Hillman is currently managing the Nippon Ham Fighters in the Japan World Series. He replaces Buddy Bell, who completed the season with Kansas City after saying in August he would step aside. The Royals finished 69-93, last in the AL Central for the fourth straight year.

Hillman, who has never played or managed in the majors, will be introduced at a news conference Monday.

"He is an exceptional person with a great passion to lead," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said in a statement. "He is the perfect choice for our organization."

The hiring is Moore's first major decision since he became general manager in June 2006.

Hillman has spent the past five years managing in Japan. He was a second baseman in the Cleveland minor league system and got as high as Triple-A.

He managed for 12 years in the New York Yankees' minor league system and won three manager of the year awards while directing clubs to three first-place finishes.

The 44-year-old Texan interviewed for the Texas Rangers' managing job in 2002 and was appointed director of player development for the Rangers that year.

The latest developments created a stir at the Hillman family home in Arlington, Texas.

"My two daughters and I are just beside ourselves," Hillman's father, Royce Hillman, told The Associated Press. "This is a great day. It's something he's worked hard for, for a number of years. But he's always been successful. He's always wanted to manage in the major leagues."

Hillman, whose full name is Thomas Brad Hillman, played football and basketball in high school but his father had a feeling he would try to make his life in baseball.

"He's always been a really good young man," Royce Hillman said. "He mowed lawns in the summer and he would charge the older people less, just because they were senior citizens. And he did that on his own. It wasn't anything that somebody asked him to do."

Hillman inherits a Royals team that appeared last season to be making strides toward becoming respectable for the first time since the early 1990s. The Royals avoided 100 losses this season for the first time in three years.

The team's hope for a brighter future is founded on the development of a number of talented young players, including third baseman Alex Gordon and right-handers Zack Greinke and Brian Bannister.

Between a seven-game losing streak at the end of May and a seven-game losing streak at the beginning of September, the Royals were 43-40, their best stretch for an extended stretch since 2003.

In addition, right-hander Gil Meche signed a $55 million free agent contract with the Royals last year that appeared to signal a shift in owner David Glass's tightfisted ways. Meche finished 9-13 but with an ERA of 3.67. The Royals are expected to be active again this winter in the free-agent market.

Hillman interviewed for the Texas Rangers' managing job in 2002 and was appointed director of player development for the Rangers that year. The following year he became manager of the Nippon Ham Fighters, who won their first Japan Series title in 2006 and advanced to the Japan World Series again this week.

"Trey has spent the last five seasons turning the Nippon Ham Fighters into one of the top success stories in Japanese baseball," Moore said.