GOOD NEWS: The Tampa Bay Rays have added a new coach to their staff.

GOOD NEWS: The Tampa Bay Rays have added a new coach to their staff.

On Sunday night, the Kansas City Royals appointed Matt Quatraro, the bench coach of the Tampa Bay Rays, as manager, giving the young nucleus of a rebuilding team to a visionary manager with a track record of success in a small market.

Quatraro, a native of Selkirk and a graduate of Bethlehem High School, takes over for Mike Matheny, who was fired by the Royals as part of a general reorganization following a 65-97 loss that marked their sixth consecutive losing season. J.J. Picollo, the general manager of the Royals, selected Quatraro following the firing of longtime front office official Dayton Moore. Picollo assumed leadership of the team’s baseball operations.

In a statement, Picollo said, “We are very excited to have Matt leading our club and core of talent.” “Over his career, Matt has had wonderful experiences that have ready him for this. Throughout our interview process, he left a lasting impression on all of us, and it is obvious that the industry respects him.

After being selected by the Rays in the 1996 MLB draft, Quatraro played minor league baseball and later served as manager of the Hudson Valley Renegades. He also coached at UAlbany for a spell.

The Royals conducted interviews with Triple-A Omaha manager Scott Thorman, third base coach Vance Wilson, and their own bench coach, Pedro Grifol. Additionally, they showed interest in two coaches who have been linked to manager positions elsewhere: Will Venable, the bench coach for the Boston Red Sox, and Clayton McCullough, the first base coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Owner John Sherman prioritized making the front office lean as part of his revamp greater emphasis on sophisticated analytics. And the 48-year-old Quatraro is a reflection of that same focus in the manager; the Rays have proven to be competitive despite having small payrolls because they are adept at using statistics to inform their decisions.

Picollo stated, “I do believe the managerial position has changed.” “You speak with executives and players around the league; there are some pretty cutting-edge things that teams are doing.” Our objective is to identify those things and put them into practice here.

Despite playing in the challenging AL East, Tampa Bay has won five straight seasons.

Quatraro, who had interviews for manager positions with the Mets and A’s last season, will take charge of one of baseball’s newest clubs, full of young players like AL rookie of the year first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, catcher MJ Melendez, and candidate Bobby Witt Jr. Nonetheless, there aren’t many opportunities for pitching within the company.

Quatraro expressed his gratitude for the opportunity, saying, “I’m grateful to Mr. Sherman and the ownership group, J.J. and the front office, and everyone else with the Royals.” “The interview process confirmed to me that the wonderful things I had heard about the organization’s culture are real, and I already knew how talented the roster is and how amazing the Kansas City fans are. I’m eager to get going and for my family to move to Kansas City so they can join the community.