Kansas City Royals manager Matt Quatraro sat calmly as he fielded questions from reporters at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida, on Monday.
He was a seasoned pro.
Quatraro — who enters his fourth season as manager — spoke fondly of young prospects Jac Caglianone, Carter Jensen and Noah Cameron. He also expressed confidence that the Royals could turn things around and return to the postseason.
And he evoked quintessential references in Royals history — turning back the clock to when Willie Wilson and Steve Balboni roamed Kauffman Stadium.
“It’s an exciting team to be around,” Quatraro said. “These guys compete and they prepare. They’re good to each other. It’s an easy clubhouse. These guys have a very common goal of understanding what our end goal is, and that’s to win a World Series.”
The Royals have improved under Quatraro. He guided the club to consecutive winning seasons after a dismal 106 losses in 2023. The Royals also acquired better talent — such as Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha — while seeing young talent in Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia flourish as All-Stars.
Quatraro remains under contract through the 2026 season. Last February, the Royals exercised a club option on his three-year deal. The Royals say they haven’t begun negotiations but plan to explore a possible new contract.
“We will deal with that at the right time,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “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.”
Quatraro owns a 224-262 record with the Royals. The players appreciate his daily approach to the game and have responded to him. Now, Quatraro is tasked with trying to get the team back to the playoffs.
“One of the things I’m focusing on for myself and the staff is just making sure we know the players as well as we possibly can,” Quatraro said.
The Royals enter 2026 with a wealth of starting pitching. It’s likely they pursue a trade for an outfielder who can bolster the offense. Quatraro said the team will rely on pitching and defense as its calling card.
However, the addition of an impact bat will help Witt, Garcia, Salvador Perez and Vinnie Pasquantino in the middle of the order.
So far, the Royals have been rumored to have interest in free agents such as Austin Hays, Harrison Bader and Mike Yastrzemski. The trade market hasn’t moved, but the Royals reportedly checked in on Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran and St. Louis Cardinals standout Brendan Donovan.
Quatraro has shown the ability to win in the playoffs. If the Royals can add to their current roster, the club has the talent to win the American League Central. KC fell just short against the New York Yankees in the ALDS in 2024.
However, the Royals gained confidence with an AL Wild Card victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Quatraro will look to guide the Royals back there and believes the team can get it done.
“Each guy is completely different in how we reach one guy,” Quatraro said. “That might not be the same for the other. So knowing them on a deeper level and same with the staff understanding what makes each person tick that much more. Hopefully, that leads to more harmony to help us through those tough times and get over the hump.”
The Royals added to Quatraro’s staff this offseason. The additions of new hitting coaches Connor Dawson and Marcus Thames should help the offense. Mike McFerran was hired as a new assistant pitching coach.
“We have two new assistant hitting coaches and I think their skill sets will help us evolve in our processes,” Quatraro said.
How the Royals fare in 2026 will be worth monitoring. It’s an important season for the club, which is expected to operate in win-now mode.
“They all understand that we’re going to be that competitive, relentless and selfless team that really gets after it,” Quatraro said.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.kansascity.com ’
