After the retirement of long-time manager Ned Yost last month, the Kansas City Royals didn’t have to look far to find his replacement.
The Royals announced the hiring of former MLB catcher and St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny to succeed Yost on Thursday. He has spent the past year working in the Kansas City organization as a special adviser for player development.
The 49-year-old Matheny was fired by the Cardinals last July after spending the better part of seven seasons with the team. During his tenure with St. Louis, he led the Cardinals to a 591-474 regular-season record and won three NL Central division titles as well as two NL pennants.
The Royals, who have failed to make the playoffs since winning the 2015 World Series, will look to Matheny to help develop their roster full of young talent. He won’t be expected to compete for the playoffs immediately, as the team has posted back-to-back 100+ loss seasons, but management will expect to see improvement.
Details of their new manager’s contract terms were not immediately made available by the Royals.
Matheny will have a big task ahead of him to lead Kansas City back to contention, but he has the experience needed in order to do so.
