Kansas City Royals: Ned Yost returning makes sense for rebuild

Shortly after the Kansas City Royals’ season came to an end, it was announced that Ned Yost would be back to manage the team in 2019. This is a move that makes sense for the rebuilding Royals.

Say what you want about Ned Yost, but the Kansas City Royals are in the midst of a rebuild right now and finding a new manager to deal with “all that” probably isn’t the best route to take. Yost has already sat through one rebuild with the Royals and the team ended up doing great things once that team got things clicking.

While it’ll be a few years before the Royals make it back to the postseason, the back half of the 2018 season showed that maybe this team is closer than we previously thought. With Adalberto Mondesi looking like he could be a superstar, Brad Keller rocking it as a rookie pitcher, and Ryan O’Hearn displaying some power, the Royals might be able to contend again as early as 2020 (though 2021 is more likely).

Yost is 64 years old and after shattering his pelvis last offseason, no one would have been surprised if he opted to call it quits. Instead, Yost will be returning for his ninth full season (tenth overall) with the Royals and that’s definitely a good thing.

Yost has been with the Royals since midway through the 2010 season. During that time, he’s led the Royals to three winning records, two postseason appearances, two American League pennants, and a World Series title. He might still have a losing record overall, but there’s no doubt about it that Yost has been good for this organization over the years.

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Fans criticize Yost for his bad lineups, questionable decision making, and other things, but he’s mentioned in the past how he’s actually enjoying working with younger players. That is obviously important moving forward because this is a team that will need a patient manager willing to work with them and help them fix their mistakes.

From that article:

"“It is fun for me,” Yost said. “I don’t know if it’s more fun, but it’s fun. Well, maybe a little more fun.”"

The Royals aren’t close to calling up all of their future potential stars, but it’s not crazy to think that by the end of the 2019 season, some of those guys could be seeing big league at bats or big league innings on the mound.

Maybe once Yost has this team headed in the right direction, he’ll call it quits, but for now this is the right move for a team that still has another rough season or two ahead of them.