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

History has shown that catchers make for great managers.

A catcher for the majority of his career, Matheny can also bring the field general knowledge to the team. Being involved in every play, reading and acting on scouting reports for multiple hitters on opposing teams and constant interaction and knowing how to handle umpires are useful skills to have.

Matheny won four Gold Gloves in a six-year span which puts him in elite standing along with other catchers such as Molina, Johnny Bench, Charles Johnson, Ivan Rodriguez, and Salvador Perez.

Not only is he the Royals leader in games managed and won, but Yost is also a former catcher as well. So are current major league managers AJ Hinch, Joe Maddon, Brad Ausmus, Bob Melvin, Scott Servais, and Bruce Bochy.

The list of former catchers who have managed World Series winners in the prior 20 years is pretty impressive. Along with the Royals’ Yost, the checklist includes Joe Torre, Joe Girardi, Maddon, Bochy, Mike Scioscia, and Bob Brenly. Between all of these skippers, the trophy has been won by teams with former catchers leading the way 61 percent of the time.

Matheny also appears to be a Dayton Moore kind of guy. He is strong in his faith and wrote a manifesto years ago that many people still refer to as groundbreaking. In it, he discusses the importance of building young men of character, putting family first, and teaching responsibility to name just a few of the areas he hits on. The Matheny Manifesto is used by many youth sports organizations around the country as a guide for parents.

So while we are still relatively fresh from hearing all the negative stories out of St. Louis, there are still plenty of quality traits being toted by those who have worked directly with Mike Matheny. He has a proven track record as a winner and this is exactly what the Royals would inject into their atmosphere.