ST. PETERSBURG -- Erik Neander waited until the Rays’ season was over to offer his highest praise for manager Kevin Cash.

Sitting next to Cash in front of a crowd of reporters on the club level at Tropicana Field last month, Tampa Bay’s president of baseball operations looked back on this season and said, simply: “I think this is the best job he’s ever done here.”

That’s no minor compliment, considering Cash had been named American League Manager of the Year in 2020 and ’21 after placing third in ’18 and ’19. Now, Cash has a chance to add another trophy to his collection.

Cash is one of three finalists for this year’s AL Manager of the Year Award, with World Series-winning Rangers manager Bruce Bochy and Orioles skipper Brandon Hyde rounding out the field. The winner, determined by a Baseball Writers’ Association of America vote that took place before the postseason began, will be announced on Nov. 14 on MLB Network during an awards show beginning at 6 p.m. ET.

Cash is the Rays’ only BBWAA awards finalist, although infielder Yandy Díaz has a chance to secure the club’s first top-five finish in the AL MVP voting when those results are revealed on Nov. 16.

With mentor Terry Francona stepping down from his post with the Guardians, Cash is now the longest-tenured manager in the Majors with his current team. The 45-year-old has led the Rays to six consecutive winning seasons and five straight postseason berths, owns by far the club’s best managerial winning percentage (.545) and is 16 wins away from surpassing Joe Maddon (754) for the most in franchise history.

What led Neander to say this was Cash’s finest work yet?

“This group was challenged,” Neander said last month. “The most important job that 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. And in no season was that tested more than it was this one.”

This season presented two major challenges for the Rays: an overwhelming number of pitching injuries that depleted their depth and the loss of All-Star shortstop Wander Franco.

With Cash at the helm, the Rays won 99 games this year and finished second in the highly competitive AL East despite having 23 players serve 30 stints on the injured list. Only five players from the Opening Day roster remained active all season: outfielder Randy Arozarena, catcher Christian Bethancourt, designated hitter Harold Ramírez, infielder Isaac Paredes and reliever Colin Poche.

The Rays used 58 players, tied with the Brewers and Dodgers for the most among postseason teams and tied for fourth most in the Majors overall. They never got a full turn out of their potentially dominant rotation. Tyler Glasnow didn’t make his season debut until May 27, and three members of the Opening Day starting staff suffered season-ending elbow injuries: Jeffrey Springs in April, Drew Rasmussen in May and Shane McClanahan on Aug. 2.

Cash cited injuries as the most difficult part of the season, but as he often does, he deflected the praise toward the players.

“I commend the guys in the clubhouse that did a really good job of keeping it together, keeping the vibe the right way, letting the frustrations be quick and on to the next thing,” Cash said last month. “They really came in focused on winning games, winning series.”

Then came the stunning situation with Franco, who did not play after Aug. 12. He was placed on the restricted list on Aug. 14 and went on administrative leave shortly after that while being investigated by MLB regarding allegations of an improper relationship with a minor.

Cash had to mix and match with Tampa Bay’s infield the rest of the way, leaning on rookies like Osleivis Basabe and Junior Caminero when Taylor Walls was unavailable due to injuries. The Rays bounced back from a tough July and won 36 of their final 55 games to claim the AL’s second-best record. More importantly, he kept the club focused amid a stream of bad news that easily could have derailed its season.

“There's so many reasons that this season could have gone sideways,” Neander said. “The fact that it not only didn't, but [we] ended up with 99 regular-season wins in this division, speaks highly certainly to our players, but to our leadership -- and that's Cashy.”