Is this former St. Louis Cardinals manager on the hot seat?

Former Cardinals manager Mike Matheny was fired in 2018 due to losing the clubhouse. Rumors are swirling that it might be happening again in Kansas City.

First-year manager Oli Marmol has established open communication with Cardinals players, coaches, and the front office. His “honest conversations” have created a positive clubhouse culture while simultaneously set a high standard for the 2022 St. Louis Cardinals.

On the other side of Missouri, Mike Matheny’s Kansas City Royals are having a poor season. The Royals are entering July 4 in last place in the American League Central with a 29-48 record, and frustrations appear to be mounting in the club.

When Joe Madden was fired by the Los Angeles Angels, the NY Post’s Joel Sherman listed Mike Matheny as the number one manager on the hot seat earlier in June. Sherman also featured this piece of information on why Matheny might be fired:

"Perhaps expectations were miscast, but there were internal hopes of building toward contention this year. Instead, Kansas City has the majors’ worst record. Just as bad — especially for Matheny’s ability to survive — is that opposing executives/scouts have reported a bad vibe around the team. Maybe that is just the losing."

As you remember, Mike Matheny was the Cardinals manager from 2012 until the halfway point of the 2018 season. Matheny was a successful manager with St. Louis with a record of 591-474 and was the first Cardinals manager in franchise history to make the postseason in his first four years.

Unfortunately, Matheny’s Cardinals would not return to the postseason after 2015, as the team slipped behind the Chicago Cubs for NL Central supremacy in 2016 and 2017. In doing so, rumors began to swirl about how tense the clubhouse was. Especially when it came to double standards for veterans and younger players.

And then there was the whole Bud Norris–Jordan Hicks story that, at the very least, bordered on hazing, and Matheny was inexplicably okay with it.

This will be an interesting story to keep an eye on as the Royals continue their season. On one hand, it might just be the losing that’s causing the dysfunction.

On the other, it might be Matheny’s bad habits rearing their ugly head again.