Royals’ Matt Quatraro extension answered the question we wouldn’t dare ask

The Kansas City Royals made a major announcement over the weekend to break a quiet period spanning over several weeks, extending the contract of manager Matt Quatraro until the end of the 2029 season.

From a Royals perspective this deal made all the sense in the world. Quatraro’s been at the helm and one of the leading forces of one of the better eras in franchise history.

The real question was; would he outgrow the smaller market Royals and search for a bigger market opportunity?

Well now it’s become clear, Quatraro is as committed to the Royals as the Royals are to him.

Royals and Matt Quatraro seem to be on the same page after extension

As Rany Jazayerli of Baseball Prospectus pointed out, the biggest thing for the Royals when it came to Quatraro was that they might be in a Craig Counsell situation – who after years of success with the Milwaukee Brewers left for the brighter lights of Chicago and signed on to manage the Cubs ahead of the 2024 season.

“The story here isn’t that the Royals committed to Matt Quatraro, it’s that Quatraro committed to the Royals,” Jazayerli said. “No need to worry about a Counsell-esque departure next year.”

And while some may have their reservations about Quatraro after some of Kansas City’s shortcomings last season – largely in the first half – as touched upon already, the Royals are in one of the best spots they’ve been in as an organization.

After a brutal 106 loss season in his managerial debut, Quatraro has guided this team to their first back-to-back winning seasons since the Ned Yost World Series era when they went above .500 from 2013 to 2015.

Jack Johnson of Locked on Royals also put things into further context, by placing Quatraro’s success within a much larger timeline.

“From 1995 to 2023, the had four winning seasons,” Johnson said. “Only two resulted in postseason appearances (‘14/‘15).”

“[Quatraro]’s had two in three seasons,” he also said.

With how he’s managed this team and stars that have emerged under his tenure, both homegrown (Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia and Kris Bubic) and via the external market (Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Carlos Estévez), it’s not out of the question that other teams may’ve been waiting to kick the tires on him when his current contract was set to end after this season.

But this contract shows that not only do the Royals have faith in their guy, their guy has faith in them and the direction their going and wants to see it through for better or for worse.

“It’s not a responsibility I take for granted or take lightly in any way,” Quatraro told Anne Rogers of MLB.com. “I’m honored to work alongside so many great coaches, so many great staff members.”

“It really, truly is, as the organization continues to grow, a full team effort in all aspects of baseball operations,” he also said.

As GM J.J. Picollo put it, “stability is very important to the organization”, and now that Quatraro is guaranteed to be here until the end of 2029, they’ll have that stability in what hopefully will be the heart of their contention window.