Four Player Takeaways From Matt Quatraro's Winter Meeting Press Conference

[Kevin O'Brien]

Image courtesy of John Bonnes/DiamondCentric

The Winter Meetings are in full swing, and that has included managers holding press conferences this week. These press conferences allow managers to reflect on the past season, while also looking forward to the 2026 campaign, with pitchers and catchers reporting in a few months. 

 

 

John Bonnes of Diamondcentric was able to attend the press conference of Royals manager Matt Quatraro on Monday. In Quatraro's press conference, the fourth-year Kansas City skipper touched on key players' performances from last season and elaborated on their outlooks for the upcoming season. While the Royals are still constructing their roster this offseason, Quatraro discussed four players who are likely to be key members of a 2026 Kansas City squad looking to return to the postseason.

Thus, let's look at those four players, what Quatraro said about them, and what it could mean as the Royals iron out their roster this winter in preparation for Spring Training. 

---

 

Carter Jensen Will Be Key Part of 2026 Team

Quatraro gushed about Jensen and his performance in September last season. In 69 plate appearances, Jensen hit .300 with a .941 OPS and collected three home runs, scored 12 runs, and had 13 RBI.

 

 

 

The rookie catcher and local Kansas City-grown product didn't get a whole lot of time behind the plate in his MLB debut, as Quatraro opted to use Salvador Perez and Luke Maile as the Royals' primary catchers down the stretch (which Quatraro admitted in his press conference). 

However, the Royals manager pointed out that Jensen adapted quickly at the Major League level, especially defensively. Thus, it sounds like the Park Hill High School product will be a crucial part of this Royals roster next spring, as illustrated in the quote below.

Quote

We have big hopes for [Jensen] to be a big part of what we do, whether it's behind the plate or offensively. As far as playing time, I think in a perfect world Salvy, I don't know an exact number, but we need to utilize his bat as much as his catching. So hopefully to be able to keep him fresh, Carter can handle a decent workload

With Maile becoming a free agent and Luca Tresh not being added to the 40-man roster (he is eligible for Wednesday's Rule 5 Draft), it seems like Jensen is slotted to be the Royals' primary backup catcher for 2026. It will be interesting to see if Quatraro utilizes him similarly to Freddy Fermin, whose strong play the past couple of seasons allowed Perez to get more time at first base and DH, which saved his legs and energy, and preserved his power at the plate. 

---

 

Royals Take Blame for Jonathan India and His 2025 Struggles

 

It seems like the Royals believe that India can bounce back in 2026 after a rough debut season in Kansas City.

In 567 plate appearances with the Royals last year, India hit .233 with a .669 OPS. He hit just nine home runs and scored 63 runs, the latter his lowest mark in that category since 2022, his second MLB season. Despite the heavy regression, the Royals opted to bring India back for 2026, agreeing to an $8 million deal this offseason.

 

 

In Quatraro's press conference, the Royals manager mentioned that moving him around between third base, left field, and second base contributed heavily to his offensive struggles a season ago.

Quote

I think we have to shoulder a lot of that blame. Early in the year we tried to play him in left, at third, things he'd never done before, transitioning to a new organization, just the general comfort of being out of his routines. And then asking him to do it at a new position...

And I think the new ballpark, all those things. You talked to him, he wasn't happy with the quality of his at-bats. He knew he was popping too many balls up. It wasn't that he was trying to hit homers, he just couldn't get out of that swing funk. But more than anything, I would attribute a lot of that to the fact that he was trying to learn two new positions in Spring Training and went into a first year with a new organization out of his comfort zone.

 

If India is not traded away this offseason (I mentioned it as a possibility in my Luis Robert Jr. trade piece), Quatraro will likely keep him solely at second and lower in the batting order to ease the pressure and help him get off to a better start at the plate in 2026. A strong start offensively could help him recapture the productive player that he was in Cincinnati. 

---

 

Jac Caglianone Is Seen As Another Bounce-Back Candidate

 

"Cags-Mania" was all the rage when Caglianone was called up on June 2nd. Unfortunately, the 2024 first-round pick and former Royals top prospect struggled in his Royals rookie debut last season.

In 232 plate appearances, Caglianone slashed .157/.237/.295 with a .532 OPS. He hit seven home runs and posted a 12% barrel rate, but he struggled immensely with pitch recognition. That was evidenced by his 38.5% chase rate, 26.8% whiff rate, and 22.4% strikeout rate. He also had lackluster Statcast batted-ball metrics, especially when it came to launching the ball.

Despite the rookie's struggles, Quatraro was optimistic about the growth he made at the plate after returning from his Triple-A rehab assignment last season and his outlook for the upcoming season. He also mentioned that a slow start to his MLB career didn't help things, either. 
 

Quote

I rewind to the first series and he gets a couple of hard hit balls that are robbed from him. You just don't know how much, with a young player, a couple of those hits fall in and things go differently. And they went the other way. But when he would go back to Triple-A on his rehab assignment we saw improvement in his quality of at-bat and he carried it over when he first came back up from that. We've seen some of the bright spots we're hopeful for because obviously we know the power's there. We know the hard hit. So we think we're looking for a bounce- back from him as well.

Considering he's only 22 years old, Caglianone will likely get more of a leash to prove himself in 2026 than India, who will be a free agent after next season. Nonetheless, much like the Royals' second baseman, it seems Quatraro is planning for Caglianone to be part of the outfield picture in 2026, even if Kansas City acquires a couple of outfielders this offseason (which is their offseason priority, according to reports). 

---

 

Luinder Avila May Be Part of Rotation Mix in 2026

 

Avila ranked No. 13 in our latest prospect rankings, and he is coming off a solid MLB debut in 2025. 

In 13 outings and 14 IP, the 24-year-old righty posted a 1.29 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and 2.05 xERA. He showed excellent command, with a 28.7% K rate, a 10.7% walk rate, and 17.9% K-BB%. He only had a 25.2% CSW (called-strike plus whiff), but he limited productive contact, as illustrated by a 29.2% hard-hit rate allowed and 50% groundball rate. 

 

 

The Venezuelan pitcher was primarily utilized out of the bullpen in Kansas City, but he made 12 starts in Omaha, albeit to mixed results. With the Storm Chasers, he posted a 5.01 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in 59.2 IP in Triple-A. However, his FIP looked a lot better at 4.09.

Though Avila looked stellar in the Royals bullpen in 2025, it seems like Quatraro and the Royals brass aren't shutting the door on Avila starting next season, even at the Major League level, as demonstrated in Quatraro's quote below. 

Quote

I do [see Avila as a starter]. He's the kind of guy you need for some depth. And depending what happens throughout the rest of the offseason and the spring, he's obviously shown the ability to get righties and lefties out. I think that was a great experience for him pitching out of the pen, but that's the kind of guy early on, especially early in the season, is a good guy to have as a starter.

 

 

The Royals have been floating a lot of starting pitchers in trade talks, with Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek, and Noah Cameron mentioned today as possible candidates, according to MLB.com Royals beat writer Anne Rogers. 

Avila may be on the outside looking in when it comes to making the Royals' Opening Day rotation. However, if Royals starters are traded away or perhaps get hurt in Spring Training, it wouldn't be surprising to see Avila slide into the No. 4 or No. 5 spot in the Kansas City rotation to begin the season. The ability to seamlessly flip-flop between the rotation and the bullpen could help him make the Opening Day roster.

 

View full article

[Kerry Flanagan]

Much of what is said in these types of press interactions with a manager is just fluff. There is no organizational benefit for example of saying "India really sucked and we'd love to trade him". The most interesting thing to come out of the interview was the indication that Avila is viewed as a starter. To me, it's a strong indicator that at least one if not more starters/potential starters gets traded. Looking at the 40 man, assuming none of the starting 5 gets moved, Avila is presumably behind Bergert, Kolek, Falter, probably Mason Black, and potentially even Lynch on the depth chart. Kudrna and Zobac aren't far behind either.

[Kevin O'Brien]

5 hours ago, Kerry Flanagan said:

Much of what is said in these types of press interactions with a manager is just fluff. There is no organizational benefit for example of saying "India really sucked and we'd love to trade him". The most interesting thing to come out of the interview was the indication that Avila is viewed as a starter. To me, it's a strong indicator that at least one if not more starters/potential starters gets traded. Looking at the 40 man, assuming none of the starting 5 gets moved, Avila is presumably behind Bergert, Kolek, Falter, probably Mason Black, and potentially even Lynch on the depth chart. Kudrna and Zobac aren't far behind either.

Yeah, I thought the Avila quote was the most interesting of the bunch. He looked really good as a reliever and I figured he would stay in the role considering how packed the rotation was. When he said that they were looking to have him start the year as a starter, it did make me think that they would be looking to trade another starter as well.