Quatraro signs an extension

On October 30, 2022, Matt Quatraro was named the 18th manager in Royals franchise history. Picking up the pieces from the previous, disastrous, dugout staff the Royals stumbled to 106 losses in Quatraro’s first season at the helm.

Buoyed by a season of experience under his belt, a formidable pitching staff and the breakout of Bobby Witt Jr., Quatraro’s Royals stormed to an 86-76 record in 2024 and a spot in the postseason for the first time since the championship season of 2015. Those Royals were the sixth team since 1961 to have a 30-win improvement from one season to the next They were the third team ever, according to Elias, to make the postseason after a 100-loss season.

Quatraro, who initially penned a three-year deal with a club option for a fourth, had his option picked up ahead of the 2025 season. Last year, the Royals stumbled a bit, but still managed to finish above .500 at 82-80. Since 1994, the Royals have finished better than .500 just six times. Quatraro managed two of those teams.

With an overall managerial record of 224-262, the Royals rewarded Quatraro with a contract extension on Sunday. It kicks in starting in 2027 and runs through the 2029 season. Again, there is a club option for the fourth year, which would cover the 2030 season.

You all know how I feel about Quatraro (and his staff). The skipper is absolutely the right guy to lead this team. He doesn’t have the fire some of you would like, but he can get plenty hot when necessary and seems to command respect in the dugout and the clubhouse. He has a deft touch when it comes to management that his players appreciate.

Ope! Did someone say fire?

Just as important as his relationships and trust among his players, Quatraro is the right guy to distill the analytics and implement that information into game situations. He’s not a conventional manager. He’s a creative one.

I’ve just been impressed by Quatraro from almost his first day in charge. A steady hand…a smart guy…someone who understand that process doesn’t always resolve the way it should, but that’s not going to prevent him from using all of the tools at his disposal.

From a “staff” report at The Athletic:

“He’s a genius mind,” Bobby Witt Jr. said after the Royals reached the postseason in 2024. “He’s been the perfect guy to lead us.”

If Bob thinks you’re a genius, you’re good in my book.

For all the reasons outlined above, Quatraro deserves this extension and the timing, just about a month before camp opens, is right. It sends a signal to the team that Quatraro is, long-term, The Guy in the dugout. I don’t think anyone thought otherwise, but as we edge closer to the 2026 season, that’s a good thing.

My goodness, did I fluff my lines on the Royals Hall of Fame ballot in the Sunday Ramble. I blame a post-holiday haze that I am only just emerging from. And a faulty google machine that returned a ton of hits for the 2025 ballot.

So to reset, here’s the ballot for the Royals Hall of Fame, class of 2026:

Carlos Beltrán
Billy Butler
Lorenzo Cain
Wade Davis
Alcides Escobar
Kelvin Herrera
Greg Holland
Joakim Soria
Yordano Ventura

I’ll share a link with Royals Review, who seem to be the only outlet to post the entire ballot. Thanks to my misfire, we can easily see that Johnny Damon and Jarrod Dyson fell off the ballot. Alex Gordon was inducted. That created space for three newcomers in Cain, Escobar and Holland.

I’d still vote for Davis, who I felt was a more dominant reliever than Holland, although it would be perfect if Herrera-Davis-Holland could be inducted together, giving their speeches in that order while Ned Yost was taking the microphone from them after they were finished.

I would most definitely cast a vote for Cain.

Cain isn’t on many of the franchise top 10 leaderboards. He suited up for only 713 games for the Royals, just ahead of Lou Piniella on the all time list. Still, his bWAR while with the Royals totaled 24.6, good for ninth place and just behind Beltrán at 24.8.

More important that numbers and rates and statistics was the fact I always felt that Cain was the main cog in that lineup. He could do everything. Everything. And he did it with grace and style and class. Personally, he was my favorite on those championship teams…I absolutely adored watching Cain patrol the outfield.

To make up for my Alex Gordon error, here’s an article from Sports Info Solutions’ Mark Simon who underscores just how brilliant Gordon was with the glove (and the arm) in left field.

We know Gordon was an exceptional defender. We witnessed that first-hand for almost a decade. Still, it’s crazy to see how much ahead the rest of the field Gordon was when it came to his defense.

And with the glove hat and the blowing bubbles while making difficult plays (seriously, check out the photo that accompanies the SIS story at the link), Gordon was also Danny Ocean cool. There should be a defensive metric for that.

I think it’s safe to say that Gordon is the best defensive left fielder of this century. The story at the link above does a great job backing up the eye test with the stats.

How about a stadium update? I know, I know…Just cannot help myself.

As you’ve probably heard, the deadline set by the LCC (the Legislative Coordinating Council) for both the Chiefs and the Royals to submit a plan for use of STAR bonds “expired” on December 31. “Expired” is in quotes because the STAR bond program really expires at the end of June. The December 31 deadline was just something the panel set in an attempt to spur the teams into moving forward. Of course, the Chiefs have a plan. Or a scheme. The Royals have…nothing.

“Time’s up — as I’ve said before, today (December 31) is the deadline for STAR Bond proposals,” Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, said Wednesday in a statement to The Star. Hawkins takes over as chair of the Legislative Coordinating Council, or LCC, on Thursday.

The fun part is this deadline has already been extended once before. Previously, the teams had until June 30, 2025 to make their proposals. The deadline passed, but not before both the Royals and the Chiefs asked for an extension. That extension, to June 30, 2026, was granted after the first deadline passed.

While I remain hopeful that the blowback from the absolute pantsing done to the state of Kansas by the Hunt Family has lessened the appetite for more government handouts and has spurred the other side of the state line into action, until shovels are in the dirt, who the hell knows what’s going to happen. Despite insistances from Hawkins that the December 31 deadline was “firm,” let’s just say I’m skeptical. Where there’s money for the billionaire class and a photo op for politicos, there’s a way.

As the American poet Lou Reed once said, “Don’t believe half of what you see and none of what you hear”

So as not to wrap on an absolute downer, I’ll note that veteran Royals prospect writer Preston Farr, formerly of Farm to Fountains, has launched his own newsletter: EightOneSix.

Aside from having a killer name (that I hope remains germane in the future), Farr has been churning out the usual solid content. He dropped his 2026 Royals prospect rankings on Sunday and it’s definitely worth your time and a bookmark for future reference.

While I may disagree with his positioning of Kendry Chourio—whose mere name pushes me to a Pavlovian response…I love the potential of this kid—Farr does the homework and has a system to generate these rankings. Much respect to the prospect hounds and Farr is the guy to follow if you want the scoop on the Royals system. Give him a subscription.