The Tampa Bay Rays did everything they could in 2026 to make the awards voters pay attention. They finished with an AL-best 98-64 record, won the American League East, and put three names in the mix for major individual honors.
And still, they came away empty.
Junior Caminero, Kevin Cash and Bryan Baker all reached finalist status, but none of them turned that into a trophy when baseball’s end-of-season awards were announced. For a team that piled up wins and checked just about every box, the result landed like a gut punch.
Caminero’s case is the one that jumps off the page first. The 22-year-old third baseman finished second in American League MVP voting behind Houston designated hitter Yordan Alvarez, but the strangest part was the blank in the first-place column. He got zero first-place votes.
Not one.
Caminero’s season was impossible to miss: .276 with 42 home runs and 101 RBI, and he never left the lineup, starting all 162 games for Tampa Bay. He was a central piece of a Rays team that reached 98 wins and took the division. Alvarez had a huge year too, hitting .316 with 42 home runs and 106 RBI, but Caminero’s complete absence from the top spot is the part that stings for Tampa Bay.
The Rays also had a strong argument in the bullpen race, where Bryan Baker finished third in American League Reliever of the Year voting. Toronto’s Louis Varland and Cleveland’s Cade Smith finished ahead of him, but Baker’s numbers were hard to ignore: 41 saves, a 1.44 ERA, and no blown saves over his final 30 save chances.
That kind of finish usually gets more than a third-place nod.
Then there was Kevin Cash, who guided Tampa Bay to the best record in the league and still finished second in Manager of the Year voting behind Chicago White Sox skipper Will Venable. Cash collected 12 first-place votes to Venable’s 15 and ended up 13 points back.
Venable had his own strong case after helping Chicago jump from 60 to 84 wins, but Cash’s résumé was just as loud in its own way. The Rays improved by 21 wins from a 77-85 season, did it with one of baseball’s lowest payrolls, and beat their preseason projection by 19 victories while navigating one of the toughest divisions in the sport.
That was enough to get Cash to the doorstep. Not enough to get him the award.
There’s no denying the winners had legitimate cases. But Tampa Bay’s frustration is easy to understand. A team that finished with the best record in the American League, took another division title, and produced finalists in three major award races somehow ended the night without a single winner.
Caminero’s MVP finish may be the one Rays fans remember most. Nobody is arguing Alvarez didn’t earn the award.
But Caminero’s production, durability and importance to Tampa Bay’s season made the zero first-place votes hard to swallow. The good news for the Rays is that he moved from ninth in the voting last season to second this year, a clear sign of how far he has come as the franchise player and one of the game’s brightest young stars.
For Tampa Bay, the season was still a success. The recognition just didn’t match the results.
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Junior Camineros rise was rewarded with a spot on the All-MLB First Team at third base, while Drew Rasmussen landed on the All-MLB Second Team rotation after also finishing fourth in AL Cy Young voting. Bakers season had already put him in the mix among the leagues best relievers, and Rasmussens recognition only adds to the sense that the Rays have more than one arm and one bat shaping the conversation heading into what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
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For the Rays, the more intriguing talk may be in the outfield, where a thin free-agent class could push them toward the trade market instead of a straightforward signing. Jonny DeLuca is part of that conversation, and any move involving him would ripple through the rest of the roster construction as Tampa Bay weighs how best to fit its pieces together for next season. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Just Got League-Wide Validation For How They Keep Winning
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Kevin Cash also came up just short in the American League Manager of the Year voting, finishing second after guiding a roster that once again outperformed expectations. For a franchise that has built its identity on finding edges others miss, the honors only reinforced how much of the Rays staying power comes from the people steering the operation as much as the players on the field. [Read more 🡒]