KC Royals hoping to get some of Tampa Bay Rays’ secret sauce by hiring Matt Quatraro
The Kansas City Royals have followed in the footsteps of several other Major League Baseball organizations by pilfering a member of the Tampa Bay Rays’ coaching staff in hopes that some of their secret sauce will rub off as they attempt to reshape their baseball operations department.
The Royals have tapped Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro as their next manager.
In recent years, the Rays’ front office has been raided for a series of high-profile hires. The Los Angeles Dodgers hired Andrew Friedman; Boston Red Sox hired Chaim Bloom; and the Houston Astros lured away James Click.
Former Rays coaches who’ve gone on to become managers elsewhere include Minnesota Twins skipper Rocco Baldelli; Washington Nationals manager and 2019 World Series champion Dave Martinez; former Toronto Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo; and Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton.
Quatraro, who will turn 49 in November, spent 22 of his 26 years in professional baseball in the Rays organization — as a player (seven), minor-league coach (10) and member of the major-league coaching staff (five).
“I am absolutely thrilled for ‘Q,’” Rays manager Kevin Cash told the Tampa Bay Times. “He is more than ready for this opportunity to step into the manager role with Kansas City. He is a stand-up person who was always prepared for the team, and his leadership will definitely be missed.”
While the Royals are the only small-market club to win a World Series in recent history (2015), the Rays have been arguably the most consistently competitive small-market team of the past 15 years.
The Rays won four divisional titles while competing against powerhouse franchises — the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox — in that 15-year span. The Rays also won two AL pennants and have made eight playoff appearances since 2008.
They’ve been viewed as a club at the forefront of using data and analytics to both acquire players and get the most out of those on their roster, without having one of the top payrolls in the majors.
When Royals chairman and CEO John Sherman announced the dismissal of longtime head of baseball operations Dayton Moore, the architect of KC’s 2014 and 2015 World Series teams, Sherman mentioned the Rays as an organization he thinks of when he considers successful organizations in the majors.
Sherman’s comment in the Sunday evening news release from the club regarding Quatraro’s hire included the phrase, “Matt is widely respected throughout baseball with a proven record and tangible contributions in two organizations that built winning cultures through creativity and innovation.”
Creativity and innovation are certainly the buzzwords in that comment. And Sherman has proclaimed the need for “data-driven decisions.”
The Royals have been viewed by many in the industry as an organization that leans heavily on more traditional methods, and scouting as opposed to analytics and data.
Royals executive vice president and general manager J.J. Picollo and his predecessor Moore both bristled at that suggestion in recent years, pointing to the integration of research and development, as well as performance science, in their decision-making.
Upon announcing the managerial change and the start of a search process this fall, Picollo referenced how the job of managing a big-league ballclub has changed in the past 15-20 years, and the need to gather information from multiple departments and implement it in day-to-day decision-making.
Some of the non-traditional approaches utilized by the Rays include: defensive shifts; using relief pitchers as “openers” instead of typical starting pitchers; eschewing traditional bullpen roles; using relievers in various situations and at various times; and having players who regularly play multiple defensive positions.
It remains to be seen how much of the Rays’ model can or will be transferred through a major-league manager, but the Royals have taken their next skipper from an organization viewed as the avante garde of Major League Baseball.
Rays’ recent results
How the Rays have fared the past 15 years:
Under manager Joe Maddon ...
2008: 97-65, first place in AL East, los in World Series
2009: 84-78, third place in AL East
2010: 96-66, first place in AL East, lost in AL Division Series
2011: 91-71, second place in AL East, lost in AL Division Series
2012: 90-72, third place in the AL East
2013: 92-71, second place in AL East, lost in AL Division Series
2014: 77-85, fourth place in AL East
Under manager Kevin Cash ...
2015: 80-82, fourth place in AL East
2016: 68-94, fifth place in AL East
2017: 80-82, third place in AL East
2018: 90-72, third place in AL East
2019: 96-66, second place in AL East, lost in AL Division Series
2020: 40-20, first place in AL East, won AL pennant, lost in World Series (pandemic year)
2021: 100-62, first place in AL East, lost in AL Division Series
2022: 86-76, third place in AL East, lost in AL Wild Card Series
