If there is a team in baseball that believes in its project and continually sticks to their ways, it’s the Tampa Bay Rays.
They don’t go out on spending sprees for free agents, but they value concepts like player development and good scouting and create their own contributors, tailor-made for their forward-thinking and analytics-driven approach.
In fact, there is a whole school of Rays executives that have gone on to feed front offices around the league: Andrew Friedman, Chaim Bloom, Peter Bendix, Erik Neander, and several others.
Neander, who has been with the team since 2007, is currently their president of baseball operations.
That will remain the case for a long time, because the organization just extended his deal and that of manager Kevin Cash.
The best is yet to come. pic.twitter.com/rziCaSRjTU
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) February 8, 2024
“The best is yet to come,” the team wrote while announcing the extensions.
“I believe there are none better in baseball. What we’ve all accomplished together has been remarkable, and the best is yet to come”, Stuart Sternberg, the Rays’ owner, said in a statement.
Neander joined the Rays in 2007 as an intern, and slowly worked his way up until reaching the top of his field: president of baseball operations.
Cash, on the other hand, was a former MLB catcher and has managed the Rays since 2015.
His ability to understand analytics and stats and use them to manage, in all situations, makes him one of the best fits for a modern, forward-thinking franchise like the Rays.
The franchise has faith in him and thus extended his stay with the club.
The Rays are big believers in long-term projects and continue to show it every day.
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