Report: Royals to Interview Dusty Wathan for Manager Job
As MLB clubs with openings are beginning to hold interviews with prospective candidates, the Kansas City Royals didn't want to be left out. Per a recent report by Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia, the club is interviewing Philadelphia Phillies third base coach Dusty Wathan for their managerial job on Thursday.
Wathan, who has been Philadelphia's third base coach for the last half-decade, has quite the track record as a minor league manager. His accolades include multiple Eastern League Manager of the Year awards in his 10 seasons in the minors.
Wathan has interviewed in the past for the Texas Rangers' opening in 2018, as well as being an internal candidate in Philadelphia back in 2019 before now-San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler was ultimately hired for the job. Per Salisbury's report, Wathan also interviewed with the Miami Marlins on Sunday.
The Wathan name may sound familiar to many in Royals circles, and for good reason. Dusty was raised around the organization while his father, John, worked as a player in Kansas City for a decade and also recorded a 287-270 record as manager of the club. John recently announced his retirement near the end of the 2022 campaign, and now the possibility of his son (who had a very brief playing career with the Royals) following in his footsteps is on the rise.
Salisbury's report also referenced Phillies manager Rob Thomson publicly endorsing Wathan for future managerial openings back in June of this year. Here's part of what he had to say about his third base coach:
“This guy's a fantastic baseball mind, and I hope that, when jobs come up, managers' jobs come up, he's on the tip of every general manager's tongue. I really do. Because he's that type of baseball mind as far as I'm concerned.”
Wathan's name has popped up on multiple shortlists over the past couple of weeks as far as ideal candidates for Kansas City's opening are concerned. While general manager and executive vice president of baseball operations J.J. Picollo stated at the end of the season that Vance Wilson and Pedro Grifol were internal candidates for the vacancy left by the firing of Mike Matheny, the amount of coaching talent outside the organization remained a legitimate ground for testing the waters. Wathan is a part of that group, and his interview signals the official launch of the Royals' search for their next skipper.
