Kansas City Royals: Seven potential successors to Ned Yost

The Collegiate Manager

Steve Rodriguez, Manager, Baylor Bears

Now we’re talking.

Often, it seems, coaches in football and basketball jump between the college ranks and the pros. But it just doesn’t happen in baseball. However, that may be changing soon.

For one thing, according to USA Today, there are at least nine college managers making at least $1 million while there are at least 11 managers in the majors making less than that:

Then there’s the case of two professional coaches (one a former manager in the Majors) recently jumping to the college ranks. Oregon State just named Mitch Canham their new manager. To take the job, Canham resigned from his post as managing the Mariners Double-A affiliate. And there’s Eric Wedge, former manager of the Mariners and Indians who just landed the top job at Wichita State.

Will Canham and Wedge start a wave of professional coaches heading to college? Or will it open the door both ways? Regardless, the Kansas City Royals should look into possibly hiring a collegiate manager to succeed Yost. The Royals need every advantage they can get, and if that’s going off the grid to hire a manager, then so be it.

Baylor’s Steve Rodriguez would be my pick. Rodriguez managed Pepperdine for a cool dozen seasons before taking over in Waco. He’s turned around the Bears, who just went 35-19 (14-8) in 2019, Rodriguez’s fourth season at Baylor. With his connection to players in the age range of 18-22, Rodriguez should be able to manage a group of players not that much older.

Of course, there are numerous other excellent college managers out there, including Chris Lemonis of Mississippi State, Tim Corbin at Vanderbilt, Sunny Golloway (born in Springfield, Mo.) at Auburn, Jeff Mercer at Indiana, Josh Holliday (brother of Matt) at Oklahoma State, and Erik Bukich of Michigan, just to name a few.