Former St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny joined the Kansas City Royals as special adviser for player development on Friday.
"This is a great opportunity to have Mike become a member of our organization," Dayton Moore, the Royals' senior vice president of baseball operations and general manager, said in a statement. "It has always been our policy to hire the best baseball people we can and this is the perfect example of that. Mike has contributed so much to our game as both a player and a manager and has a wealth of knowledge that can only make us better. I'm excited about the possibilities of what he'll bring to our organization."
Matheny, 48, was fired by the Cardinals in July when the team was 47-46. He went 591-474 as manager with the team, leading it to postseason appearances from 2012 to 2015, including a World Series loss to the Boston Red Sox in 2013.
He played 13 seasons in the major leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Cardinals and San Francisco Giants, starting 1,142 games at catcher and winning seven Gold Glove Awards.
"I'm excited about the opportunity to join the Royals in this capacity," Matheny said in a statement. "I've long respected the accomplishments of Dayton and his staff while developing a winning culture in Kansas City. This is a great chance for me to contribute in a variety of areas that will include player development and scouting. After being in uniform for the majority of my professional career, this is a unique opportunity that I could not pass up."