Royals make decision on their new manager

Jul 25, 2021; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals owners group principal owner John Sherman applauds during warm ups before the game against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

After five consecutive losing seasons, the Kansas City Royals are officially going with some new blood.

The Royals announced on Sunday that they have hired Matt Quatraro to be their next manager. Quatraro will take over for Mike Matheny, who was fired by Kansas City earlier this month after three seasons in charge.

We’ve named Matt Quatraro the 18th full-time manager in franchise history.#TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/RhOOgYktb1

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) October 30, 2022

Thre 48-year-old Quatraro spent the last four seasons as a bench coach for the Tampa Bay Rays after being promoted from third base coach. He also worked for the then-Cleveland Indians as their assistant hitting coach.

Quatraro had been mentioned as early as 2019 as a managerial candidate for this other notable team. Now he will inherit a Royals club with a nice mix of veteran former All-Stars like Zack Greinke and Salvador Perez plus younger talents like Bobby Witt and MJ Melendez.