Taking care of business: Royals extend JJ Picollo and exercise contract option on Matt Quatraro

The leaders of the franchise are deservedly rewarded for their successful 2024 season.

Last season, the Royals experienced what could only be described as a helluva turnaround. In the span of just one year, they went from an embarrassing 56 wins to 86 victories, a spot in the Wild Card round and won a damn series prior to losing to the Yankees in the ALDS.

The reward for the leaders of that turnaround was reaped on Monday as the Royals announced they reached a contract extension for Executive Vice President and General Manager, JJ Picollo that will go through 2030 with an option for 2031. They also exercised a contract option on Manager Matt Quatraro for the 2026 season.

Let’s start with Picollo.

As the Royals press release announcing the move notes, the Royals spent $110 million on free agents last year, which was obviously the building block for rebuilding the starting rotation in Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha. Not all of the spending is what you would qualify as a success (ahem, Hunter Renfroe and Chris Stratton).

I think when evaluating a general manager, it’s worthwhile to ask yourself, “What do you remember from the X facet of their job?” When evaluating the free agents the Royals signed ahead of the 2024 season, will you remember the hits like Lugo and Wacha, or the misses? In this case, only a virulent pessimist would focus on the money Picollo spent on Renfroe and Stratton.

This is also another way to write that we won’t always agree with what Picollo is doing, but as long as their are more wins in the transaction column than losses, then he’s doing a good job. In the free agent example above, he was given a budget by owner John Sherman and spent it in a mostly wise fashion.

A GM’s job just isn’t around free agency, that’s just the first example that comes to my mind. Yet probably the most important thing Picollo has done is lock up superstar, MVP candidate and franchise cornerstone Bobby Witt Jr. to a long-term deal. Think back to Picollo’s comments yesterday about how the Cole Ragans deal should remove some pressure on the lefty. He won’t be pitching looking ahead to his next contract. Could the same be said for Witt? Is it a coincidence that his monster year coincided with signing a deal that made him a very wealthy ballplayer? It certainly wasn’t the only factor, but it probably played a part. Picollo was instrumental in getting that done.

The trades Picollo made down the stretch were less successful, but that’s where processes come into play. The Royals needed help down the stretch. The farm system wasn’t (and still isn’t) exactly chock full of desirable talent. The talent acquired was underwhelming and ultimately didn’t add much, but at least the Royals and Picollo did something. It doesn’t always work out I don’t think anyone can fault rolling the dice in that situation.

Picollo has also proved adept at balancing the old-school scouting world with the new-school analytical approach. He’s been instrumental in revamping the Royals field staff while working behind the scenes to build up the analytical department. There’s a reason we’re hearing success stories like Cole Ragans and his slider. Or why the Royals targeted a starter like Seth Lugo in free agency.

Here’s Picollo on his relationships with Sherman and Quatraro:

I think it speaks to the continuity that we have. You know, it was kind of a fast and furious first year where we're getting to learn each other, learn about each other a little bit more.

You know, really probably June of ‘23 is where I feel like we grew even closer to understand what his vision is. And it gave us an opportunity to prepare for the off-season. I think it was a really important time during those months, June, July, August… to set the vision of the organization, not just in our front office, but scouts, coaches, trainers, strength coaches, the list goes on and on. And we had an opportunity to do that early in October and I think it really paid off well.

But really it starts with that relationship between John and I and the relationship between Q and I so we can carry it all out.

I was a bit surprised by the length of the extension for Picollo, but we never knew how long he was signed for when he was promoted to general manager back in September of 2021. It’s not out of the ordinary for an executive to have five-plus years on their contract.

What is clear from everything is the trust that Sherman has in Picollo. It is fairly obvious that the Royals’ owner gravitated to Picollo once he bought the team. Given the budgets and the directives since then, it’s also clear that he believes in Picollo’s vision for the team. By agreeing to stay in Kansas City until 2030, you could say the same for Picollo about Sherman. They are clearly on the same page when it comes to how this franchise should operate.

As for Quatraro, the club picking up his option for 2026 was pretty much a foregone conclusion. This is how most major league teams operate, especially with a manager with less experience. There’s the initial deal and then a club option. Most teams will exercise that option a year ahead to prevent them from being a lame duck, so to speak. As the cliche goes, managers are hired to be fired, so teams will, in most cases, keep them on shorter-term deals.

In many ways, Quatraro is the perfect manager for this Royals team. We saw that in 2023 when the Royals couldn’t win a game. We saw that last year when the Royals turned things around. I think the word to describe Quatraro is “steady.” And I think that type of manager works extremely well in a younger clubhouse.

Quatraro is also heavily attuned to the analytical side of the game and clearly isn’t afraid of statistics or innovation. He’s surrounded himself with quality coaches and was clearly much more comfortable in his role in 2024. I remember Picollo, in talking about Witt’s rookie season, would note that the game moved fast for him. Things were sped up. I think the same could be said for Quatraro in his early days as a manager. Like Witt, though, he adapted and adjusted. We saw the results last year.

Continuity has always been a part of the Royals’ DNA. Going back to Ewing Kauffman and the birth of the franchise, stability has always been associated with the Royals. That hasn’t always been a good thing. In this case, the rewards for Picollo and Quatraro are very much deserved. They, in short order, took a franchise without a clear future and turned it into a playoff team.

As we know, past success is not a guarantee for the future. But I believe we can feel confident with both Picollo and Quatraro in their positions that the Royals will be making their best efforts to remain relevant. In the AL Central, there’s no reason not to be.