Kansas City Royals: Seven potential successors to Ned Yost

The Royals Lifer

Mike Jirschele, Third Base Coach, Kansas City Royals

Let me be very up front about this: I don’t think the Kansas City Royals owe it to Mike Jirschele to name him Yost’s successor.

There is, however, an example of hiring a lifer and it working out. Look at the Atlanta Braves right now. Brian Snitker is in his third full-time season managing the Braves. Last season, he led the Braves to an 18-win improvement as the club finished 92-70 and won the National League East. This season, the team’s winning percentage is even higher as the Braves sit atop their division.

But before taking over for Fredi Gonzalez in 2016, Snitker was unknown outside of the Braves organization. He was a Braves lifer, with the franchise in some role since 1977. He managed teams at every level for Atlanta, from Rookie Ball to Triple-A.

In the late ’80s, he was the Braves bullpen coach. From 2007-2013, he coached third base. Before replacing Gonzalez, he was in the middle of his third season managing the Triple-A club in Gwinnett.

On the flip side, consider the St. Louis Cardinals and Jose Oquendo. Before becoming a coach, Oquendo spent 10 years playing for the Cardinals. He’s now in his 17th season coaching for the Cardinals.

In that time, the Cardinals passed on naming him manager to replace Tony La Russa in favor of Mike Matheny (who, regardless of all his faults, won the 2013 National League Pennant), and then passed over him again to replace Matheny in favor of current manager Mike Shildt. The Cardinals have done quite alright without Oquendo as manager.

Sometimes, a team has to say, Thank you for what you’ve done, but we’re going in a different direction.

What will the Royals do with Jirschele? Before coaching in Kansas City for the 2014 season, he guided the organization’s Triple-A Omaha squad for 11 seasons, even winning the Pacific Coast League championship in 2013. Overall, through multiple levels in the minors, he’s won more than 1,200 games for the Royals farm system.

Dayton Moore and David Glass should definitely interview Jirschele when the time comes to talk to managerial candidates. His rapport with the current group of Royals players should help. Jirschele can point to Snitker as Exhibit A for an unknown life changing a ballclub’s fortunes.

Yet in the back of their minds, Moore and Glass will probably be thinking about the Cardinals and Oquendo.