Kansas City Royals: 3 qualities needed from next manager

The first task that John Sherman will have as the new owner of the Kansas City Royals is to find a manager. Here are three qualities needed in that guy.

For the first time since the 2010 season, the Kansas City Royals will have themselves a new manager when the 2020 season commences. Ned Yost announced his retirement on Monday with the intention to take at least a year off, away from baseball to enjoy his family and his farm. Certainly, no shame in doing so and he’s earned it.

Yost took over early in the 2010 season for Trey Hillman after the Royals started 12-23. I think what struck me most about Yost’s retirement speech on Tuesday afternoon was when General Manager Dayton Moore stated that prior to Yost’s arrival, the organization as a whole was struggling mentally.

Those wins led the Royals to an appearance in the 2014 World Series and climbing the ladder the following season. As World Series Champions, the Royals had an excellent mix of young talent combined with help acquired in free agency and through trades. Yost and Moore did what they could under an owner who was historically known for pinching pennies wherever he could.

Now comes the time to write a new narrative for this organization. The Kansas City Royals are often referred to as a small market team but you wouldn’t think so given how rabid the fanbase is. John Sherman is set to become the new owner of the Royals in November and his first task will be to set the foundation of the future and establishing a long-term manager.

While some names are already floating around out there, Sherman and Moore need to take their time and finding the right guy. If they feel that guy is already within the organization, great. But I certainly hope that they do their due diligence in finding the next manager. Let’s take a look at the three qualities that the Royals need to have in their next manager.

1. He must be a player’s manager

With team chemistry being such an important element to a team’s success, the Kansas City Royals absolutely need their next manager to be able to identify and relate to his players. Ned Yost was very good at that, developing personal relationships with his guys and while bringing optimism to the clubhouse.

Often a player’s manager is someone who has played the game themselves, which adds a key element in sympathizing with his players through the highs and the lows of a long season. Ian Kennedy had a strong statement regarding Ned Yost and his ability to relate to his players:

“I’ve had a few managers, but what struck me about Ned was that he didn’t go just by the numbers,” Kennedy said. “He would look you in the eye either on the mound or between innings and just ask if you were ready to go on, and more times than not, he would be right. I know he did that a lot with Danny Duffy and it paid off. I think that was one of Ned’s best skills as a manager. He really knew the player.” – MLB

Combined with the youth movement that is about to make their way to the big league club and several key players already in place, the next manager for the Royals needs to understand how to treat each player so they are set up for success.

Whether it be the complicated handshakes you see in the dugout prior to games or taking players aside to listen to what’s going on in their life, empathizing with the guys on your 26-man roster next season and beyond is going to be crucial.

2. Must have the knowledge and desire to use analytics

While the Royals started to make some strides in the analytics department near the end of the Glass family and Yost era, they were way behind the times relative to other teams’ usage of analytics. What exactly do you mean when you say analytics?

It’s advanced baseball statistics that truly define the production of a player. Often they will be used in comparison to their annual salary to see if they are truly living up to their contract. With key analytics like wRC+, FIP, WAR, ISO, BABIP, spin rates, and launch angle being all the rage these days, it’s extremely important that the next Royals manager have a strong knowledge of analytics.

For example, wRC+ is simply a good measure of a batter’s value. A numerical value of 100 is considered the league average, so when someone refers to Jorge Soler‘s 133 wRC+, that implies that he’s well above league average in being able to produce runs. Rob Friedman is a really good Twitter account to follow. He has done a lot of good work for MLB and ESPN, particularly looking at pitchers’ spin rates and pitch overlays.

Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics were one of the first organizations to heavily utilize baseball analytics during the 2002 season. Similar to the Royals under the Glass family, the Athletics have long been known as a small market team that struggles to even come close to the talent that bigger market teams are able to acquire.

Prior to the 2002 season, the Athletics lost key contributors from the previous season in Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, and Jason Isringhausen to free agency. They were able to finish with a better record in 2002 simply by signing guys who had a high on-base-percentage.

With all the tools and software that is available to teams these days, it would be foolish for the next Royals manager to not incorporate analytics into their scouting reports and development of their own players.