Blake Snell beat just about every opponent he faced during his dazzling 2018 breakthrough season.

For the next week, the conversation will be whether the Rays left-hander will finish ahead of Cleveland's Corey Kluber and Houston's Justin Verlander for the American League Cy Young Award.

"I felt like I made a very good case pitching in the AL East, it's not easy, who I had to face, all that,'' Snell said Monday night. "I was confident I was going to be (a finalist). For it to be final, to be in the top three, that's awesome. Now I've just got to wait until Nov. 14 to see if I'm the guy or not.''

Also worthy of discussion:

• Where Kevin Cash will finish in the AL Manager of the Year race after making the top three with Boston's Alex Cora and Oakland's Bob Melvin.

• Whether Joey Wendle was a victim of big-market bias in not making an AL Rookie of Year trio that included Angels pitcher/DH Shohei Ohtani and two Yankees infielders, Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres.

After posting a league-best 21 wins (vs. five losses), 1.89 ERA and .178 opponents average, Snell has been considered a favorite for the award, so Monday's reveal of the top three finalists defined his competition: Kluber, who went 20-7, 2.89, .223, and Verlander, 16-9, 2.52, .200.

Other stats, besides Verlander's 290 strikeouts, are somewhat similar, though both, former winners by the way, threw more innings than Snell's 1802/3, which figures to be the biggest mark against him by the voters, two members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America in each AL city, cast before the playoffs.

"I look at the numbers I put with 180-whatever innings I had and I feel like the innings part gets cut out,'' Snell said. "If you're only talking about innings, it doesn't compare to the guy that led the lead in a whole lot of things that really do matter more than just innings. … For me, innings is a personal goal; 180-200, we're talking 20 innings, what's the difference?''

Cash was acknowledged as much for what he did leading the Rays to 90 wins, 10 better than 2017, as how he did it. Specifically, in implementing the innovative opener pitching strategy that required him on some nights to manage intently from the first inning on as opposed to sitting back until a starter faltered. Also, getting his players to buy into that plan, keeping the team together through an ongoing purge of veterans and transition to a young core, and navigating a slow start and a series of injuries.

Cash, the only finalist in either league to not make the playoffs, typically brushed off any credit, insisting the game is about the players: "More times than not managers are rewarded for having quality teams and I couldn't have been more honored and proud to be part of the team that we had, as youthful as they were.''

Wendle's case was built on his overall contributions, including an AL rookie-high 4.3 WAR rating per baseball-reference.com and .300 average, plus versatility to play multiple positions. But he had less production than the other three given his .789 OPS, is older than a typical rookie at 28 and received decidedly less recognition.

Wendle said via text message it was "fun for me to even be in consideration" and he was not "particularly disappointed" to not be a finalist, noting the other three were deserving. Plus, he said he wouldn't "define the success of a season on an award.''

Snell, though, did speak out, saying Wendle not only should have been in the top three but deserved to win and was hurt by playing in a smaller market.

"If Joey played for the Yankees, do you think Joey would have been on there? Joey would have been on ESPN every day,'' Snell said. "The man is special. For him not to be on there, I'm sad.''

Finalists for other awards, which will be announced next week:

AL MVP: Mookie Betts (Red Sox), Jose Ramirez (Indians), Mike Trout (Angels).

NL Rookie: Ronald Acuna (Braves), Walker Buehler (Dodgers), Juan Soto (Nationals).

NL Manager: Bud Black (Rockies), Craig Counsell (Brewers), Brian Snitker (Braves).

NL Cy Young: Jacob deGrom (Mets), Aaron Nola (Phillies), Max Scherzer (Nationals).

NL MVP: Nolan Arenado (Rockies), Javier Báez (Cubs), Christian Yelich (Brewers).

Marc Topkin can be reached at mtopkin@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Rays