This story was excerpted from Anne Rogers’ Royals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
KANSAS CITY -- In the span of one year, the Royals have gone from matching a franchise record with 106 losses to guaranteeing a winning season at least.
Despite their current four-game losing streak and a disappointing sweep against the Tigers this week, the Royals are 82-71, on pace for 86 wins (30 more than last season) and in position to make their first playoff appearance since 2015.
The architect behind this turnaround is general manager J.J. Picollo, who has been with the Royals in a variety of front-office roles since 2006 and took over the top executive spot in '22.
Since then, Picollo has hired more than 30 new people in baseball operations while taking an innovative approach in blending research and development with scouting. He leads with an open mind, often gathering as many opinions as possible from the people around him before he makes a final decision.
Picollo orchestrated an aggressive offseason that has directly led to this year’s turnaround. The Royals committed nearly $110 million to free agents this winter and signed Bobby Witt Jr. to the largest contract in franchise history. Kansas City’s Opening Day roster featured 19 players who were not with the team for the start of 2023.
“We’re not even a full 12 months out from going through the org meetings last year, the scouting meetings, singing all those guys, and you go, ‘Wow, a lot of this stuff has worked out,’” assistant general manager Scott Sharp said. “The vision J.J. has had throughout that whole process to now has been spot on.”
It gives Picollo a strong case to win the MLB Executive of the Year Award, which is voted on annually by the clubs and is announced at the GM Meetings in November.
“I don’t know if I can sit here and say what we’ve done is perfect,” said Picollo, who gives all the credit to his staff, the coaches, players and owner John Sherman. “It’s worked fairly well. We did a good job in evaluating what our team needed, where our strengths and weaknesses were, but the players who are performing are really the heroes here. They’ve stepped up and done what they’re supposed to do on the field.”
Because of how long he and others have been with Kansas City, part of Picollo’s vision when he took over was to bring in different voices to help the organization. That started with hiring manager Matt Quatraro ahead of the 2023 season and overhauling the coaching staff.
“Any conversation J.J. and I had was very honest,” Quatraro said. “He was very open about things that had gone poorly in his mind, the things that went well. He didn’t hold back just being truthful where he was and where he thought the organization was.”
The year that followed all those changes did not go well. The Royals only won 56 games in 2023, but there were good things sprinkled throughout the long season. New processes had been put in place by the staff, and foundational pieces emerged for the club to build around.
But the roster was going to change.
“We used '23 to evaluate what our deficiencies were, and at the end, J.J. was very clear that we were not going to rinse and repeat with the same roster,” Sharp said. “We know what it got us. That doesn’t mean there weren’t good things in there, and guys got better, but the thought was to get winners who can help elevate the guys we have here.”
In order to be competitive sooner, Picollo recognized the Royals needed to add externally and take the pressure off homegrown players, player development and amateur scouting. Sharp described Picollo’s offseason plan as “strategic and methodical” as they thought through options and pivoted when needed.
In the end, seven free agents signed with Kansas City, buying into the vision Picollo and his staff described.
Witt bought into it, too.
“J.J. and Mr. Sherman told me at the end of the season they were trying to win now,” Witt said. “And the guys they got want to win now.”
A good start meant that the Royals entered July with a 47-39 record, so Picollo found ways to upgrade the roster at the Trade Deadline. He had a disciplined strategy, though: If Kansas City was going to give up top prospects, it needed to be for players with years of control. He had 2024 and the future in mind.
The Royals added four players before the Deadline. Reliever Lucas Erceg, who isn’t eligible for free agency until 2030, was the biggest acquisition. Kansas City sent three players to the A’s and Erceg immediately took on a high-leverage role.
“Having really clear goals set by J.J., we just tried to execute them as best we could,” Sharp said.
They didn’t stop there, even with Major League trades prohibited after the Deadline. The Royals kept an eye on the waiver wire, knowing non-contending teams would use it to move on from players who may no longer fit their plans.
“We’re talking every day, looking at the team, at numbers, at who fits with who, constantly trying to get better,” Quatraro said.
On Aug. 31, two days after Vinnie Pasquantino went down with a broken right thumb, the Royals won waiver claims for outfielders Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman and made a Minor League trade with the Braves for first baseman Yuli Gurriel.
“J.J. felt like we were in a position to win, and he went and got pieces to help us win,” outfielder Hunter Renfroe said. “Now, there’s a lot of talent in this room. And a lot of experience. That’s only going to help.”
Picollo’s vision, cultivated by ownership and executed by the coaching staff and players, means the Royals are playing meaningful games in September again.
Now they’re seeing how far they can go.
“J.J. is a very calming presence in a room, but he wants to win,” Sharp said. “He really believes that the city of Kansas City is owed a competitive Major League team on a nightly basis. He did not panic last year, but there was no level of content. We knew we had to get better. He stuck with his vision.”