After finishing the 2022 season with a 65-97 record and coming in last place in the American League Central division, the Kansas City Royals decided that it was time for some changes to be made.
Last night, after their 9-2 season-ending loss to the Cleveland Guardians, the Royals fired manager Mike Matheny after three seasons at the helm.
Pitching coach Cal Eldred, who had been in that role for five seasons, was also dismissed.
Matheny never had a winning season as manager of the Royals.
The Royals hired him prior to the 2020 season after the St. Louis Cardinals let him go in the middle of the 2018 season.
Matheny, Eldred Fired
The Royals look to be making some significant changes.
Whether or not those will lead to them returning to postseason contention is unknown, but at the very least, they’ve decided that they want a different voice in the clubhouse going forward, and somebody else to help enhance their pitching staff.
In Matheny’s three years as manager of the Royals, he compiled a 165-219 record.
It’s the end of a frustrating era in Kansas City.
With players such as Salvador Perez, Hunter Dozier, Bobby Witt Jr, and Brady Singer, the Royals have a decent nucleus of players to build around if they want to turn this team into a contender again.
The firing of Matheny and Eldred is just the first step as the Royals look to change a few things this offseason.
This comes not too long after Dayton Moore, the team’s now-former president of baseball operations, was dismissed.
It’s clear that the Royals were not pleased with the direction the team was headed in.
We’ll see who they decide is best to fill the holes left by Matheny and Eldred’s dismissals.
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