After over a month of searching for a new manager, the Tampa Bay Rays have finally decided who will lead their club in 2015. In Washington, one of the Nationals' outfielders will be heading to jail after being charged with reckless driving.
Kevin Cash will be 37 years old on Saturday. He received an early birthday gift after Rays' president of baseball operations Matt Silverman named him the next manager of the team. Cash, who has no managerial experience and only served as a bullpen coach for two years in Cleveland, will replace Joe Maddon in Tampa Bay.
A former big league catcher, Cash logged eight professional seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Houston Astros. Following his retirement in 2010, he joined the Blue Jays organization as a scout in 2012 and then followed Terry Francona to the Cleveland Indians in 2013 and took over as bullpen coach. Perhaps it was Cash's intangibles that convinced Silverman to hire him.
"Kevin cares about each player, not only as a player but as a person," Indians general manager Chris Antonetti wrote in an email last week to the Tampa Bay Times. "He works to connect individually with each guy to build a trusting relationship, understand the player's strengths, and think about ways to help him succeed. Beyond his extraordinary interpersonal skills, humility, and leadership qualities, Kevin is an avid learner that always seeks ways to improve. He constantly asks questions of those around him to learn from them to help him be a better coach."
It came down to Cash and former manager Don Wakamatsu. Raul Ibanez was a finalist for the position as well, but he withdrew his name from consideration due to personal issues.
Despite the good news in Tampa, there's (not so) bad news in Washington. Nationals' outfielder Jayson Werth was sentenced to 10 days in jail and will have his license suspended for six months after being charged with reckless driving. Back in July, Werth was pulled over for doing 105 mph in a 55-mph zone and Fairfax County, Virginia does not go easy on these kinds of offenses.
According to NBC Sports' HardballTalk, the sentence was technically 180 days in jail with 170 suspended, but he only has to serve half of the 10 remaining days, so he'll be in the slammer for just five. It looks like Werth is going to need a chauffeur for the next few months.
