Silverman, Cash want Rays ‘back in contention’

ST. PETERSBURG — Matt Silverman and Kevin Cash addressed a media gathering on Tuesday morning regarding the 2016 season.

The numbers say it wasn’t a pretty season, as the only numbers that really count are wins and losses. And in that regard, the Rays’ 68-94 record came in far below expectations.

The first question to Silverman cut to the chase, when a reporter asked him what would prevent the Rays from again finding a place at the bottom of the American League East in 2017. Calmly, the Rays president of baseball operations spoke about the club’s mindset.

“First, we’re incredibly disappointed in this season and how it went south so early,” Silverman said. “It feels like we’ve had this press conference a couple of times already, just talking about how the team’s out of contention early and never really was able to crawl back into relevance.”

Silverman emphasized that the disappointment resonanted throughout the organization, stressing, “We don’t want that to happen again.”

“It’s a talented club, and there were several bright spots that give us hope going into next year,” Silverman said. “But when you’re 25 games out of first place, there aren’t enough bright spots.

“We’re motivated. We’re hell-bent on getting this team back into contention. We have a lot of guys in house. But we’re going to need to makes some changes, and we’re going to need to bring in some new players, too. But the core is intact, and the core is talented. And if you listen to the players talk, or Kevin and the coaches, they’ll tell you that, too. There’s still a lot of confidence. There’s still a lot of optimism in our clubhouse, and that bodes well for next year.”

Following Sunday’s final game of the season, Cash told reporters he liked the …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com