By Jordan Long
The Kansas City Royals finished the year at 65-97. This was the 7th straight year they missed the postseason. They fired Mike Matheny once the season was over. Their managerial search is now over as they hired Matt Quatraro.
Matheny had been the Royal’s manager since 2020. Matheny had managerial experience with the St. Louis Cardinals from 2012 to 2018. With St. Louis Matheny’s record was 591-474, a winning percentage of .555. Under Matheny, St. Louis went to the postseason 4 times with one trip to the World Series, in 2013. St. Louis lost to the Boston Red Sox in 6 games. Matheny was let go when St. Louis started 47-46 in 2018.
The Royals never earned a playoff spot with Matheny as their Manager. Matheny finished 165-219, a disappointing winning percentage of .430. The Royals decided to cut ties with him following a 65-97 record this season. The Royals started a managerial search.
The Royals could have gone after Bruce Bochy or Joe Girardi. Both of these managers have experience being a manager at the MLB level and both have World Series rings. Bochy is now the Rangers’ Manager while Girardi is still looking for a job. The Royals decided to hire Matt Quatraro.
According to CBSsports.com, Royals’ General Manager J.J. Picollo said, “We are extremely excited to have Matt leading our club and core of talent. Matt has great experiences throughout his career that have prepared him for this. He thoroughly impressed us all during our interview process and is clearly respected across the industry. We are looking forward to working alongside Matt to bring winning baseball to our great fans.”
Quatraro has never been a manager at the MLB level. The closest he has been is a bench coach. He served as the Tampa Bay Rays’ Bench Coach since 2018 under Kevin Cash. Quatraro is going to take what he has learned from Cash into this job with the Royals.
Quatraro needs to turn the Royals back into a winning ball club. They haven’t earned a playoff spot since 2015 when they won the World Series. The Royals are hoping Quatraro can do that. If the Royals don’t improve under Quatraro, he will be gone. The Royals would like to be a playoff team once again. They know it may take a few seasons to do so.
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