TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash came up short in a bid to win manager of the year in the American League.
Cash finished third in the balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America behind the winner, Oakland’s Bob Melvin and Alex Cora of the Boston Red Sox.
Melvin has now won the award three times in his career and gained high praise for taking the lowest payroll in baseball and winning 97 games.
Melvin received 18 first place votes followed by seven for Cora and five for Cash.
With the second lowest payroll, Cash led a Rays club to 90 wins despite two separate roster turnovers, one before the season, then deals during the regular season.
Cora had the best situation of the three finalists, inheriting a division champion but performed under pressure, leading the Red Sox to 108 wins, second most by a first year manager.
For Cash, being a finalist caps a year that no one saw coming.
The Rays got off to a bad start, 3-12 after 15 games, climbed to .500 in mid-May, then took off in August.
“You give a lot of credit to the guys in the clubhouse,” Cash said during the award broadcast on MLB Network.
“Our players responded. You’ve got two ways to go. You can go down and pout about it or you can kind of bring it together. I think our guys did a tremendous job of that.”
After the five first place votes, Cash received six for second place and 14 for third place.
