Royals manager Ned Yost will officially retire following the completion of the 2019 season, the team announced today in a press release. He’ll finish his career with the most victories in Royals franchise history and is the only Royals manager to ever make consecutive World Series appearances. Yost issued the following statement in today’s release:
“With the development of our young players and our returning veterans, I feel and hope the worst is behind us in this rebuilding phase of our organization. My plan all along was to get us through the rough times then turn it over to a new manager to bring us the rest of the way. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here as your manager and will never forget the good and the hard times we had together as an organization and a fan base.
I will never forget the fact that you fans supported us through it all. Kansas City will always have a special place in my heart, and I look forward to rooting for the Royals on to their next World Championship very soon.”
Yost, 65, has managed the Royals since the 2010 season, logging a collective 744-836 record in that time. Prior to that, he’d spent parts of six seasons skippering the Brewers, with whom he won 457 games. Overall, Yost will complete his managerial career with a 1201-1338 record, two American League pennants and one World Series title. He’s 32nd all-time in total games managed at the MLB level, and his current total of 1201 wins ranks 45th — though he’ll have the opportunity to tack on a few more victories and six more games managed between now and Sunday’s farewell game.
Yost’s retirement has been widely expected, as the skipper himself has hinted in the past that he isn’t likely to see a rebuild all the way through. There’s no firm word yet on a successor to Yost, of course, but it was speculated last November when the Royals hired former Cardinals skipper Mike Matheny as a special advisor that he was a strong candidate to take the reins following Yost’s retirement. The Royals won’t make any formal announcement on the matter for now. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that Matheny is indeed “expected” to be the team’s next manager, but MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan reports that the Royals have yet to commit to Matheny as the new manager (Twitter link).
Of course, even if that was the plan last November, much has changed in the Royals organization since Matheny’s hire. Owner David Glass has agreed to sell the team to Kansas City entrepreneur John Sherman, and while it’s been reported that general manager Dayton Moore will receive a contract extension once the new ownership regime formally takes over, it’s not as clear that the new owners will have the same vision for the manager and his coaching staff.
Is he also going to be in the running for the next Padres’ manager?
Are you a Padres fan? If so, why would you want him? See those win loss numbers?
RIP
He still got them to two World Series.
Yeah, Yost can’t hit or pitch to save his life.
A manager’s win-loss record rarely defines the value he can bring to a team. Many managers get caught in unfortunate situations like Yost did with the Royals who were basically rebuilding for all but 3 years of his time there. Can’t have good records if ownership won’t get you good players to manage
Exactly, just look at pre-Yankees Joe Torre
But in terms of his value as a manager, we know Yost doesn’t manage a bullpen well (rigid roles) and not so good at lineup construction – how many games did Escobar and his sub – .300 OBP lead off? He also would utilize the sacrifice bunt to a fault despite amply analytical evidence to the contrary. They won in spite of his blunders.
esky magic worked….in the playoffs
Those win loss numbers are with 2 small market teams that provided mostly a less than product on the field for him to work with, not super reflective on what kind of manager he is and what he brings to the table
didnt know he was ecpected to win with one of baseball’s worst teams
That joke went further over your head than a fly ball headed towards Josh Naylor.
He’s done better than any Yankees manager has in the last 10 years.
Or, Brad Ausmus.
He was on-boarded during a rebuild, and got stuck in another rebuild after their two or so year run. Win-loss does not define his career. Royals upper management does. Maybe the change in ownership will do the franchise some good.
Yost must’ve realized that he’d be sitting through a rebuild the next few years and didn’t want to keep it up. Minnesota and Cleveland should remain competitive for a while, and Detroit and Chicago are farther ahead in their rebuilds. Happy Retirement NY!
Oh and thanks for keeping the Mets from winning a WS!
Detroit is farther ahead of who the in their rebuild???….I’m not so sure they’ve even bottomed out yet…they are sorely lacking assets at the mlb level….
Time for Dale Sveum to get another shot.
Please no
Best comment on the night!
With Bochy and Yost retiring and Maddon likely out in Chicago, that is half the World Series victories of this decade leaving the same offseason. Strange timing.
Bochy and Yost have squeezed their oranges dry – no more juice left. That’s a pretty good time to hang it up rather than sticking around for a long rebuild that diminishes their reputation.
If the Cubs fire Maddon they’ll regret it for a decade
his contract is up…
You’re kidding, right? Joe Maddon is vastly overrated.
Easy, he did invent baseball, remember?
Watched Cub/Cardinals on Saturday. Camera showed David Ross in Theo’s suite signing something. He wasn’t there for autographs. Good Bye Joe
Well played, sir, and great handle.
Managers are like kickers, seems like they are only discussed when people criticize them. What managers do you all like? And how long have you liked them? And would you still like them after one disappointing playoff series?
He completely lost the clubhouse in Chicago, what benefits would they have from keeping him if the players don’t respect him?
Joe must go. His style of managing has lost its effectiveness
Maddon good for rebuilding not strategy,schooled in past Playoffs
Ned Yost to Atlanta Braves in some capacity ??
3rd baseman.
closer
Batboy??
Probably knew with the new owner he was on his way out anyway.
He suggested two years ago that this would be his endpoint — long before David Glass had any plans to sell the team.
thanks Ned. you will be missed. and those saying they’re in for a long rebuild. pitching is in AA and year after next should be in the running for this division. oh and they are farther ahead of Detroit and Chicago. Cleveland is on it’s way down. Minnesota and KC to fight it out next 5 to 10 years
Ahead of Chicago? Ummm what? And Detroit has a lot more high end pieces in the minors at the moment anyways. They are in similar spots though.
Chicago just doesn’t know how to develop the young players. I just don’t see this group ever coming together to win. some talent but very overrated
I feel like the White Sox and Padres have both been “on the rise” for a decade.
But Kansas does?
What about the Jayhawks?
The major league baseball team is Kansas City.
Not gonna lie, I irked myself with that premature post lol
royals play in Missouri
The Sox have more money of the old goat owner releases some of it to actually put towards the payroll. Don’t sleep on the Sox, I’m not gonna sit here and say they will be gods gift to baseball or a dynasty like most other Sox commenters on here, but with the right moves they will be contenders in that division.
Yeah with the right moves I think the Sox could win the central next year (and I’m a Cubs fan). Id like to see what Hahn can do with some money, I hope Jerry let gives him some
If he doesn’t I just give up. Waited too long. This is the core that needs to do it.
They offered machodo over 270 million
Interesting perspective, Doug. MLBPipeline has the Tigers with the 6th best farm system, Minnesota #8, ChiSox #9, Indians #12. Royals weren’t on the top 15 list. Facts suggest KC isn’t “farther ahead” and Cleveland isn’t “on it’s way down.”
I’m a KC fan and I confirm, we are not further ahead. I’m probably a homer saying this, but I feel good about 2-4 years from now.
Prospect rankings aren’t the only way to measure that. The Royals have several young players already producing on their major league roster who will be major components of the next contending team (Mondesi, Dozier, et al) whereas the Tigers major league roster would charitably be described as a dumpster fire.
Much of the balleyhooed haul from ChiSox teardown trades is already at the major league level. Obviously they could improve as they mature, but so far I think most White Sox fans would agree the aggregate result has been underwhelming.
Minnesota is lightning in a bottle, Cleveland was thinking about selling at the trade deadline. Not saying Royals are going to win the Central next year or anything, but it’s definitely a pretty wide open division for the next 3-5 years.
Pretty much this. Royals can’t take advantage of the division situation, unfortunately…yet. While I’d love a few more prospects in the top 100, the 4 org championships are encouraging and another factor in considering future success of the MLB club.
Chicago…what to say about Chicago. They just can’t seem to put talent together to create the kind of results that lead to championships. Part of building a club that competes for the WS is to know what combination of parts you need to get to the playoffs and then win in the playoffs. CHI has some fantastic parts, but let me know when the whole actually comes together.
Names you may see for his replacement…. Mike Matheny, Dale Sveum, Raul Ibanez, Carlos Beltran, Mike Jirschele, Pedro Grifol, John Gibbons.
I hope its Ibanez but any of that group would be good except Metheny
Forgot to add Dusty Wathan to the list.
You mean Kapler’s replacement?
Why didn’t you mention Bruce Bochy?
He’s retiring. 😉
Would add Sweeney, Pedro Grifol and Tony Pena, Jr.
My bad didn’t see Grifol on your list.
It should be the Royals GM that should retire.
maybe now that thier getting a new owner he will let Dayton actually build a team with real money instead of being restricted by the owner
Big maybe
You mean he won’t be signing any more terrible players like owings?
Moore hasn’t been restricted by ownership for a long time. We’ve haven’t sold a player because we couldn’t re-sign them since Greinke (which turned out pretty well for us) and he hasn’t let a homegrown player of note walk without signing an extension. This narrative was true for the Glass family pre-Moore but for the past decade it’s a myth. We’re definitely a small market team and aren’t going to go sign a bunch of free agents to $200m deals anytime soon, but the notion that budget constraints from ownership have played a meaningful role in roster construction is not supported by facts.
Great guy, would love to see Matheny , or maybe a couple of old players be in the running , Jason Kendall would be a good name to be in the mix
We’re used to that. Check out #yosted
They’re hiring Mike Matheny, aren’t they? Lmao that’s bad
The only Royals manager to lead the team to back-to-back World Series appearances. Herzog led them to the post-season from 1976-1978 and Howser left them there in 1984 and 1985.
Agh! Sorry about that. That is what I intended to write, yes. It’s been fixed now. Appreciate the heads up.
I usually don’;t root against anyone getting a job, but hiring Matheny would, imo, be a mistake. He may be on the younger side of the ledger, as far as manager’s average age, but he is pure old school and not very open to running an analytic organization. He fought tooth and nail against it in St. Louis and the year to year record shows the results.
To be clear, i support a mixture of old and new school dynamics. I believe they actually compliment one another. In today’s game, not being able to implement both and sticking just with one will get you a team mired in mediocrity.
Cards fan here… If KC hires Matheny, watch for your pitching staff to be misused and abused.
i definitely don’t want that! nervous….
Seems a little early… he’s a great coach. But he’s the only one who can ultimately make this decision
I feel like Ned Yeast will rise again…
Oh my! If Matheny is his successor, the Royals are doomed.
Please no Matheny; don’t think he is good with young players.
Saying you don’t think Matheny is good with younger players is a touch of an understatement.
Mike Mathaney?? Lordy!!! I can’t believe he’s the front runner to be the Royals manager. If fans think they are on a down hill run right now, just wait until they get a load of Matheney’s methods of managing a baseball team!!! After all of LaRussa’s players and coaches were gone, Matheney’s record as a Cardinal manager fell every year. Putting them right out of play-off contention.
It’s amazing that people think he’s a good option. Like you said, it got worse year after year. I don’t like the Cards, but I’ll give them credit that they used to play a very sound version of baseball. That disappeared during the Matheny years. And just look at the poor list of relievers who he just destroyed. It honestly blows my mind that teams are still considering him.
Oh thank the great spaghetti monster in the sky, it’s about time
After his tenure with Montreal, I didn’t think anyone would pick him up as a backup catcher. About time he retires. 😉
Trey Hillman is available and he’s pretty good
what about George knox?
again, the way these comment sections are, youd think there arent 30 people in the world qualified to run a baseball team. I bet if you asked people here who those 30 are, 25 or more would have no managerial experience to prove their case, and none would pick their team to be on the list save perhaps most Houston fans and a few from TB, Minnesota, and New York.
Life long Royals fan. I appreciate Ned. He did a tremendous job with what he had to work with. Winning in 15 after the loss the prior year says something about how his players responded. He was always positive and never blamed the players or the organization and took the hits himself. Always smiled and was honest what more could you ask for. Plus several teams who have won more games during Ned’s tenure and still without a World Series. We all would like to win yearly but I will take the 3 weeks in 15 that I enjoyed with my family as a fan.
A truly great guy and a heck of a manager. Aloha to you Ned. May you find all the best fishing holes.
What on Earth did KC see in Matheny to warrant choosing him as Yost’s heir apparent? His penchant for misusing the bullpen and filling out the lineup card based on his gut, often to StL’s detriment? He’d be taking a coaching job to get back into the dugout if he hadn’t inherited the lineup La Russa and Moz built.
More on topic though, congrats to Ned for a fine managerial career. He did a great deal to get Milwaukee back into contention, was always bummed he wasn’t able to see their 2008 season through to the end, but I understood Melvin’s decision to let him go. Seeing him, LoCain and Alcides get rings together was a nice sight for a fan whose team doesn’t see the playoffs too often.
I didn’t realize Yost was quite that old. 65 is retirement age. Good for him. I respected his managerial style. He did a lot with the limited resources he had available to him as a manager. The fact that he wasn’t canned in the face of undulating seasonal outcomes was a testament to his reputation and abilities as a manager. I am guessing he really means retirement, not transitioning to a front office staff job or taking a different gig somewhere else. I feel like its rare to see that nowadays- guys retiring young enough to have many good healthy years ahead but old enough that they’ve done basically everything they could have wanted to do with their careers in the game.
One of my favorite baseball people from my adult life. Enjoy your retirement it’s well earned
People… hes retiring because of his age and health concerns. The broken hip a year ago kind of scared him.
All of you speculating on him going to manage another team arent just barking up the wrong tree… you’re barking up a tree that’s not even there.
He’s retiring.
Period.
It boggles the mind that the head honchos of a big business, could be so blind to reality that they would consider Matheny a legitimate option. He’s regarded by everyone with common sense as a bad Manager, and by many others, a horribly bad Manager. Why on earth would the Royals even give him the time of day?
He’s not THAT bad of a manager. He did win an NL Pennant, and a significant part of his bullpen management problems was due to having little quality talent in his ‘pens (on otherwise contending teams) those last few years, so he pretty much had to overuse the few guys he could trust to close out enough wins just to get winning records and come close to playoff spots.
If Yost wanted to mostly oversee the rebuild before handing over the reigns, you’d think he’d stick around for at least one more year. There’s no way the Royals will be contenders in 2020.
This is the day all the Ned haters have been waiting for. For the rest of us REAL ROYALS fans, we can applaud Yost as he rides off in the sunset the best manager in Royals history. with the stats to prove it. Thank you Coach Yost. Now we have the question…who’s next? Everyone is whispering Matheney as the obvious pick. But I say let’s go outside the current organization and bring someone home: RAUL IBANEZ. He will fit the KC mold, take a more modern approach, adapt and adopt to the statistics, and fit in with the younger players well. Ibanez is our guy…go get him Royals!
Thanks for the memories nervous Ned you will be missed