Kansas City Royals: 3 reasons Mike Matheny should be next Royals manager

Prior to his 2018 firing and complaints about handling the team, there were no major controversies in the Matheny era.

I would urge all Kansas City fans to read an interview he did with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch shortly after the firing and there you will see a man who did not blame anyone else about what happened that season. Matheny takes responsibility for the result and was very appreciative of the opportunity he was given.  He was called a “super guy” by the chairman of the team even after the dismissal.

Matheny acknowledges the fine line of keeping a clubhouse together and that all relationships he had were not perfect. The highest level he had been to manager prior to this was at the little league level so there was bound to be a learning curve for learning how to deal with younger players. Despite the stories that came out of St. Louis his last season, Matheny still has the respect of many players and peers. Yadier Molina is on record saying that if the players would have played good baseball in 2018 then Matheny would still be there as their manager.

Albert Pujols lists Matheny as an individual who helped him grow as a player and person when both of them were on the roster for the Cardinals. It isn’t just current players that are appreciative of what Matheny has done. David Bell became manager of the Cincinnati Reds this season and he credits the three years he spent under Matheny’s tutelage as to why he is a major league skipper.

Everyone makes mistakes and when we learn and grow from them we become an even better employee, leader, and person.  No doubt Matheny is ready to prove he can handle a big-league team again.