The Kansas City Royals hired Mike Matheny today, bringing in a manager who took the cross-state St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series six years ago before a three-season swoon costhim his job.
The 49-year-old Matheny went 591-474 with the Cardinals and was the first manager to reach the postseason his first four seasons. TheCardinals reached the World Series in 2013, losing to the Boston Red Sox, but Matheny was fired in July 2018 with the team in jeopardy of missing the playoffs.
Matheny was hired last November by the Royals as a special adviser for player development, and the belief among many was that he was being groomed to take over when Ned Yost retired.
That happened shortly before the Royals finished another 100-loss campaign last month.