Matheny Out, Nevin In As AL West Teams Make Moves On Managers

The last day of the 2022 baseball season was also the last day Mike Matheny managed the Kansas City Royals.

He was fired Wednesday after a disappointing three-year run for the former big-league catcher.

The Royals ended up 69-93 but that wasn’t good enough to save Matheny’s job.

The team had already started a shakeup that stretched to the front office. Widely-respected president of baseball operations Dayton Moore was fired last month and replaced by his long-time aide, J.J. Picollo, most recently Royals general manager.

In addition to Matheny, who succeeded Ned Yost as Kansas City manager, pitching coach Cal Eldred was given his walking papers.

This was the second firing for Matheny, field pilot of the cross-state St. Louis Cardinals from 2012-18. In two seasons as special assistant with the Royals, he made such a positive impression that he was promoted to manager.

Things started well in March, when the Royals exercised a club option to retain him for 2003. But the new administration reversed that decision.

Matheny took over a club that had lost 100 games two years in a row. But he never finished on the sunny side of .500.

The Royals went 26-34 during the virus-shortened 2020 campaign, Matheny’s first at the helm, and 74-88 a year later.

Kansas City has not won more than it has lost since the 2015 team went 95-67 en route to a surprise world championship.

This year’s team started well, with a 15-7 mark in April, but failed to play .500 ball in every other month.

Even the return of erstwhile ace Zack Greinke, who signed a $13 million contract, and the promotion of blue-chip prospect Bobby Witt, Jr. didn’t help.

Neither did payroll-cutting trades of veterans Carlos Santana, Andrew Benintendi, Mike Minor, and Whit Merrifield.

Although rookies MJ Melendez, Vinnie Pasquantino, Brady Singer, and Witt showed potential for the future, poor pitching sabotaged the season for Matheny’s crew.

The Royals ranked 26th in the majors with a 4.72 earned run average.

Kansas City needs better hitting too – especially at third base and both outfield corners. But its ability and willingness to sign free agents could be limited.

According to SpoTrac, its payroll stands at $32 million, higher than only the Pirates, Guardians, and Orioles.

If the Royals want a top-rated manager, that will also be costly. Among the successful but unemployed former managers are Brad Ausmus, Joe Girardi, Fredi Gonzalez, Joe Maddon, Don Mattingly, Ron Washington, and Walt Weiss.

Salaries of managers are generally not reported but often stretch into seven figures.

Kansas City is the sixth team with a managerial vacancy for 2023, along with Texas, Toronto, Philadelphia, Miami, and the Chicago White Sox. Other changes could be in the offing too.

One team that won’t change field leaders is the Los Angeles Angels. Phil Nevin, who replaced Joe Maddon in mid-season, will return after taking the team to a 46-60 record. He signed a one-year contract Wednesday.

A native Californian who played for Cal State Fullerton, spent 12 years in the majors, and spent years as a minor-league manager and major-league coach, Nevin got the good news in a meeting with general manager Perry Minasian.

“I was a little nervous because I’ve been called into that room before,” he told reporters. “It certainly means a lot. It wasn’t exactly how I envisioned these things happening, but I know I’ve been given a heck of an opportunity.”

The Angels rank 10th in the majors with a projected 2023 payroll of $133,188,094, according to Spotrac figures, and have three players earning more than $30 million per annum in Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, and defending American League MVP Shohei Ohtani, the game’s only pitcher/DH.

Earlier this week, the team gave Ohtani a one-year, $30 million contract to avoid arbitration. It was the biggest contract settlement ever reached with an arbitration-eligible player.

In addition to Ohtani, who could become a free agent after next season, the Angels also could have a new owner, as incumbent Arte Moreno has put the Anaheim-based team up for sale.