Ned Yost has announced his retirement as manager of the Kansas City Royals. After a difficult two seasons, the Royals have committed to a rebuild for the future.

The Royals have released a statement pertaining to Yost’s retirement, and he will address the media tomorrow at 3:00 PM. Additionally, general manager Dayton Moore will address the media after that.

Official statement from the #Royals regarding Ned Yost’s retirement. pic.twitter.com/BWFATfB9tV — Kansas City Royals (@Royals) September 23, 2019

“With the development of our young players and our returning veterans, I feel and hope the worst is behind us in this rebuilding phase of our organization,” said Yost. “My plan all along was to get us through the rough times then turn it over to a new manager to bring us the rest of the way. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here as your manager and will never forget the good and the hard times we had together as an organization and a fan base.”

Ned Yost resigns as the most successful manager in Royals history, and the manager who led the Royals to their second World Series championship in 2015.

Yost became the Royals manager on May 13th, 2010 and will retire after the 2019 regular season. All-time, he will retire as the manager with the 45th most wins in Major League history, finishing with over 1200 wins. 457 of those wins came during his six years of managing the Milwaukee Brewers from 2003- 2008.

Yost’s Replacement

The Royals have not named a replacement manager at this time. It is expected that Mike Matheny will be the team’s next manager. Matheny managed the St. Louis Cardinals for seven seasons while managing to the pennant in 2013.

Mike Matheny, special advisor to #Royals in player development, is viewed as a strong candidate to manage in Kansas City next year, following Ned Yost's retirement today — although the ownership change introduces some uncertainty to process. @MLB @MLBNetwork — Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) September 23, 2019

Matheny posted a winning record in every season as the Cardinals manager, but the Cardinals fired him during the 2018 season. As a result, he replaced him with current manager Mike Shildt. He finished with 591 wins in six-and-a-half seasons in St. Louis.

Matheny became a special advisor to the Royals and their player development in November of 2018. Now he seems favored to take over a team with the worst days appearing to be behind them. With knowledge of the organization and a winning record with the Cardinals, Matheny looks like a strong candidate on paper.

Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images