Rays bench coach Rodney Linares deserves managerial shot
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Juan Beltran, Contributor
- September 23, 2026
Rodney Linares has paid his dues helping small-market Rays
It is time for Tampa Bay Rays bench coach Rodney Linares to get a shot at managing in the majors. Linares has paid his dues managing in the minors and coaching in the major leagues, adding another AL East title to his coaching resume on Tuesday night.
When the season started, most so-called experts predicted the Tampa Bay Rays would finish near the bottom of the AL East standings. Yet on Tuesday night, Junior Caminero and the Rays were celebrating their AL East title in the Bronx, rejoicing at Yankee Stadium.
While MLB owners prepare to claim that they need a salary cap so that all teams can compete for a title, the Rays prove that argument false. Yet again, manager Kevin Cash and his crew proved that the small-market Rays can more than compete with the mighty Yankees and Red Sox.
Professional team owners are notorious copy cats. They try to pluck front office executives, managers and coaches from winning franchises to replicate success. Cash once again proved to be one of the best managers in baseball. Linares has been a major part of Cash’s coaching staff since 2019. Cash has raved often about Linares.
Rodney Linares ‘invaluable’
“He’s invaluable to the staff,” Cash said of Linares. “How prepared he is and his baseball knowledge of how he’s come up developing players has really helped me. When we have young players come through our system, knowing that he has a track record of doing that has been a big benefit.
“And his in-game knowledge and the experiences he had with the Dominican club in the WBC has only made our staff, highlighted by him, stronger.”
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Linares, 48, joined Cash’s staff as third base coach in 2019 after a long tenure as a coach and manager in the Astros’ farm system.
A year later, the Rays won the American League pennant during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. In Houston, Linares helped develop superstars Jose Altuve, George Springer, Carlos Correa and Teoscar Hernandez.
Nurturing coach
“The way (Rodney Linares) managed, the confidence he gave his players and the way he treated us was unique,” Hernandez told Our Esquina in 2021. “I always tell him I appreciate him a lot for that.
“He gave us a lot of good advice. The most important thing was that he spoke to me with the truth. He would tell me what I needed to do and what I needed to improve on the field to be a great player.”
In Tampa Bay, Rodney Linares has helped 23-year-old Caminero blossom into one of the best players in the majors over the last three years. Few bench coaches can match Linares’ resume. He already managed the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. He coached and managed in the minors for two decades with the Astros, building that dynasty’s superstars. Moreover, he has served as a bench coach for one of the top teams in the majors. What else does Linares need to prove?
It’s time for Linares to earn a shot to run his own team in the majors.
Juan Beltran
Contributor
Juan Beltran, who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador at 5 years old, is an experienced broadcast journalist
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