Tampa Bay Rays hire Indians bullpen coach Kevin Cash as manager

The Tampa Bay Rays have hired Cleveland Indians bullpen coach Kevin Cash as their next manager, the team announced Friday. Cash played eight seasons in the

The Tampa Bay Rays have hired Cleveland Indians bullpen coach Kevin Cash as their next manager, the team announced Friday. 

Cash played eight seasons in the majors as a backup catcher with five different teams. He retired after the 2011 season and joined his former manager Terry Francona in Cleveland in 2012 as the bullpen coach. 

Along with Raul Ibanez and Don Wakamatsu, Cash was one of three finalists for the Rays job. Ibanez reportedly withdrew from consideration Thursday.

Cash, who turns 37 on Saturday, was the youngest of the 10 candidates the Rays interviewed for the job. 

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Joe Maddon, who had managed the Rays since 2006, left the team earlier this fall and was later hired as the Cubs' manager. Maddon's departure was the result of a clause in his contract which allowed him to leave in the event Rays general manager Andrew Friedman left the team. Friedman joined the Dodgers as president in October.

- Dan Gartland