The Kansas City Royals began the new calendar year by renewing manager Matt Quatraro’s contract with a three-year extension.
Quatraro, 52, is entering his fourth season with KC in 2026. He overcame a 106-loss showing in his first year with the organization and guided the Royals to consecutive winning seasons in 2024 and 2025.
The Royals reached the American League Divisional Series in 2024. This past season they finished 82-80 and were in the Wild Card race down the stretch before missing the MLB playoffs.
Quatraro has one year remaining on his current contract. The extension announced Sunday begins in 2027 and runs through 2029, with a club option for 2030.
The Royals have gone 224-262 under Quatraro’s watch, the seventh-most victories by a manager in franchise history. The team had pondered giving him a contract extension after initially exercising its club option last February.
“We will deal with that at the right time,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said at the 2025 Winter Meetings in December. “Obviously, we like (Quatraro), but that was why we wanted to pick up that year (club option) last year. Just so we didn’t have to worry about it. But we’ll figure out when the right time is to talk about that one.”
The right time is now. Quatraro looks to get the Royals back to the postseason with a revamped roster. The Royals added outfield depth and improved their bullpen through both free agency and trades.
The Royals believe Quatraro can get the job done. He is respected in the clubhouse and players value his leadership. His “Today” slogan has helped build the team’s foundation.
In three seasons since being hired from the Tampa Bay Rays, Quatraro has already amassed some impressive accolades. He finished second in the AL manager of the year voting in 2024 and helped the Royals improve their win/loss record by 30 games.
Quatraro will have a reshuffled coaching staff alongside him this coming season. The Royals have two new hitting coaches — Connor Dawson and Marcus Thames — and a new assistant pitching coach in Mike McFerran.
The Royals hope these changes will benefit their roster. As for Quatraro, he now has the job security to continue developing his players and striving for the top of the AL Central.
This story was originally published January 4, 2026 at 2:11 PM.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.kansascity.com ’
