Kansas City Royals Will Consider Salvador Perez Extension

Kansas City Royals rumors whisper that general manager Dayton Moore is “at least willing” to talk about a contract revision for three-time gold glove winning catcher Salvador Perez, according to  CBS Sports reporter Jon Heyman.

Heyman’s sources tell him that 2015 World Series MVP Perez is looking for a deal similar to Yadier Molina and Brian McCann. Molina’s deal runs through age 34 and averages around $14 million per season. McCann signed a five-year, $85 million deal with the Yankees before the 2014 season.

Salvador Perez’s final regular contract year is 2016 for $2 million. However, the KC Royals control Perez through the 2019 season—which includes three team option years at $3.75 million in 2017, $5 million in 2018, and $6 million in 2019.

With Wins Above Replacement going at around $8 million per WAR, Perez is a screaming bargain after producing 5.6 bWAR over the last two seasons while earning a total of $3.25 million.

The only way re-negotiating Salvador Perez’s deal makes any sense is if the Kansas City Royals get more years of team control beyond 2019. Perez will only be 29-years-old in 2019, so Dayton Moore can expect at least three more useful seasons beyond 2019 given Perez’s early-career success.

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2016 and 2017 would have been arbitration years for Perez, so the KC Royals could insist that the next two seasons should still reflect that fact with lower per year averages. Adding three more seasons at $15 million per year would yield a 7-year, $61.75 million deal.

That would get Perez closer to Molina and McCann money, but his agent is still likely to complain about that per year average.

The sides can play around with the numbers, but Kansas City Royals fans can’t help but like the idea of locking in Salvador Perez as a long-term piece. He’ll provide clubhouse continuity in this era of rapid turnover. He also promises to continue his outstanding up-the-middle defense, so extending him would secure a premium defensive position.

If the front office agrees to re-visit Salvador Perez’s contract, expect any agreement to be back loaded. The Kansas City Royals will struggle with payroll in 2016 and 2017, with Eric Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, and Kelvin Herrera getting more expensive as they enter their final years of arbitration.

With a playoff-seasoned roster, the KC Royals can expect to be contenders for the next few seasons if they can keep up with the increasing costs. In the short term, the biggest roster questions will concern whether the team can bring back Alex Gordon and Ben Zobrist.

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In the long term, Dayton Moore needs to lock up some younger players to provide long-term stability to his franchise.