Kansas City Royals ink Salvador Perez to well-deserved contract extension
The Kansas City Royals have a had a lot of success the past two seasons. They have made the World Series the past two seasons, winning the most recent one in 2015. And while the Royals’ bullpen has received a lot of credit for the the team’s success, it could be argued that the team’s most important player is catcher Salvador Perez. The Kansas City Royals have rewarded their catcher with a five-year, $52.5 million contract extension.
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Perez has been one of the team’s most prominent leaders since he came into the league in 2011. The 25-year-old backstop has made three All-Star appearances in the past three seasons. This is not only due to his excellent defense behind the the plate, but also because of what he can do when he steps into the batter’s box.
Nowadays, the catcher position is more valued for defense and many top-of-the-line hitting catchers have made or started to make the transition to other positions, particularly first base. This list includes Joe Mauer, Buster Posey, Carlos Santana and Kyle Schwarber. Perez has hit over .290 in three out of his five years in the major leagues and hit a career-high 21 home runs in 2015. Getting this type of offensive production from the catcher position gives the Royals a major advantage because many teams lack any type of offensive threat from their catcher spot.
After having all of this success and winning a World Series title, the only thing that was going wrong for the Venezualan backstop is that he was being drastically underpaid. Like most young productive players, he was underpaid because of the arbitration system that MLB implements. Normally, after a player gets six seasons of major league service time, they are allowed to become a free agent, with their salary increasing every year until then if the player is producing at a high level.
However, Perez signed a deal in 2012 that paid him $7 million on a five-year deal. This deal was no doubt one of the biggest bargains in the league after how he has produced for the Royals, which was great for the for the 2015 World Series champs, but unfortunate for the young catcher.
It’s nice to see a team that has had a lot of success take care of one of their core players with a deal that they deserve. This contract extension also allows Kansas City to have Perez under contract for another six years instead of another four seasons.
While the money that the club is paying Perez will greatly increase their payroll, it sets a good precedent that they will take care of their players. He is also just entering his prime being only in his mid-20s. The deal would make much less sense if he was approaching 30 as a catcher, but this extension keeps him affordable and around during the prime years of his career.
With Perez and outfielder Alex Gordon both signing long-term deals this offseason, and with young building blocks like Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar, Yordano Ventura, a bullpen that is mostly under team control for the next few seasons and a farm system with some solid prospects, the Royals could be set up to become a force in the league for years to come.
Keeping Salvador Perez for the next six years will only increase the team’s chances of repeating as World Series champions and beyond because of his leadership, youth and unique abilities when compared to other catchers in MLB today.
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