KANSAS CITY, Mo. — New Royals manager Matt Quatraro met with reporters Thursday at Kauffman Stadium as part of his welcome to Kansas City.
There were two themes Quatraro, the 21st manager in club history, returned to throughout his remarks: transparency and collaboration.
Quatraro was one of seven candidates the team considered for the managerial position.
But ultimately, Quatraro fit the criteria that Royals President of Baseball Operations J.J. Picollo wanted in the next manager of the Royals: a manager who had professional coaching experience, either in the majors or as a manger in the the minors, been around some of the top managers in the sport and someone who was willing to collaborate across all departments in the organization.
"It was very clear how (Quatraro) connected with everybody," Picollo said. "His ability to explain to us what his decision process was very clear."
Picollo said he didn't come across anyone who had anything negative to say about Quatraro during his search.
Quatraro said he was a big fan of the Royals, even while competing against them.
"This group is extremely talented," Quatraro said. "There's a tremendous amount of talent on the pitching staff right now."
Quatraro spoke about what collaboration and transparency mean to him.
"We're going to have a process in making decisions and, ultimately, I think the transparency gonna go a long way, especially to the players, the staff, the whole organization and the community," Quatraro said. "There is a collective group of minds here and the player. We have to all rely on each other and take information back and forth."
Quatraro did make it very clear, despite the background and coming from heavy advanced analytical organizations in AL Central rivals Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays and being around some of the sport's top managers in Terry Francona and Kevin Cash, the numbers would not completely influence his decision-making and he would not try and copy the approaches of Francona and Cash.
"This game is played by human beings," Quatraro said. "I've been around Tito (Francona) and Kevin Cash and I can't be those guys. The one advice I've gotten throughout the process is be yourself. They do great things cause they're themselves."
There is still work to be done for the Royals, especially when it comes to assembling Quatraro's coaching staff.
While most of the staff from last year under former manager Mike Matheny will still be with the team, there are positions to be filled at bench coach, where Pedro Grifol recently departed to join AL Central Chicago White Sox as their new manager, and pitching coach, after the Royals fired former pitching coach Cal Eldred along with Matheny.
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