Kansas City Royals: Five bold predictions for 2019
By Cullen Jekel
Kansas City Royals Bold Predictions for 2019: Number Five
Goodbye to Alex Gordon and Ned Yost
Much like 2017 with Cain and Hosmer, 2019 will be a farewell tour for two other longstanding members of the Kansas City Royals: left-fielder Alex Gordon and manager Ned Yost.
Expect Gordon to wrap his Royals tenure this season. If not, he’ll return on much reduced role in 2020. While his defense is still solid, the 34-year-old’s offense continues to decline. His .245 batting average was actually an increase from 2017, when he hit .208.
While Gordon never really hit for power (his career-high in home runs is 23), his .370 slugging percentage in 2018 was the second-lowest of his career when he’s had at least 300 at-bats. His .694 OPS was 59 points below his career average.
The Royals have a glut of center-fielders in Brett Phillips, Brian Goodwin, and Billy Hamilton, and one of them could move to left to replace Gordon. If not one of those three, Merrifield and Jorge Soler are also options.
As for Yost, he’s been managing on one-year contracts for a couple of seasons now. The hiring of Mike Matheny in November as a “special adviser” speaks volumes: the organization is lining up Yost’s replacement.
Hopefully, though, Moore looks at some outside candidates in addition to Matheny, who appeared to lose the Cardinals clubhouse before being fired midway last year. Moore owes this much to the 63-year-old Yost: finding the perfect manager to take over a process begun by the longtime skipper.