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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash tried to end speculation about replacing his friend Terry Francona as the manager of the Cleveland Guardians.

“I’m very happy here,” Cash said Monday at the season wrap-up news conference. “I’m under contract here and looking forward to next year, for sure.”

The 64-year-old Francona recently stepped down as Cleveland manager. He has been slowed by major health issues in recent years. Cash played for Francona with the Boston Red Sox and was a member of his coaching staff in Cleveland before becoming Tampa Bay’s manager in 2015.

In his nine seasons with the Rays, Cash has led them to one AL pennant, a pair of AL East titles and a current run of five consecutive playoff trips. His 739 wins with the team are 15 behind franchise leader Joe Maddon.

The injury-depleted Rays won 99 games this season to earn an AL wild card, but were swept by the Texas Rangers in the opening postseason round last week.

Still, Tampa Bay president of baseball operations Erik Neander called Cash’s performance in 2023 “the best job that’s he ever done here.”

The Rays were without key players for part of the season due to injuries, including ace Shane McClanahan and starting pitchers Drew Rasmussen, Jeffrey Springs and Shane Baz (out all season). First baseman Yandy Díaz, second baseman Brandon Lowe, outfielders Luke Raley. Jose Siri and Randy Arozarena were impacted by injuries down the stretch.

Shortstop Wander Franco was placed on administrative leave indefinitely by Major League Baseball in August while authorities in the Dominican Republic investigate the All-Star for an alleged relationship with a minor. He sat out the final six weeks of the regular season and playoffs.

“The most important job a manager has, in our opinion, is to keep players every single day coming to the ballpark caring about competing that day, winning and doing it for one another,” Neander said, “and in no season was that tested more than it was this one.”

The Rays and local government officials announced last month they’re working on a prospective new ballpark for the team in St. Petersburg, with a possible opening in 2028.

Meanwhile, Franco’s playing status remains in question for 2024. It is not known when MLB will make a ruling.

“We’re always preparing for multiple different things,” Tampa Bay general manager Peter Bendix said. “That’s going to be true in that situation.”

Franco has a salary of $2 million next season as part of a $182 million, 11-year contract that started in 2022. He will be paid and receive service time while on administrative leave under an agreement with the players’ association.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Chafin gets minor league deal, returns to Tigers

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Chafin gets minor league deal, returns to Tigers

LAKELAND, Fla. — Free agent reliever Andrew Chafin signed a minor league deal Monday to go to spring training with the Detroit Tigers, the team that traded the left-hander to Texas last summer.

Chafin has pitched in 105 games for the Tigers over two stints — 64 games in 2022 and 41 last year before being dealt to Texas for two minor leaguers in July. It was the fourth time in five seasons he was part of a deadline trade.

Texas in November declined a $6.5 million team option for Chafin, who instead got a $500,000 buyout. He had a 4.19 ERA while pitching 19⅓ innings in 21 appearances for the Rangers, after a 3.16 ERA with 50 strikeouts over 37 innings for the Tigers.

The 34-year-old Chafin has a 3.75 ERA in 601 big league appearances over 11 seasons for six teams. The only team he has pitched more for than Detroit is Arizona, the club that picked him 43rd overall in the 2011 amateur draft. He made 377 relief appearances and started three games for the Diamondbacks over parts of eight seasons.

Chafin made his debut with the Diamondbacks in 2014, and they traded him to the Chicago Cubs in 2020. He returned to Arizona as a free agent in 2023 and was traded that summer to Milwaukee. He also pitched for Oakland during part of the 2021 season.

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Reports: Yanks’ Stanton in N.Y. for medical tests

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Reports: Yanks' Stanton in N.Y. for medical tests

Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton has returned to New York to undergo medical testing, multiple outlets reported Monday.

Stanton, 35, has yet to take part in spring training activities in Tampa, Fla., as he continues to battle tendinitis in both elbows. The New York Post said Monday that it was unclear whether the medical testing was for an evaluation of his elbows.

On Sunday, manager Aaron Boone told reporters that Stanton was undergoing treatment and “nothing imminent” was on tap for the designated hitter, baseball-wise.

The Yankees haven’t been pushing Stanton this spring, giving him time to rest and, hopefully, recover.

The MVP of the 2024 American League Championship Series, Stanton was bothered by deep soreness in his elbows for much of last season. He hit 27 home runs and drove in 72 runs over 114 games in the regular season.

Stanton had seven homers and 16 RBIs in 55 postseason at-bats as the Yankees reached the World Series before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. Stanton went deep twice in the Fall Classic to follow up his four-homer showing against the Cleveland Guardians in the ALCS.

Stanton is entering his 16th major league season — the first eight coming with the Miami Marlins before he was traded to the Yankees prior to the 2018 season. He has 429 homers and 1,103 RBIs along with a .257 average in 1,649 career games.

Stanton is a five-time All-Star and he was the National League MVP in 2017 when he established career highs of 59 homers and 132 RBIs for Miami.

He has three seasons remaining on a 13-year, $325 million deal he signed with the Marlins. The Yankees hold a club option for 2028.

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Guardians owner Dolan, 94, dies, team announces

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Guardians owner Dolan, 94, dies, team announces

CLEVELAND — Lawrence J. Dolan, owner of Cleveland’s major league baseball team since 2000, has died at age 94.

The Cleveland Guardians put out a statement Monday saying Dolan died Sunday night of natural causes.

“Mr. Dolan invested his entire life in Greater Cleveland and impacted our community on so many levels,” Bob DiBiasio, Guardians senior vice president of public affairs, said in a statement. “From his service to our country as a First Lieutenant in the United States Marines, his many philanthropic acts of kindness, career in law, business, education, and sports, many benefited from his engagement, influence, and passion. Especially in the world of sports.”

Dolan, a Cleveland native, purchased the team from Richard Jacobs in 2000 for $320 million. The Dolan family has a 75% stake in the club and is the longest-tenured owner in Cleveland franchise history.

Guardians chairman and CEO Paul Dolan, Larry Dolan’s son, took over as the team’s primary control person in 2013.

“We are saddened by the loss of our Dad, but lucky to have him as part of our lives as long as we did,” he said in a statement. “He was a loving husband, father and grandfather who was passionate about his family, work, our community and his love of our local sports teams, including owning the Cleveland Guardians.”

The franchise was known as the Cleveland Indians before changing its name to the Guardians after the 2021 season. Over the past 24 seasons, Cleveland has won seven American League Central Division titles, made nine postseason appearances and advanced to the 2016 World Series before losing to the Chicago Cubs in seven games. Cleveland also hosted the 2019 MLB All-Star Game.

“I am saddened by the passing of Cleveland native Larry Dolan, whose family’s quarter-century ownership has made their hometown team a consistent winner and a staple of their community,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “He strongly believed in mentoring young people and using the Guardians as a way to impact Greater Cleveland. Larry also served the industry by bringing his professional expertise to the Major League Executive Council and the Ownership Committee, and he served on two labor negotiating committees.”

Dolan is survived by his wife Eva, six children and 21 grandchildren. His nephew, James Dolan, owns the New York Knicks, New York Rangers and Madison Square Garden.

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