Major League Baseball

Rays' choice of next skipper will reveal franchise's future goals

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:12 p.m. ET

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David Price is gone. Joe Maddon is gone. Andrew Friedman is gone. The common perception is that the Rays, without their longtime ace, manager and GM, are headed for a fall.

Only the Rays don’t see it that way.

If anything, the Rays believe they could contend next season, just as they believed they would contend last season. As it turned out, they won only 77 games, their fewest since 2007, mostly due to an underperforming offense.

Now, as the Rays prepare to pick a new manager, they have a choice: Go with the experienced Don Wakamatsu, a safer pick for a team trying to win. Or make a more unconventional choice, Kevin Cash or Raul Ibanez.

Wakamatsu managed the Mariners in 2009 and ’10 and also has served as a bench coach for the Rangers, Blue Jays and Royals. Cash has been a coach — the Indians’ bullpen coach — for only two years. Ibanez is still not officially retired as a player.

Both Cash and Ibanez made strong impressions in their initial interviews, sources said; the Rays ultimately could pick one or the other, betting on his potential. The Rays’ clubhouse is cohesive and most of their coaches are in place, two potential benefits for a first-time manager.

Then again, how big a risk is the team willing to take?

The Rays’ rotation, which includes Alex Cobb, Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi and Drew Smyly, could be the best in the AL East, especially after left-hander Matt Moore returns from Tommy John surgery in May or June. And if the offense revives ... well, as one club official put it, “we see the team as compelling, with some real upside.”

Of course, there is one other possibility — that the Rays go into full rebuilding mode with a series of dramatic moves. But while club officials routinely consider all options, a complete teardown seems unlikely.

First, the Rays must pick a new manager. Their choice could be revealing.