Kansas City Royals: Will Ned Yost be brought back in 2020?

Ned Yost signed a one-year deal to remain the Kansas City Royals manager in 2019. Is it finally time to move on from him after this season?

When Ned Yost became the 19th manager in the history of the Kansas City Royal franchise in 2010, he was inheriting a team that finished with a record of 65-97 in the American League Central division the previous season. He took over for Trey Hillman after the team started 12-23 in the 2010 season and while they finished with a similar record, the arrow was trending up for the Royals.

The team finished with a 71-91 in 2011, 72-90 in 2012, 86-76 in 2013 before making back-to-back World Series appearances and winning it all in 2015. Now four years removed championship glory, this Royals team is often unwatchable. On Monday night, they were destroyed by a solid Oakland Athletics team 19-4.

Sure, the Royals have lost a ton of key contributors from the 2015 World Series team. Guys like Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar, Alex Rios, and Jarrod Dyson have all moved on and Yost is essentially doing the best he can with what he has to work with. I guess it begs the question if the Royals should bring him back next season.

Yost recently turned 64 years old and could wind up just simply retiring after this season. I am not exactly sure who would replace him at the moment. I’ve seen several names out there as potential candidates in Sandy Alomar Jr., Dusty Wathan, and Matt Williams; however, it likely won’t matter who is managing this team unless the roster significantly improves.

Most of the team’s talent is in the lower level of their farm system so they should consider being somewhat active in the free agent market this offseason. I am not talking about signing an Anthony Rendon but at least someone that should be playing on a Major League roster. The offense should hopefully get a boost when Salvador Perez returns next season, but they also need guys like Adalberto Mondesi, Nicky Lopez, and Ryan O’Hearn to take that next step.

Again, it’s not Ned Yost’s fault that this team is so bad this season. It’s the roster. Perhaps some blame should be re-directed towards general manager Dayton Moore for letting it get to be this way. It will be interesting to see what happens in the offseason with another potential option being to clear house but that seems unlikely.