The Kansas City Royals are preparing for the 2025 season with heightened expectations and an understanding that this team is built to compete both now and in the future.
After a decade of mediocrity, this organization is finally making decisions that have the next decade in mind. Signing Cole Ragans to a team-friendly extension was a tremendous first step, and now the blueprint is laid out to ensure competitive baseball sticks around in Kansas City.
To honor how well the current regime is performing relative to expectations, the franchise made a pair of key choices that'll keep the decision-makers in Royal Blue for years to come.
#Royals CEO/chairman John Sherman announced this morning that the team has agreed to a multi year extension with general manager J.J. Picollo and exercised manager Matt Quatraro’s club option.
— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) February 17, 2025
Royals Extend J.J. Picollo and Matt Quatraro as Spring Training Begins
In a media appearance on Monday, owner John Sherman revealed that J.J. Picollo was signed to an extension through 2030 with a club option for 2031 while Matt Quatraro's club option was exercised for the upcoming campaign.
By any measure, these were easy decisions to make. Picollo immediately transformed the team's outlook after taking over for Dayton Moore, while Quatraro's impressive game management gave a much-maligned team the chance to compete. Given how much the decade of losing zapped the organization of fans, no one should be surprised at these moves.
Bobby Witt Jr. is the centerpiece of the roster, though Picollo and Quatraro have done a phenomenal job of empowering the rest of the team to find success. Guys like Vinnie Pasquantino, Michael Massey, Cole Ragans, and more all owe the team's brass some measure of recognition for their respective success, and it's clear that the Royals have a plan to maintain excitement.
This type of announcement gives Picollo the freedom to keep building the club how he wants to. He's earned the benefit of the doubt, as has Quatraro, and Sherman obviously doesn't want to let talented minds leave the building.
It's a great day for Royals fans and based on the team's outlook, Kauffman Stadium should be packed once games start in a couple of months.