Ned Yost announced Monday that he will retire as manager of the Kansas City Royals, effective this Sunday after the 2019 season finale against the Minnesota Twins. The all-time winningest manager in franchise history (744 wins) and the first manager to lead the Royals to consecutive World Series appearances will finish his career 32nd all-time in games managed, with 2,544, three more than Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver. Yost will also finish his managerial career 45th all-time in wins, entering the final week with 1,201.

“With the development of our young players and our returning veterans, I feel and hope the worst is behind us in this rebuilding phase of our organization,” said Yost. “My plan all along was to get us through the rough times then turn it over to a new manager to bring us the rest of the way. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here as your manager and will never forget the good and the hard times we had together as an organization and a fan base. I will never forget the fact that you fans supported us through it all. Kansas City will always have a special place in my heart, and I look forward to rooting the Royals on to their next World Championship very soon.”

The 16th full-time manager in team history, Yost was named to the post on May 13, 2010 and five years later became the winningest skipper in franchise history by defeating the only other club he managed, the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2 on June 18, 2015 for his 411th win, one more than Royals Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog.

Yost, 65, led the Royals to a 22-9 postseason record for a .710 winning percentage, which still leads all managers who have managed at least 20 postseason games. His 2014 club was the first in Major League history to begin the postseason with eight consecutive victories, winning the Wild Card Game at home over Oakland, followed by sweeps of the Los Angeles Angels (3-0) in the Division Series and the Baltimore Orioles (4-0) in the Championship Series.

The following season, he managed the Royals to their second World Series title, defeating Houston in the Division Series (3-2) and Toronto (4-2) in the Championship Series, followed by a 4-1 series win over the New York Mets to bring Kansas City its first World Series Championship since 1985.