The Kansas City Royals finished 69-93 overall after the soon-to-be fifth-year manager inked a three-year contract extension slated to run through 2029.
Kansas City Royals manager Matt Quatraro was brought on during the 2022 offseason from the AL powerhouse Tampa Bay Rays where he previously served as bench coach with the hope that he'd bring the struggling Royals back to a level of prominence that helped them win their second World Series title in 2015.
Kansas City didn't hit the ground running right away during Quatraro's first season in 2023, finishing 56-106 overall and fifth in the AL Central.
They went an impressive 86-76 the following year to reach the MLB playoffs, defeating the Baltimore Orioles in the Wild Card round while coming up short against the New York Yankees in the AL Division Series.
The Royals secured their second-straight winning season in 2025, going 82-80 overall but failing to make it back to the big dance.
General manager J.J. Picollo demonstrated his continued faith in Quatraro, signing him to a three-year contract extension slated to run through 2029 with a club option for 2030.
However, Quatraro's Royals have yet to recover from their shortcomings given their noticeable regression to a 69-93 overall record this year and last-place ranking in the division.
Entering his fifth year at the helm, Quatraro will have a significant chip on his shoulder after not being able to get the Royals over the hump in spite of monster seasons from catcher Carter Jensen and right fielder Jac Caglianone who have been among two of the franchise's rising young pieces.
At just 23 years old, Jensen led Kansas City's lineup with 81 RBI and 27 home runs while garnering trust from pitchers like reliever Nate Pearson who raved about his attention to game planning while also noting how rarely he's had to shake him off.
Caglianone took a massive step forward as well, batting a team-best .289 with his efforts landing him a spot in this year's MLB Home Run Derby.
The Royals also saw a historic year from veteran Salvador Perez who surpassed George Brett's franchise home run record of 317, having now launched 324 through his storied career that began in 2011 with Kansas City and is expected to end there as well.
With that, Kansas City's prolonged woes don't fall so much on the lack of talent but more on Quatraro given that he came from a consistent AL contender in Tampa and played a part in their 2020 World Series appearance.
While the Royals' pitching staff had its ups and downs with Michael Wacha being dominant in typical fashion and Seth Lugo regressing to a 5.17 ERA, part of being an MLB manager involves finding ways to win with less.
Right now, Quatraro's tenure hasn't reflected that and he will consequently be in for heightened expectations going into 2027, or 2028 if a lockout ends up taking place.
