Why Kansas City Royals agreed to contract extension for general manager J.J. Picollo
The Kansas City Royals are keeping their leadership intact. On Monday, the Royals announced a new multiyear extension for general manager J.J. Picollo.
Picollo has spent 19 seasons in the Royals organization. In 2021, he was named general manager and later was elevated to executive vice president of baseball operations.
Additionally, the Royals exercised manager Matt Quatraro’s 2026 club option. He finished second in American League Manager of the Year voting last season.
“This game is about a lot of things, but leadership is incredibly important,” Royals owner John Sherman said Monday. “I’ve got great confidence in these two guys. I love the way they work together. You’ve got to have the right people, but stability and leadership is really important in this business.”
Picollo agreed to a five-year contract extension. He was in the final year of his current deal. The Royals will retain him through at least the 2030 season. The Royals also attached a 2031 club option.
“I couldn’t be more excited about this,” Sherman said. “J.J. and I started talking about this right after the season and I think we executed the document last week.”
The Royals have made strides under Picollo’s leadership. After losing 106 games during the 2023 campaign, the Royals revamped the current roster. Picollo signed former All-Stars Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Michael Lorenzen to strengthen the starting rotation.
Picollo later added leadoff hitter Jonathan India and secured contract extensions for Royals stars Bobby Witt Jr. and Cole Ragans.
“I want to thank John (Sherman) for the trust in our front office and the things we are doing together,” Picollo said. “We have an incredibly good relationship with a shared vision. It comes from him and understanding what’s important to him is important to us.”
The Royals want to build a consistent winner. Last season, the club snapped an eight-year playoff drought by earning an AL Wild Card spot. KC defeated the Baltimore Orioles before falling in the ALDS to the New York Yankees.
It was Quatraro’s first postseason experience as an MLB manager. He is excited to guide the Royals back to the playoffs in 2025.
“We have the talent in that room to win, and I think they believe in that more now,” Quatraro said.
Quatraro is 142-182 through two seasons with the Royals. The club made a 30-game improvement in 2024 under his leadership. Now, he is slated to remain with KC through at least the 2026 season.
“(Quatraro) has been outstanding,” Picollo said. “You know, Q pushes us all the time. Talk about another person that listens extremely well. He’s curious and he causes us to think and rethink things, and that is refreshing. And we have a great relationship. I’m happy he is going to be here another year and certainly (he’s) expected to be here longer than that.”
And expectations remain high for KC entering 2025.
“I’m highly confident that we have good leadership,” Sherman said. “I think we have a team that is capable of winning and I’m very excited about that. But we have a lot of work to do.”
This story was originally published February 17, 2025 at 1:14 PM.
