playoffs with the Rays. In 2008, he took them all the way to the World Series, losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in five games. [4] Maddon is the first manager to have won the Manager of the Year Award with the Rays, first winning it in 2008, and again in 2011. [8] Maddon became the manager of the then-Devil Rays in 2006. [7] On February 15, 2012 the Rays extended his contract through the 2015 season, [9] however he opted out of his contract at the end of the 2014 season. Kevin Cash has been the team's manager since the 2015 season. In 2019 the team reached the playoffs, losing in the Division Series in five games. In 2020, they advanced to the World Series, however they lost in six games. Cash, the manager with the highest regular-season winning percentage with .537, won the AL Manager of the Year Award in 2020 to become the second manager in Rays history to win the award. He then won the award the following year to be the first Rays manager to win the award in consecutive years.
# | Number of managers [a] |
GM | Regular-season games managed |
W | Regular-season wins |
L | Regular-season losses |
Win% | Regular-season winning percentage |
PGM | Playoff games managed |
PW | Playoff wins |
PL | Playoff losses |
PWin% | Playoff winning percentage |
* | Spent entire MLB managing career with the (Devil) Rays [7] |
# [a] | Image | Name | Term [b] | GM | W | L | Win% | PGM [4] | PW [4] | PL [4] | PWin% [4] | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Larry Rothschild * | 1998–2001 | 499 | 205 | 294 | .411 | — | — | — | — | — | |
2 | Hal McRae | 2001–2002 | 309 | 113 | 196 | .366 | — | — | — | — | — | |
3 | Lou Piniella | 2003–2005 | 485 | 200 | 285 | .404 | — | — | — | — | — | |
4 | Joe Maddon | 2006–2014 | 1,459 | 754 | 705 | .517 | 29 | 12 | 17 | .413 | 2008, 2011 AL Manager of the Year [8] 2008 AL championship [4] | |
5 | Kevin Cash * | 2015–present | 1,356 | 739 | 617 | .545 | 34 | 15 | 19 | .441 | 2020, 2021 AL Manager of the Year 2020 AL championship |
In Major League Baseball, the Manager of the Year Award is an honor given annually since 1983 to two outstanding managers, one each in the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner is voted on by 30 members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). Each submits a vote for first, second, and third place among the managers of each league. The manager with the highest score in each league wins the award.
Kevin Forrest Cash is an American professional baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, Cash played catcher in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Houston Astros. As a player, Cash was listed at 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m) and 200 pounds (91 kg); he batted and threw right-handed. He was the bullpen coach for the Cleveland Indians before being hired as the Rays' manager in December 2014. Cash was the American League Manager of the Year in 2020 and 2021, the first AL manager to win the award consecutively. Cash will enter the 2024 Season as the longest-tenured manager in Major League Baseball.
Joseph John Maddon is an American former professional baseball manager and coach. He has managed the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, and Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB).
William Joseph Evers is an American professional baseball coach and a former minor league player and longtime manager and instructor. In November 2018, he was named a coach on the staff of Rocco Baldelli, the 2019 manager of the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball. The appointment marked the second MLB staff assignment of Evers' 44-year baseball career: he spent 2006 and 2007 as the bench coach during Joe Maddon's first two seasons as skipper of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
David Martinez is an American professional baseball coach and former outfielder who is the manager for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as the bench coach for the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs. He played in MLB for the Cubs, Montreal Expos, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, and Atlanta Braves from 1986 to 2001. Martinez had a .276 career batting average, 1,599 hits, 91 home runs, 795 runs scored, and 580 runs batted in.
Andrew Friedman is an American baseball executive. He is currently the president of baseball operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as the general manager for MLB’s Tampa Bay Rays, where Sporting News named him Executive of the Year in 2008. That year, for the first time in franchise history, the Rays both qualified for the playoffs and played in the World Series. In Los Angeles, as of 2020, Friedman and the Dodgers have won a World Series, three pennants, and seven division titles since he took the job after the 2014 season. Baseball America called the Dodgers the model franchise in the sport under Friedman’s tenure as President.
The 2006 Tampa Bay Devil Rays season was their ninth since the franchise was created. They finished last in the American League East, posting a league-worst record of 61–101. Their manager was Joe Maddon, who entered his first season with the Devil Rays. The Devil Rays' offense had the fewest runs (689), hits (1,395) and RBI (650) in Major League Baseball, as well as the joint-lowest batting average (.255) and lowest on-base percentage (.314).
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ballpark has been Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
José Carlos Montoyo Díaz is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball second baseman and coach. He is currently the bench coach of the Chicago White Sox, and was previously the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB).
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This is a list of award winners and league leaders for the Tampa Bay Rays professional baseball team.
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The 2015 Major League Baseball season began on April 5 with a Sunday night game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, and ended on November 1 with the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series. This was Rob Manfred's first season serving as Commissioner of Baseball.
The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home venue has been Tropicana Field.