Royals extend Dayton Moore, Ned Yost through 2018

The Royals have announced that they have extended the contracts of General Manager Dayton Moore and manager Ned Yost through the 2018 season. Both were in the final year of their respective deals.

Dayton Moore has been the Royals General Manager since June of 2006. His teams had losing records in his first six seasons, but have put together winning season in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1987-1989, culminating in a championship in 2015. Under Moore, the Royals developed the top ranked farm system in baseball in 2011 according to most observers. That farm system paid dividends when the Royals reached the playoffs for the first time in 29 years when they won the 2014 Wild Card game. That post-season run ended with an American League pennant and a thrilling seven-game series with the San Francisco Giants. The Royals repeated as American League champs in 2015, finishing with the best record in the league, winning the World Series in five games over the New York Mets.

Ned Yost was hired as a special adviser by the Royals in 2010, and he took over as manager following the dismissal of Trey Hillman later that year. Yost has posted a winning season in three of his five full seasons in Kansas City, and has the most wins in franchise history with a record of 468-469. Yost has the best winning percentage in post-season history for a manager with at least 20 games managed in the playoffs.

Dayton Moore had been linked to the General Manager position in Atlanta when it opened up following the 2014 season, but was never interviewed. Ned Yost had previously stated he did not want his contract to last longer than Dayton Moore's, with both saying they were a package deal. The pair will have their work cut out for them, as the team has several potential free agents after the 2017 season including Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, and Wade Davis.