Former Cleveland Coach, Matt Quatraro, Hired As Royals New Manager

Matt Quatraro is set to become the Kansas City Royals new manager.

As soon as the season ended, the Royals announced they were parting ways with Mike Matheny and he was fired. The skipper amassed a 165-219 record in Kansas City with his worst being the 2022 season.

Within the same month, the Royals announced their new manager, and this one has ties to Cleveland. Former assistant hitting coach Matt Quatraro has been named as their new manager.

The Kansas City Royals are hiring Matt Quatraro as their new manager, sources tell ESPN. Quatraro, 48, has been the Rays' bench coach and also worked in Cleveland. He's adored among players, coaches and execs, and is regarded as the ideal type to shepherd the Royals' young core.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 30, 2022

Quatraro served as Cleveland's assistant hitting coach from 2014-2017 and has since been with the Tampa Bay Rays. With Tampa, Quatraro served one season as the third base coach in 2018 and was promoted to bench coach from 2019-2022 after Charlie Montoyo headed to Toronto. 

While Quatraro played at the collegiate level, he never got to step foot on a major league diamond as a player -- but did make it as high as Triple-A ball in Tampa's minor league system. Following the 2021 season, Quatraro did an interview with both the Oakland A's and New York Mets for the managerial position.

With the White Sox still searching for their next manager, the AL Central has seen quite a bit of turnover as of late outside of the Cleveland Guardians in regard to the manager of each team.

The Twins hired Rocco Baldelli in 2019 and the Tigers brought in A.J. Hinch as their new manager in 2021. Tony La Russa served as the White Sox manager during his final stint from just 2021-2022, and as mentioned Matheny was at the helm from 2019-2022. Terry Francona takes the cake with his tenure as skipper since 2013.

Under Francona, the club has won four division titles and has aspirations of repeating as well as making another postseason run in 2023. With all the shakeups in the division, one can appreciate Cleveland's sound organization.

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