Big Salvador Pérez decision looms for the KC Royals

With only a few weeks left before spring training, the Kansas City Royals remain focused on making the roster tweaks necessary to maintain their new position as one of the American League's better teams. Still to be acquired are a mid-lineup power bat, perhaps another late-inning reliever, and maybe even a proven addition to an already-good rotation. But even with that yet undone, the club has a less immediate, but still major, decision to make.

The future of Salvador Pérez is becoming more than just a blip on the Royals' radar. As hard as it may be to believe, the then-club record deal he signed just before the 2021 campaign began expires at the end of the coming season. And therein lies the decision — will the Royals bring him back for the 2026 season, or maybe longer?

What path to take with the almost-perennial All-Star who continues to build his case for a spot in Cooperstown is something general manager J.J. Picollo and principal owner John Sherman should determine at the earliest viable time. Unnecessary delay is to be avoided.

The KC Royals need to be thinking hard about Salvador Pérez

The Pérez matter is a heads-up match between only the Royals and the player who, after experiencing a somewhat disappointing 2023 season, rebounded in 2024 with one of his best. Picollo and Sherman hold the most important card — Kansas City can exercise its one-year $13.5 million club option to lock Pérez in for the 2026 campaign, or send him into free agency by declining it and paying him a $2 million buyout.

At first blush, what to do seems easy enough. The Royals could simply exercise their option now, guarantee another year of Pérez at a substantial discount from the $20+ million annual value of his present deal, then wait and see how he does in 2025 before determining his longer-term status.

But it really isn't that simple. Pérez is no ordinary player. Many justifiably consider George Brett the permanent face of the franchise, just as many probably think of the best catcher the Royals have ever had — and maybe the best they'll ever have — as the present face of the team, with Bobby Witt Jr. as his only rival for that title. Pérez has earned the distinction by landing nine All-Star berths, a club-record five Silver Sluggers, and five Gold Gloves. He's the most popular Royal since Brett, and the quality of his play now puts several big career milestones within his reach for the 2025 campaign.

Still, there are complications. Turning 35 in May means Pérez is reaching an age at which so many years of catching will take more of a physical toll than they already have. Deploying him more at first base and DH have lessened the load, but it won't be long before top prospect Jac Caglianone will require reps at those spots and decrease their availability to Pérez and Vinnie Pasquantino, therefore calling Pérez's future roles into question.

Performance goes hand-in-hand with age, but his 27 home runs, 104 RBI, and .271 2024 season suggest Pérez's baseball tank is far from empty. Whether he replicates that campaign next season will have much to do with whether the Royals want him back, and for how long.

At the end of the day, though — and barring some hideous season-long slump or disastrous career-ending injury — Pérez will play for the Royals in 2026. Time will tell whether it's via the club exercising its one-season option, a new contract entered into after next season ends, or an extension negotiated before this coming campaign even begins (Pérez's present deal was done a year before it became effective).

So it is that Picollo and Sherman, who'll necessarily collaborate when it comes to all things Pérez, have a lot to think about. And they need to start now.