Quatraro: Connecting With Royals Is Top Priority Early On
The Kansas City Royals introduced Matt Quatraro as their new manager on Thursday morning at Kauffman Stadium, signaling the official turning of the page to a new era in the franchise's history. The introductory presser was filled with many highlights, and Quatraro made it perfectly clear that communication will be one of the pillars of his tenure in Kansas City.
To close out the week, Quatraro went on SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio to discuss the process of joining the Royals and what he's been up to during his first few days on the job. His first steps as manager? Connect with as many people in his new organization as possible.
"What I'm trying to do is make the first priority to just connect with everybody," Quatraro said. "Players, staff — make phone calls. Just try to introduce myself and have them put a voice with the name. In the absence of being with everybody, just try to check in with them, see how their offseasons are going and just start the relationships. That's the biggest thing."
The 2022-23 offseason projects to be a very important one for Kansas City, and it started with the firings of former President of Baseball Operations Dayton Moore and manager Mike Matheny. Now, with current General Manager and Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations J.J. Picollo at the helm, Picollo's staff is tasked with working to field a more competitive team moving forward than the 65-97 club that took the field this past season.
Quatraro will be a major part of that process, as his connections with players will be imperative as the Royals' youth grows and develops before spring training. Additionally, there are still moves that need to be made to round out his coaching staff. The pitching coach position, in particular, is possibly even more important than the managerial hire was. As far as next steps are concerned, Quatraro reiterated that relationships come first before getting in the full swing of things and moving forward with the offseason.
"J.J. and I and the whole front office, we have some hirings and stuff [to do]," Quatraro said. "That'll obviously come to the forefront here soon. They have GM meetings and all of the stuff that you guys know goes on for the executives in the winter. More than anything, it's the relationships out of the gate."
The next couple of months will see some faces come in and out of the Royals organization, but simply getting the manager position filled is a massive first domino to fall. The rest could — and should — follow suit, especially once Quatraro's fellow coaches are hired. As one of the most critical offseasons in recent Kansas City memory continues, Quatraro is doing his part to ensure that he's getting things started off on the right foot.
