Rusty Kuntz shifts roles again as Kansas City Royals announce front office promotions
The front office restructuring in the Kansas City Royals’ baseball operations department kicked off by the promotions of Dayton Moore to president of baseball operations and JJ Picollo to general manager continued with a slew of promotions on Wednesday.
The Royals announced the front office promotions and also revealed that Rusty Kuntz, the longtime coach and energetic figure both in player development and the major-league staff, would not return as the Royals’ first base and outfield coach in 2022.
Kuntz, 66, will take on the title of Special Assistant to the President & GM/Quality Control. The Royals have not finalized their major-league coaching staff, but with the exception of Kuntz, the staff is expected to remain largely intact. The major-league staff could be finalized within the next 10 days.
Damon Hollins, the Royals minor-league coordinator of outfield, base running and bunting, served as Kuntz’s replacement during the 2020 season when Kuntz opted out due to COVID-19 concerns.
Hollins also spent the final month of this past season with the major-league staff and regularly coached first base with Kuntz present in the dugout.
Kuntz has bounced around between the major-league staff to player development and special advisory roles for more than a decade. His previous titles included Minor League Outfield, Bunting and Baserunning Coordinator (2010-12) and Special Assistant to the General Manager (2018-20) as well as three stints as the Royals’ first base coach (2008-10, 2012-17 and 2020-21).
The front office promotions included Rene Francisco being named Sr. Vice President, Assistant GM/Major League & International Operations; Scott Sharp named Sr. Vice President, Assistant General Manager; Jin Wong named Vice President, Assistant GM/Baseball Administration; Dr. Daniel Mack named Vice President, Assistant GM/Research & Development and Jeff Davenport to Vice President/Major League Team Operations.
Earlier this fall, the Royals also promoted Lonnie Goldberg to Vice President/Player Personnel and Danny Ontiveros to Scouting Director.
Mack recently completed his ninth season with the Royals, while Francisco, Sharp, Goldberg and Ontiveros have all spent 14 years or more in the organization. Wong and Davenport each have been in the organization for more than 20 years.
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 4:20 PM.
