Mike Matheny Named New Manager of the Kansas City Royals
Mike Matheny has been named the new manager of the Kansas City Royals. As expected the Royals stayed in house for their next manager. Matheny was a special advisor to the Royals in 2019.
Matheny is hired by Riyals to manage
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) October 31, 2019
Matheny’s Career
Mike Matheny had a 14-year playing career with four teams. He played five years with the Milwaukee Brewers then one season with the Toronto Blue Jays. After spending the next five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals Matheny ended his career after a two-year stint as a member of the San Francisco Giants.
Matheny also has prior managerial experience under his belt. He managed the Cardinals from 2012-2018 winning the National League pennant in 2013. Matheny will now become the second person to manage both Missouri Major League franchises. Whitey Herzog is the other one.
Replacing Yost
Ned Yost led the Royals to a World Series championship in 2015 against the New York Mets. This came after losing a heartbreaking World Series the year before to the Giants. Despite the back to back World Series appearances, Yost had a sub .500 record as manager. But that does not mean Yost was not beloved in Kansas City.
The Royals are very much a small market team and Yost did bring the city it’s second World Series championship. That alone makes Yost hard to replace.
Royals Outlook
The Royals are on the verge of getting bought. So that has taken center stage. However, Matheny is a safe choice to be the team’s manager with this team now rebuilding. But there are some pieces that Matheny can build his team around.
Jorge Soler led the American League in HR. Adalberto Mondesi at 23 years old has a huge upside. Whit Merrifield and Alex Gordon are steady veteran players who can provide leadership to a team full of players in their twenties. The Royals do have three prospects in the top 100 prospect list on mlb.com’s list. But this Royals team really lacked quality pitching. The team ERA of 5.20 ranked 13th worst in the American League.
Both Merrifield and Gordon were the subject of trade rumors throughout this past season. So it is possible both could be traded for young players. But Matheny should be given the time to develop this young team. The new owners could also decide to spend money on free agents something the previous owners did not do.
Matheny has his work cut out for him. Hopefully, the new owners give him the time to do it.
