Kansas City Royals: Seven potential successors to Ned Yost

The Prodigal Son

Dusty Wathan, Third Base Coach, Philadelphia Phillies

John Wathan has been with the Kansas City Royals in some capacity for 43 of his 47 seasons in baseball. That includes getting drafted by the team in the first round in 1971, playing in Kansas City from 1976-1985 and managing the Royals from 1987-1991. Currently, he’s a special assistant to player development.

His son, Dusty, had a cup of coffee with the Royals back in 2002. Mainly, Dusty spent 14 seasons playing in the minors for several different organizations, including with the Mariners, Phillies and Indians.

Since hanging ’em up in 2007, Dusty Wathan, who played high school baseball for Blue Springs High School, has been coaching in the Phillies organization. He’s managed teams in A Short-Season, A, Double-A and Triple-A, winning a championship in A ball while reaching the finals one season in Double-A.

After one season guiding the Phillies’ Triple-A squad, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs*, Dusty interviewed with the parent club to replace Pete Mackanin in 2018. While that job ultimately went to Gabe Kapler, Wathan was promoted to the Philadelphia, where he coaches third base.

*Solid team name, but they’re no Amarillo Sod Poodles.

This past offseason, Dusty also interviewed for the then-vacant Texas Rangers managerial position. His time as a Major League Baseball manager seems fast approaching, and with him being just 44 years of age, he certainly could connect with the Royals young core.

Just think about the Kansas City Royals naming Dusty Wathan the organization’s next manager. They’d land a sought-after name who had a meteoric managerial rise through a storied franchise who played high school ball locally and just so happens to be the son of one of the most recognizable names and faces in Royals history.

Now that seems like a worthy successor of Edgar Yost III.