Mike Matheny will not be a lame duck manager in 2017, instead signing a three-year contract extension through 2020 with the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, the team announced.
Cardinals extend manager Mike Matheny through 2020
3-year contract extension for St. Louis manager
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
In five years under Matheny, the Cardinals have won 461 games, more than any manager during that span. St. Louis made the playoffs four times in Matheny’s five years, including division titles in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and a World Series trip in 2013.
The Cardinals have been one of the dominant teams in the National League for the last decade and a half, with two championships, three pennants and nine NLCS trips since 2000. But there is a new behemoth in the National League Central in the Chicago Cubs, who captured their first World Series championship in 108 years on Thursday night. Chicago has 200 wins in the last two seasons, and roster chock full of young talent, primed for contention in the foreseeable future.
The Cardinals missed the playoffs in 2016, finishing 86-76, one game behind the Wild Card Game participants, the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.
”Mike has continued the Cardinals tradition of winning in his first five years as manager and we are happy to extend his contract leading our club on the field through 2020,” said Cardinals CEO Bill DeWitt, Jr. in a press release.
There will be some changes to Matheny’s coaching staff, with Bill Mueller going back to assistant hitting coach, which was his role in 2015. He replaces Derrick May. Oliver Marmol, who managed Class-A Palm Beach in the Cardinals’ system in 2016, is the new first base coach in St. Louis, and former Triple-A Memphis manager Mike Shildt will join the major league staff as quality control coach.
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