Evan Longoria had some choice words about his former team's troubles filling seats on Thursday when he said the Tampa Bay Rays might be better off moving to a new market.
Rays manager Kevin Cash doesn't necessarily agree, however, saying the answer to the team's problems starts with winning. But in speaking with MLB Network Radio on Friday, he does understand the Rays are mired in a bit of a catch-22 situation.
"He's certainly entitled to say what he wants to say ... Our players respond to having big crowds. I think that's fair to say throughout the game," he said. "When people show up at the Trop for us, it energizes us and it helps us win games. Those little things like that, I think that's what players feed off of when they come to the ballpark. Just win games and they're going to show up."
Longoria actually echoed those sentiments when speaking to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
"It pains me to say that, but players want to play in a place where you have consistent support,'' Longoria said. "It's a selfish thing to say probably as a player, but, I don't know, does anyone really want to play in front of 10,000 a night? I don't know. I'm glad I won't have to hear the backlash again this time."
The Rays are averaging 14,711 people in attendance per game in 2018, down from 15,548 in 2017. Only the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins have had lower attendance totals in the early going.
Despite that, the Rays aren't even among the worst teams in baseball. They are 15-19 overall, with an 8-10 record at Tropicana Field.
