KC Royals: Is Ned Yost’s ‘Mount Rushmore’ accurate?

Ned Yost is one of the greatest managers in KC Royals history. His 746 wins are over 300 more than Whitey Herzog’s 410 and Dick Howser’s 404. He helped the floundering franchise rise in the 2010s and make an historic two-year run in the postseason in 2014 and 2015.

And he managed the club to its second World Series title in 2015.

His 2014-2015 runs were so historic that his .710 postseason winning percentage (22-9) is the best among managers with at least 20 playoff games.

Since retiring after the 2019 season, Yost has still kept in touch with the Royals community. Recently, he appeared on MLB Network Radio’s Loud Outs (SiriusXM) program and revealed his choices for a Royals “Mount Rushmore.” The Kansas City Star’s Pete Grathoff also detailed Yost’s choices, and you can listen to Yost discuss his picks here:

All fans have their own opinion about who are the best Royals ever. Fans loved Brett, Splittorff, White and Sweeney and all are enshrined in the club’s Hall of Fame. But while there can be no dispute about Brett, are there other Royals Yost could have picked?

Salvador Perez is a current KC Royals star Ned Yost could have considered.

Salvador Perez is one of the first players who comes to mind and he has a legitimate argument to be there.

Perez has a career slash of .270/.302/.463 with a .765 OPS. His .463 slugging percentage places him 10th in franchise history, his 200 home runs are second only to Brett, and he is seventh with 423 extra base hits and 656 RBIs. He is also 10th with 1,161 hits and 213 doubles.

Keep in mind these numbers will get even better as long as Perez continues to play. So will his many accolades—he’s a seven-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger (a franchise record), five-time Gold Glove winner, two-time All-MLB First Team selection, 2015 World Series MVP, and the 2020 American League Comeback Player of the Year.

Then there’s his historic 2021 season. Perez led the AL with 121 RBIs and tied for the major league lead with 48 home runs. Those homers also tied the Royals’ single-season record and broke Johnny Bench’s big league record for primary catchers.