Royals also exercise Manager Matt Quatraro’s club option for 2026
SURPRISE, Ariz.—The Kansas City Royals this morning announced that Executive Vice President and General Manager J.J. Picollo has agreed to a contract extension, which will run through the 2030 season with a club option for 2031. Additionally, the Royals have exercised Manager Matt Quatraro’s club option for the 2026 season.
“J.J. is one of the top executives in baseball, and I am proud that he’s leading our pursuit of a championship,” said Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman. “His ability to lead and connect with people, his intellectual curiosity, and his innovative methods of combining the best of traditional scouting and player development with advanced sciences and technologies are driving us toward that ultimate goal.”
Picollo is in his 19th full season with the Royals and his third full season in his current position. He was named the seventh General Manager in franchise history on Sept. 12, 2021 and was elevated to his current role a year later. The Royals have hired more than 30 new people in Baseball Operations since he was named Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations in September 2022.
The Royals spent $110M on free agents during the 2023-24 offseason, which was the most among American League teams. That number does not include the extension of Bobby Witt Jr., who in February 2024 signed the biggest contract in franchise history, a 14-year agreement that includes 11 years guaranteed.
Those offseason efforts led the Royals to an 86-76 record in 2024, resulting in a postseason berth and a 30-win improvement from the previous season. They were just the sixth team in the 162-game Era (since 1961) to have a 30-win improvement from one season to the next (excluding shortened seasons). Kansas City’s turnaround led to Picollo finishing as the runner-up in the 2024 Executive of the Year voting.
Since Picollo’s arrival in 2006, the Royals have had 36 different players, coaches or trainers be selected to the All-Star Game, combining for a total of 59 All-Star selections. Of the 21 All-Star players among that group, 11 were originally drafted or signed by the Royals. During the same time, the Royals have produced nine different players who have earned a Rawlings Gold Glove Award, and that group has combined for 23 Gold Gloves. During Picollo’s tenure, the Royals have also had five different players combine for nine Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Awards.
“Leading the Royals’ Baseball Operations is an honor that I take seriously every day,” said Picollo. “Q helps push us in so many ways, particularly with collaboration between departments and constantly seeking new answers so I’m thrilled that he will be with us into the future. John [Sherman]’s confidence in how we operate is humbling, and only adds to our collective focus on adding to what the Royals mean to Kansas City and giving our fans a championship team to root for.”
Quatraro, who finished as the runner-up in the 2024 American League Manager of the Year voting, is entering his third season with the club, after being named the 18th full-time Manager in Royals history on Oct. 30, 2022.
In his second season as Manager last year, he led the Royals to an 86-76 record and their first postseason berth since 2015. The 2024 Royals were the third team in Major League history, according to Elias, to make the postseason following a 100-loss season.
During Quatraro’s 11 seasons working on a Major League coaching staff—including four seasons with Cleveland, five seasons with Tampa Bay and two with Kansas City—his teams have reached the postseason seven times and have posted a winning record 10 times.
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