SURPRISE, Ariz. — Manager Mike Matheny believes the Kansas City Royals are poised for a breakthrough, and even if it happens next season, he’ll be in the dugout when the franchise returns to the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
The Royals announced Thursday they had exercised their club option on Matheny’s contract for the 2023 season. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“There’s no place I’d rather be than here, in the middle of something really special,” Matheny said prior to the team’s morning workout at their spring training facility in Arizona. “A special group of players. A special organization. Just the vision. Everything is right on. I just couldn’t be happier to be in the spot where they have the confidence moving foward with me in this position.”
The timing of the announcement seems to indicate a level of confidence from the front office and ownership in Matheny, extending him for another season instead of waiting to see how the club performs this season.
It also allows Matheny to avoid a lame duck season in which he’d be managing despite his own future with the organization uncertain.
“That’s not something I really put a whole lot of thought to,” Matheny said. “... I did the same thing as a player. I just want to go play. But when what you do is acknowledged and it’s appreciated, it speaks volumes when they come out and say, ‘OK. We appreciated what you’ve done, and we like the way things are moving.’ ”
Matheny said he considered it a “great compliment,” and expressed gratitude to CEO and chairman John Sherman as well as president of baseball operations Dayton Moore.
Matheny replaced Ned Yost as the Royals’ skipper ahead of the 2020 season. In Matheny’s first two seasons, the Royals have had a 100-122 record (.450 winning percentage). The Royals noted the team’s winning percentage has increased in each of Matheny’s two seasons.
In 2019, the Royals had a 59-103 record (.364). During the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season, they were 26-34 (.433) and improved to 74-88 (.457) a year ago.
“Mike is one of the finest leaders I’ve been around and the Royals are fortunate to have him managing our team,” Moore said in a statement. “He is a tremendous competitor who cares deeply about players, the Kansas City community, and this great game of baseball. It is an absolute joy for our entire baseball operations department to work with him.”
Matheny has a 691-596 career regular-season record (.537), which includes seven seasons with the Cardinals (2012-18).
He took over a club in KC that had lost 100 games or more in back-to-back seasons entering 2020, and he’s been at the helm as the Royals have transited several young players, particular on the pitching staff, into key roles in the majors.
Starting pitchers Brady Singer, Kris Bubic, Daniel Lynch, Carlos Hernández, Jackson Kowar, Jonathan Heasley and Angel Zerpa all made their debuts in the majors under Matheny, as have relievers Jake Brentz, Dylan Coleman and Tyler Zuber.
Position players Kyle Isbel, Sebastian Rivero, Emmanuel Rivera also got their first taste of the majors under Matheny. Top prospect Bobby Witt Jr. is poised to join that group this season.
Infielder Nicky Lopez, who made his debut in the middle of 2019, enjoyed a breakout season last year as an everyday player.
“We’ve had some really bright spots,” Matheny said of his tenure thus far. “It comes down to, we all know what the endgame is how we’re evaluated. It’s wins and losses. It’s being able to pop champagne at the end of the season. It’s being able to put the kind of product out there that our fan base appreciates.
“A lot of those things, we’ve been able to do outside of popping that champagne and figuring out how to make that next step into November or late October and have that celebration. Those are things that are always in front of us, but I think there have been some significant steps.”
