Kansas City Royals hire Paul Hoover from Rays to join Matt Quatraro’s staff
The first addition to the Kansas City Royals’ coaching staff under new manager Matt Quatraro is another member of the same Tampa Bay Rays staff Quatraro left to take the reins in KC.
The Royals officially announced on Monday the hiring of former major-league catcher Paul Hoover, who has been the major-league field coordinator for the Rays, as Quatraro’s bench coach.
The field coordinator position with the Rays is the position Rocco Baldelli held before he became the Minnesota Twins manager.
Hoover has held that position for the past four seasons, and he assisted Rays manager Kevin Cash and Quatraro with strategy during games. He also worked with the Rays catchers and oversaw the continued development of the major-league players.
This season, the Rays went 86-76 and placed third in the AL East. They lost to the Cleveland Guardians in the Wild Card Series. During Quatraro and Hoover’s time on Cash’s staff, the Rays won a pair of division titles and the AL pennant.
Former Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol, who also served as catching coach, left the organization to become the manager of the Chicago White Sox.
The Royals are in the process of hiring a new pitching coach and filling out Quatraro’s staff. The Royals planned to retain almost their entire group of hitting coaches, including Alec Zumwalt, Keoni DeRenne and Mike Tosar.
However, it’s unclear whether or not any coaches might join Grifol in Chicago.
Tosar, who has a long-standing professional relationship with Grifol that predates their time together with the Royals, could be a candidate to join the White Sox staff as a hitting coach.
Hoover spent six seasons in the Rays organization on the player-development side before he joined the major-league staff. He managed in the Gulf Coast League for one season, and he spent five seasons as the minor-league catch coordinator.
A 23rd-round draft pick of the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Hoover’s playing career spanned 14 seasons as a catcher in the major leagues and minor leagues. The Ohio native spent parts of seven seasons in the majors with the Rays, Florida Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies.
Hoover was teammates with Quatraro and Cash in the minor leagues.
This story was originally published November 14, 2022 at 10:51 AM.
