MLB Top 5: Tampa Bay Rays Catchers and Manager

By Kevin Rakas

This is the first article in a series that looks at the best five players at each position for the Tampa Bay Rays. In this installment are catchers and managers.

Baseball in the Tampa area in Florida began late in the 19th century when Civil War soldiers returning from battle brought the game and its rules back with them. The first team in the area was in Ybor City in 1887 and the game expanded following the opening of cigar factories and the influx of Cuban immigrants. As the century changed, Florida became a baseball destination thanks to the advent of the Grapefruit League in 1910. The Cubs trained in Tampa in 1913, and the Browns followed suit the following year. Eventually, more than half a dozen teams practiced in the area in the late winter, leading to fans seeing a team as a viable option.

The Tampa Smokers were members of the Florida State League (FSL) throughout the 1920s and played in the International League from 1946-54. Several minor leagues and semipro teams played during this era and the sport endured despite World War II raging on across the Atlantic Ocean. The next team to call Tampa home was the Tarpons, which won three FSL championships and was an affiliate of the Phillies, Reds and White Sox. The team took on the major league club’s stocking moniker in its final season in 1988 before moving to Sarasota. Baseball returned to Tampa in 1994 with the Yankees as a Class-A club for the Bronx Bombers. In 2018, the team harkened back to the previous incarnation and changed to the Tarpons.

Despite the minor league success, Tampa was unable to lure a major league team because of a lack of a proper facility, which was remedied when the Florida Suncoast Dome opened in 1990. In the years before the stadium was built, the Twins, Rangers and White Sox flirted with moving to the area. There was even a late-night vote in the Illinois House of Representatives in 1988 in which the governor of the state used some last-minute politicking to approve funding for what would become New Comiskey Park to keep the team in Chicago. Frank Morsani, the owner of several area auto dealerships, tried to move the Twins and Rangers to Tampa, and he said major league executives promised an expansion team for his troubles. When Miami was chosen instead, Morsani initiated a lawsuit that lasted for more than a decade. The Giants were also a possibility before a group of local investors increased their offer, bought the team and kept it in San Francisco.

Vince Naimoli, was one of the driving forces behind the potential Giants move, was granted an expansion franchise for the 1998 season and Tampa finally had its team. The New Jersey native made a career out of buying failing businesses and making them profitable by trimming expenses throughout a company. He was the managing general partner of the team, holding a 16 percent stake. Five other general partners controlled 62.5 percent, with limited partners owning the rest of the shares. The early version of the Devil Rays had a mix of young and unproven players along with journeymen and starts at the tail end of their careers such as designated hitter Jose Canseco and a pair of Tampa natives in first baseman Fred McGriff and third baseman Wade Boggs. Playing in Tropicana Field (the renamed Suncoast Dome/Thunderdome facility), the club floundered in its first decade, finishing in last place in the American League East nine times.

While the team was not doing well on the field, Naimoli was doing his nickel-and-diming the city and community, upsetting everyone. Things began to change when Stuart Sternberg, a New York native and hedge fund manager took over as a general partner in 2004 and purchased a controlling interest in the team the following year. Once he was officially the owner, he began to revamp the franchise, dropping the “Devil” from the name and changing the team’s logo and colors. However, the biggest move came when the team hired longtime Angels bench coach Joe Maddon as manager after the 2005 season. With a focus on analytics, Maddon got the Rays to turn things around despite consistently having one of the lowest payrolls in the major leagues. Tampa Bay won 97 games in 2008, then dispatched the White Sox in the Division Series and edge the Red Sox in the ALCS to reach the World Series for the first time, losing to the Phillies in five games.

The Rays rebounded after an initial 10-year playoff drought and have reached the postseason nine times in the past 17 seasons. Maddon led the team to three more playoff appearances and a second division title in 2010 but left the team in 2014. Two years later, he helped the Cubs win the World Series for the first time in more than a century. Maddon was replaced by Kevin Cash, a former catcher with the Devil Rays who had previously worked as the bullpen coach with the Indians. The Rays missed the playoffs in his first four seasons at the helm, then made the postseason five straight times. The highlight of that stretch was the COVID-shortened 2020 season, when Tampa Bay went 40-20, won its third division title and held off the Astros in the ALCS to reach the World Series for a second time. A defining moment came in Game 6 when Cash took his ace, Blake Snell, out in the sixth inning with a 1-0 lead after throwing just 73 pitches. The bullpen promptly gave up the lead and the Dodgers won their first title since 1988 with a 3-1 victory.

The Rays won a franchise record 100 games in 2021 but fell to the Red Sox in the Division Series. Two years later, Tampa Bay won 99 games but were swept in the Wild Card round by the eventual champion Rangers. Meanwhile, the aging Tropicana Field has become an eyesore and the subject of much ridicule through the years. The issue was addressed in 2024 when both the City of St. Petersburgh and Pinellas County approved more than $700 million in total funding for the development and building of a new stadium on the same site as their current ballpark. Early renderings of the structure show a tiered roof, seating for 30,000 people and an estimated 2028 completion date.

The best Catchers and Managers in Tampa Bay Rays History

Catchers

Honorable Mention – Jose Molina is a native of Puerto Rico who was drafted by the Cubs in 1993 and had a brief stint with the club six years later. He won titles with the Angels in 2002 and Yankees in 2009 and was also a backup for his homeland when the nation won the silver medal in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Molina played with the Blue Jays before ending his 15-year career by spending three seasons with the Rays from 2012-14. Like his brothers, Yadier and Bengie, Jose was known for his defense. Despite batting just .233 in his career, he won a fielding title and a Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award with Tampa Bay in 2012 and led the league in caught stealing percentage twice. Molina spent seven seasons as a minor league catching coordinator with the Angels and is now a manager in the Mexican League.

5. Wilson Ramos – The Venezuelan-born backstop played for seven teams in a 12-year major league career, beginning with the Twins, who he signed with in 2004. Ramos had his best years with the Nationals, including 2016, when he earned an All-Star selection and a silver slugger after setting career highs with a .307 average, 22 home runs, 80 RBIs and 148 hits. He joined the Rays the following year but missed most of the first half of the season recovering from a torn ACL. Ramos was an All-Star for the second and final time in his career in 2018, posting a .297-13-53 stat line in 78 games with the Rays before he was traded to the Phillies. He spent time with the Mets, Tigers and Indians, had a tryout with the Rangers, played with Mexican and independent teams and is currently a free agent. Ramos had a harrowing experience in November 2011 when he was a member of the Nationals. He was kidnaped in his home country and held for more than two days until he was rescued by police after a gunfight with his abductors.

4. Mike Zunino – He is one of the Tampa’s better catchers in terms of run production, but he is known as a player who has a low average, strikes out a lot and hits plenty of home runs. Zunino was drafted third overall by the Mariners in 2012 and hit 95 home runs in six seasons with Seattle. He was traded to Tampa Bay after the 2018 season and hit well below .200 in his first two campaigns. Zunino came through in the 2020 playoffs, hitting four home runs and driving in eight runs to help his team reach the World Series. He had his best campaign the following year, earning his only All-Star selection after hitting a career-best 33 homers. Zunino played just 36 games in 2022 before undergoing surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in June. He finished his Rays career with a .183 average, 51 home runs and 241 RBIs in 587 games. Zunino played one season with the Guardians before retiring in early 2024.

3. John Flaherty – The New York native was drafted by the Red Sox, had a 27-game hitting streak with the Tigers in 1996 (the third-longest by a catcher in major league history) and played with the Padres before he was traded to the expansion Devil Rays before they played their first game. Flaherty was the team’s catcher for the first four seasons and had a career year in 1999, batting .278, setting personal bests with 124 hits, 14 home runs and 74 RBIs and leading American League catchers in assists and runners caught stealing. The following year, he broke up a no-hit bid by Pedro Martinez in late August with a leadoff single in the ninth inning. “Flash” signed with the Yankees in 2003 and served as a backup for the final three seasons of a 14-year career. He has worked as a reporter and analyst for YES Network since 2006, earning eight New York Emmy Award nominations.

2. Dioner Navarro – The native of Venezuela had brief runs with the Yankees and Dodgers (including an appearance in the 2004 MLB All-Star Futures Game with New York) before he was sent to the Devil Rays during the 2006 season for the top player on this list. Navarro improved both his offense and defense while playing winter ball in his home country and earned in All-Star selection in 2008 after batting .295 with 54 RBIs and a career-best 27 doubles while also leading all catchers in double plays. He helped his team reach the World Series for the first time that season, totaling four runs, 17 hits, four doubles and five RBIs in 16 playoff games. Navarro’s numbers fell off greatly the next two campaigns, and he ended his five-year run in Tampa Bay (2006-10) with a .243 average, 161 runs, 367 hits, 29 home runs and 157 RBIs in 458 games. He bounced around to five teams in his final six seasons, including a second stint with Los Angeles and two with Toronto. Navarro sat out in 2017, then spent one season with the Long Island Ducks and another in the Indians’ minor league system before retiring in 2019.

1. Toby Hall – He was drafted by the Devil Rays in 1997 and made his debut three years later. After nearly two years as a reserve, the Washington native took over the starting role from Flaherty and became a solid run producer. Hall appeared in the 2001 MLB All-Star Futures Game and followed with three solid seasons leading the young Tampa Bay pitching staff. Arguably the best of those seasons offensively was 2003, when he set career highs with 50 runs and 12 home runs while amassing 117 hits and 47 RBIs. Hall drove in a personal-best 60 runs the following year and in 2005, he set career highs with a .287 average and 124 hits while leading all catchers with a 2.7 Defensive WAR. He was traded to the Dodgers in the deal for Navarro in late June the following year, ending his seven-year tenure with the Devil Rays (2000-06). Hall ranks tenth in franchise history with 112 doubles, and he batted .262 with 194 runs, 538 hits, 44 homers, 251 RBIs and 784 total bases in 586 games. He spent his final two seasons with the White Sox, ending his nine-year major league career in 2008. Hall now teaches baseball to players with special needs in Florida.

Managers

5. Hal McRae – The Florida native was a prospect for Cincinnati in the pre-“Big Red Machine” days when he suffered multiple fractures in his leg while sliding during a winter game in Puerto Rico in 1969. McRae was a reserve outfielder and pinch-hitter until the American League began using the designated hitter, and he was traded to the Royals. His career took off, and he amassed more than 1,000 RBIs and 2,000 hits in 19 seasons. After his retirement as a player, he managed the Royals for four seasons, which included one of the most memorable tirades in major league history. McRae was hired by the Devil Rays as bench coach in 2001 and took over as manager in late April that year. The young team was amid a run of nine losing seasons in its first decade of play, and the hard-nosed manager went just 113-196 at the helm before being fired after the 2002 campaign. McRae spent time as a hitting coach with four other teams, ending his career with the Cardinals in 2009.

4. Larry Rothschild – He spent 11 seasons in the minor leagues as a pitcher and appeared in seven games with the Tigers in 1981-82. Following his playing career, Rothschild had a long career as a pitching coach and instructor with six teams and won titles with the Reds in 1990 and the Marlins in 1997. After the championship, he was hired to be the first manager in Devil Rays history. Although the young pitching staff was respectable under his watch, the expansion team struggled during his four seasons at the helm (1998-2001), going 205-294 and finishing in last place in the division each season. After a 4-10 start in 2001, Tampa Bay fired Rothschild, who went on to have lengthy runs as a pitching coach with the Cubs and Yankees before finishing his major league career with the Padres. He currently works as a pitching consultant for the Windy City ThunderBolts of the independent Frontier League.

3. Lou Piniella – The Tampa native had an 18-year playing career in which he earned an All-Star selection and a Rookie of the Year Award with the Royals and played with four pennant-winners and two World Series championship teams during an 11-year stint with the Yankees. “Sweet Lou” had two managerial stints with the Bronx Bombers following his playing career, then led the 1990 Reds to a title (with Rothschild as his pitching coach) and led the Mariners to their first four playoff appearances, including a 2001 season in which the team tied a major league record with 116 wins. He was named skipper of the hometown Devil Rays in 2003 after being acquired in a rare manager-for-player trade in exchange for outfielder Randy Winn. Although the team finished out of the basement for the first time in 2004, management reneged on a promise to increase payroll and Piniella managed just a 200-285 record in three seasons (2003-05). The Devil Rays bought out the final year of his contract and, after a year as an analyst for Fox Sports, he managed the Cubs to a pair of division titles his final four-year managerial stint. Piniella finished his 23-year career in 2010 with an 1,835-1,713 record and led teams to seven playoff appearances. He was on the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee ballot for Managers, Executives and Umpires in 2023, and he missed out on being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by one vote.

2. Joe Maddon – The Pennsylvania native had a four-year minor league career as an outfielder and catcher in the Angels’ organization, never rising above Class A. In 1979, Maddon began his second career as a coach, instructor and scout with California, and he would spend the next four-plus decades evaluating and coaching young and talented players. He was a minor league manager for six seasons then worked as a roving instructor for seven more before joining the big-league club in 1994. Maddon was a first base coach, interim manager and bench coach for the Angels, and it was his role as the latter for the 2002 championship team that put him on the radar and eventually led to him being hired by the Devil Rays following the 2005 season.

Tampa Bay continued its run of last place finishes in Maddon’s first two seasons, but the combination of a talented farm system and a manager who was a proponent of shifts and other analytics brought not just a winning season, but a division title in 2008. The newly named Rays won 97 games and topped the White Sox and Red Sox in the American League playoffs before falling to the highly touted Phillies in five games in the World Series. The stellar campaign kicked off a run of six straight winning seasons for Tampa Bay, including five in which the team won at least 90 games. The Rays won another A. L. East title two years after their pennant and had two more playoff appearances as a wild card team, but all three of those runs ended in the Division Series. Tampa Bay went through an injury-riddled 2014 season, and the team finished below .500. Maddon opted out of his contract and finished his nine-year run with a 754-705 record. He joined the Cubs (despite the Rays alleging tampering) and led them to their first championship in 108 years in 2016. Maddon returned to the Angels in 2020 and spent his final three seasons as the team’s manager. He finished his 19-year managerial career with a 1,382-1,216 regular season record and a 32-35 mark in eight playoff appearances.

1. Kevin Cash – Like Piniella, he was a Tampa native who managed his hometown team. Unlike the others on this list, Cash actually played for the team, appearing in 13 games as Hall’s backup in 2005. Overall, he had an eight-year career as a catcher and occasional third baseman for five teams. Following his retirement, the 2002 MLB All-Star Futures Game participant spent two seasons as a bullpen coach with the Indians under Terry Francona, who was the manager during his two stints with the Red Sox as a player (including 2007, when Boston won the World Series). Cash’s energy and confidence rubbed off on the players and led to him replacing Maddon as manager of the Rays in 2015 and becoming the youngest skipper in the major leagues at the time. Tampa Bay had a losing record in his first three years at the helm, but the team posted 80-82 marks in two of those seasons. While his predecessor used shifts, Cash was into analytics as well. In 2018, the Rays used a new concept called the “opener,” in which a relief pitcher started the game and threw an inning or two before giving way to the traditional “starter.” The strategy worked for the most part, with Tampa Bay winning 90 games (but missing the playoffs), then 96 the following season.

The Rays broke through in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, winning the division and posting the best record in the American League with a 40-20 mark. Tampa Bay swept Toronto and edged the Yankees and Astros to reach the second World Series in franchise history and Cash won the Manager of the Year Award. Once again, the Rays lost, with Cash causing a stir by taking out starter Blake Snell with a lead in Game 6. Los Angeles rallied against the Tampa Bay bullpen to win their first title since 1988. The Rays won their second straight division title in 2021 after posting a franchise-record 100 wins. Although Cash was named Manager of the Year for the second consecutive season, his team lost to Boston in the Division Series. Tampa Bay made the playoffs in each of the next two years, including a 99-win campaign in 2023, but lost both times in the Wild Card Round. In the final week of the 2024 season, his tenth with the Rays, Cash has an 817-698 record in the regular season and a 15-19 mark in the playoffs. He passed Maddon for most wins in franchise history with a victory over the Mets in early May. Cash could put the record out of reach, since he is under contract with the team through the 2030 season.

Upcoming Stories

Tampa Bay Rays Catchers and Managers
Tampa Bay Rays First and Third Basemen and Designated Hitters
Tampa Bay Rays Second Basemen and Shortstops
Tampa Bay Rays Outfielders
Tampa Bay Rays Pitchers