The Royals turned some heads this weekend when they tapped Tampa Bay bench coach Matt Quatraro to be their next manager. Quatraro was, reportedly, the top name on the wish list for owner John Sherman and President of Baseball Ops JJ Picollo, as the team looks to Tampa -- and Cleveland, where Quatraro was before -- to try and model their own future. While speaking to 610's The Drive on Monday afternoon, Royals Insider Josh Vernier explained why, if that's the Royals' plan, the hire is a great start.
"This was the guy atop their list when the season ended," he said. "So getting their number one is a positive reflection on this offseason thus far. Again, a nice little run here from JJ Picollo dating back to the trade deadline. To your point, John Sherman – when he took over this organization, it wasn't just a civic investment. It's not just about the downtown ballpark, and all the money that'll bring in both for the city and ultimately, himself ... Also, his desire is to stand on that podium and be presented the Commissioner's Trophy. He wants to bring a World Title to Kansas City, and right now, the way to do that – or at least the way to win consistently, to give the people of Kansas City, in my opinion, relevant baseball in August and September – is to copy the model of Cleveland, to copy the model of Tampa."
You can listen to Vernier's entire interview in the embedded player below:
