Royals Sign Manager Matt Quatraro to Three-Year Extension

On Sunday, the Royals on social media announced that they had agreed to a three-year extension with manager Matt Quatraro. 

Quatraro was entering the final year of his current deal this season, and his extension will not kick in until 2027. His newest deal is guaranteed until 2029, with the Royals holding a club option for 2030. 

The Royals hired Quatraro to replace previous manager Mike Matheny after the 2022 season. After a rough 56-106 debut season, the former Tampa Bay Rays bench coach has had strong success as Kansas City's skipper. Over the past two years, his teams have finished 86-76 and 82-80, respectively. It is the first time the Royals have had back-to-back winning seasons since 2014 and 2015 under manager Ned Yost, who led the Royals to two AL Pennants and a World Series title.

In his first managerial job at the Major League level, Quatraro holds an overall record of 224-262. He led the Royals to the postseason in 2024, sweeping the Baltimore Orioles in two games in the AL Wild Card round before falling to the Yankees in four games in the ALDS. He was named a runner-up for the AL Manager of the Year award in 2024, losing to Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt that season. 

In addition to Quatraro, the Royals will return bench coach Paul Hoover, lead hitting coach Alec Zumwalt, and pitching coach Brian Sweeney, who have all held those positions since Quatraro took over as manager (Zumwalt was promoted to hitting coach in 2022 under Matheny after they fired previous hitting coach Terry Bradshaw). New coaches on the staff for 2026 include assistant hitting coaches Connor Dawson and Marcus Thames, who come from the Brewers and White Sox, respectively, and assistant pitching coach Mike McFerran, who comes from the Athletics. Former assistant hitting coaches Keoni DeRenne and Joe Dillon were not retained, and former assistant pitching coach Zach Bove took the lead pitching coach position with the White Sox this offseason.