Kansas City Royals All Time Best Managers

Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

For the most part, the only time one pays attention to the manager of a baseball team is when they are either arguing a call with an umpire or make a questionable decision that could cost their team the game. While some managers earn a reputation for being ingenious innovators or brilliant baseball minds, such as Joe Maddon or Buck Showalter, other managers are frequently thought of as the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, completely devoid of intellect.

For the longest time, Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost was in that latter camp. His tendency to bunt at any given moment, and his questionable decisions on the diamond, led one to wonder what, exactly, he was thinking, if he even was. Even when the Royals were heading to the playoffs last season, there was the sentiment that the team was winning despite Yost being at the helm.

That mindset began to change in the postseason. Despite almost sabotaging the Royals playoff run with his ill-fated decision to bring Yordano Ventura into the Wild Card Game, the Royals ended up one game away from winning the World Series. Yost seemingly hit all the right buttons, as the Royals were a juggernaut through the American League postseason.

This year, that momentum has carried over. The Kansas City Royals possess the best record in the American League. Yost, now the longest tenured manager in the 46 year history of the Royals, has passed Whitey Herzog to lead the team in all time wins managing the franchise. Not bad for someone who was once considered the village idiot.

Where does Ned Yost rank among the list of the all time Kansas City Royals managers? Let us take a look through the five best in team history and see where he belongs.

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