Royals extend contract of GM J.J. Picollo, pick up manager Matt Quatraro’s option in 2026

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Kansas City extended executive vice president and general manager J.J. Picollo’s contract through 2030 with a club option for the following year, the Royals announced Monday.

The club also exercised manager Matt Quatraro’s option for the 2026 season.

“J.J. is one of the top executives in baseball, and I am proud that he’s leading our pursuit of a championship,” Royals owner John Sherman said in a statement. “His ability to lead and connect with people, his intellectual curiosity, and his innovative methods of combining the best of traditional scouting and player development with advanced sciences and technologies are driving us toward that ultimate goal.”

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The Royals promoted Picollo, now in his 19th year with the team, to GM in 2021 and added the executive VP title a year later.

He spent more than $110 million in free agency after the 2023 season and agreed to a club-record contract extension with Bobby Witt Jr. that pays $288.7 million over 11 years. There is a three-year option that would bring the total to $377 million.

After those moves, the Royals went 87-76 last season and made the playoffs, just the third team to ever appear in the postseason a year after losing at least 100 games. Kansas City also became just the sixth team since the schedule expanded to 162 games in 1961 to make a 30-victory improvement.

Picollo was second in the voting for Executive of the Year.

“Leading the Royals’ baseball operations is an honor that I take seriously every day,” Picollo said in a statement. “(Quatraro) helps push us in so many ways, particularly with collaboration between departments and constantly seeking new answers, so I’m thrilled that he will be with us into the future. John’s confidence in how we operate is humbling and only adds to our collective focus on adding to what the Royals mean to Kansas City and giving our fans a championship team to root for.”

Quatraro was the runner-up for AL Manager of the Year.

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