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8:30am: The Rays have formally announced the pair of contract extensions. I believe there are none better in baseball, owner Stuart Sternberg said of his president and Will Clarke Jersey manager. What weve all accomplished together has been remarkable, and the best is yet to come. 8:00am: The Rays have signed president of baseball operations Erik Neander and manager to long-term contract extensions, according to a report from , with an announcement of the deals expected later today. The specifics of the deals are not yet known, though Topkin says theyll run beyond the 2028 season, when the club is slated to move into a new stadium in St. Petersburg. The pairs tenure at the top of the Rays organization has been a resounding succe s. While Cash has been managing the club since 2015, Neander became the clubs top baseball operations executive during the 2017-18 offseason. Hed previously served as the senior vice president of baseball operations and general manager under then-president Matthew Silverman, but Silverman moved to the busine s side of the operation and ceded baseball autonomy to Neander. From 2018 onward, the Rays have posted a winning record in each season with five postseason appearances, including a trip to the World Series in 2020. Overall, the club has enjoyed a 511-359 record under the duos guidance, good for a .587 winning percentage. All that winning has come in spite of resources that pale in comparison to the arsenals available to other perennial contenders. The clubs payroll reached an all-time high of just under $84MM (per ) back in 2022, at which point the team ranked 25th in the majors in terms of player payroll. The clubs payroll ranked 26th in the majors in 2021, and has sat in the bottom three among all major league clubs every other season since Neander took over baseball operations. Thats left the club to occasionally part ways with top talents such as and in spite of the teams consistent succe s, though those lo ses have been offset by the clubs ability to identify talent (both in trade partners and in the draft), a subsequent perennially strong farm system and succe s in developing talent at the major league level. Theres been a fair bit of turnover in the Tampa Bay front office over the years, as rival teams frequently target Rays executives when seeking to reshape their own baseball operations outfits hopeful of emulating the teams constant succe s (both in terms of on-field play and player development). Neander was once a top lieutenant for president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman in Tampa Bay, before he was hired away by the Dodgers. Neander and Chaim Bloom were key figures in running baseball ops thereafter, concurrently holding senior vice president titles, but Bloom was hired away by the Red Sox (and has since joined the Cardinals as an advisor after being dismi sed in Boston). Brewers GM Matt Arnold was also hired out of the Rays ranks, and more recently now-former Rays GM Peter Bendix, whod been No. 2 on Tampa Bays hierarchy behind Neander, was hired as the Marlins president of baseball operations. Its a similar story among Cashs top coaches. A look back at the Rays coaching staffs over the past few seasons will reveal a smattering of names whove gone on to become big league managers. Pirates skipper Derek Shelton, Royals manager Matt Quatraro and Twins manager Rocco Baldelli were all on Cashs staff at one point, as was Charlie Montoyo, who was hired away from the Rays to manage the Blue Jays but is now the White Sox bench coach. Thats only a short list of the number of executives, analysts and coaches whove been poached by other clubs over the years. Throughout all those personnel changes, however, Neander and Cash have been constants as the Rays have continually defied expectations set by their minimal payroll and roster that often resembles an island of misfit toys. Todays extensions ensure that this same duo will remain in place for another half decade of baseball in St. Petersburg and that Neander and Cash will help to usher in a new era of Rays baseball when they move into their new stadium in 2028. Mohamed Sanu Jersey |
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