Matt

Quatraro

Thames spent last season with the White Sox. He’ll work alongside Connor Dawson as one of two hitting coaches behind senior director of hitting performance Alec Zumwalt. Joe Dillon and Keoni DeRenne previously occupied the two roles behind Zumwalt, but they were let go after the season.

Kansas City also signed general manager J.J. Picollo to a contract extension through 2030. Quatraro finished second in AL Manager of the Year balloting last year after leading the Royals to 86 victories following a 56-win campaign the previous year.

Vogt, who led Cleveland to a 92-win season in his managerial debut, received 27 of 30 first-place votes to take home the hardware just two years after his final season of his playing career. Royals skipper Matt Quatraro came in second and Tigers manager A.J. Hinch finished third in balloting.

It’s a bit jarring to see three managers from the same division in the mix here, but the trio are all deserving candidates after leading the Tigers, Royals, and Guardians, respectively, to the postseason. Hinch might be a slight favorite after engineering a pretty unexpected turnaround in Detroit last season, guiding the club to an 86-win season and a playoff berth. The same goes for Quatraro, who took Kansas City from 56 wins in his managerial debut to 86 victories this past season. Vogt was at the helm for 92 wins and an AL Central division title in his managerial debut.

Bench coach Paul Hoover will step in as manager. No word yet on when the Royals expect Quatraro back.

Quatraro wound up missing five games after testing positive for COVID-19 last Wednesday.

Bench coach Paul Hoover will serve as interim manager until Quatraro is cleared to return.

Bove has spent the past four seasons in the Twins organization -- and in 2022 functioned as their assistant pitching coordinator. He had also been a candidate to join the Mets staff as their bullpen coach. Bove will work under new pitching coach Brian Sweeney on new skipper Matt Quatraro’s staff in Kansas City.

Sweeney had been serving as the Guardians’ bullpen coach for the last three years. He pitched for the Padres and Mariners over parts of four major league seasons scattered between 2003-2010. The 48-year-old will operate alongside new Royals manager Matt Quatraro.

Quatraro was the bench coach for the Rays prior to taking the Royals gig, and he’ll bring Hoover -- who was the field coordinator for the Rays -- with him to Kansas City. Hoover began his coaching career with the Rays back in 2012 as the manager of their Gulf Coast League squad and he joined the big league club as the field coordinator prior to the 2019 season.