Will Salvador Perez follow Alex Gordon’s path as a career Royal? Here’s some analysis
The final weekend of the Kansas City Royals’ season underscored the importance of Alex Gordon having spent his entire career playing for only one franchise, complete with T-shirts boasting the phrase “Royal 4 Ever” and Gordon’s likeness pointing a finger in the air after his iconic World Series home run in 2015.
It mattered to more than just Gordon. It mattered to ownership, the Royals’ front office, players and staff — and of course to the fan base — that Gordon was “theirs” in a climate where not many teams get to say that about their homegrown stars.
And now, another highly decorated franchise icon and fan favorite with a unique place in club history may be nearing a similar crossroads with the Royals within the next year.
Six-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove-winning catcher Salvador Perez bounced back from Tommy John surgery this summer and reminded, albeit in a short season, that he can the entire club in numerous ways.
Perez, 30, seems the most likely candidate for the Royals to try to lock up long-term and assure he’ll also be “theirs.”
‘Hopefully I can stay here’
Perez has another year remaining on a five-year extension he signed following the 2016 season that guaranteed him $52.5 million from 2017 through 2021 and included a $6 million signing bonus.
At that time Perez said, “Hopefully, I play the rest of my career here. That’s what I’ve always said. I want to be one of those guys, George Brett, Frank White. Hopefully I can stay here.”
While Perez is a large man at 6-foot-3, 250 pounds and plays the most demanding position on the field, Royals general manager Dayton Moore and manager Mike Matheny expressed confidence that he can continue to play at a high level well into the future.
When asked about the possibility of Perez following in Gordon’s footsteps as a career Royal, Moore also made it clear that he believes the decision will be Perez’s more than the organization’s.
“As long as we believe that our players — especially our homegrown players — have productive years ahead of them, it’s important to do what we can to sign them,” Moore said. “Alex Gordon, we signed him to two multi-year contracts. He took less money on both occasions. He knew he was doing that.”
Moore said when the club negotiated with Gordon, it shared with him its payroll projections (including arbitration figures), a breakdown of its internal options and the progression of players in the minors. Club officials also discussed with Gordon what his free-agent market might look like, who might be interested him him based on past trade talks and what other teams might be able to pay, based on their payroll projections.
“He knew everything I knew about him as far as the industry’s judgment,” Moore said. “… We lay it all out. It’s an open book. We did the same thing with Salvador Perez when we first signed him to that first-year deal after 34 days in the major leagues. This is what Yadier Molina made his first five years. This is what Brian McCann made his first five years.”
Of course, there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the financial state of the game after this shortened season. Games were played without fans, resulting in millions of lost dollars in ticket revenue.
Moore has also openly admitted that Perez has exceeded their expectations in terms of his offensive production through the years.
Perez won two Silver Slugger Awards (2016, 2018) and posted 21 home runs or more in four consecutive seasons from 2015-18 prior to missing last season.
This season, Perez missed 20 games with blurred vision, so he did not play in enough games to qualify for the Silver Slugger honor.
In 37 games, he still batted .333 with a .353 OBP and a .633 slugging percentage. He hit a team-high 11 home runs, 12 doubles and 32 RBIs. He changed the lineup when healthy and batting in the No. 3 spot.
Productive years ahead for Perez
Signs of slowing down at age 30 aren’t evident in Perez’s performance.
“He’s got a lot of years left in him too,” Moore said. “As long as he continues to have that innocence about him as a player, he’s just going to continue to do special things. The fact that he is a special player, he’s going to exceed some of the Father Time issues for that position because he’s committed. He’s doing some things different with nutrition and his body.”
Moore pointed to the example of Minnesota Twins’ 40-year-old designated hitter Nelson Cruz, and noted advancements in performance science and nutrition that can keep players productive longer than previously possible.
Moore’s favorite refrain on the scarcity of top-flight catching options is that it’s easier to find a quality NFL quarterback than an MLB catcher.
“This guy, physically, mentally, every single game he was as impressive as it gets on all the little things he did from the defensive perspective, which usually lets you know how they’re holding up and how they’re handling the demands of the year,” Matheny said. “You’ll see some things start to slip, and it happens to just about everybody, especially at a position as demanding as that one.
“You can tell when they start to need a little bit of time to breathe. I never saw a glimpse of that with him. His defense was so consistent. The way that he prepared, it never looked like he needed to give his mind a break. This guy put in more time preparing than maybe any catcher I’ve ever seen.”
Matheny speaks from vast experience as a former four-time Gold Glove-winning catcher who spent 13 seasons in the majors.
He also both played with and managed nine-time Gold Glove winner and former MVP Yadier Molina in St. Louis. Molina, 38, has been viewed as the standard-bearer for the position in the National League for a decade.
Despite his experience with elites at the catcher position, Matheny still marvels at the time Perez put in to get to know each pitcher on the KC staff, as well as work he put in with bullpen coach Larry Carter and pitching coach Cal Eldred.
Rookie starters Brady Singer and Kris Bubic each praised Perez’s work behind the plate as they got their first taste of the majors after jumping from Double-A and Single-A, respectively.
“All this led me to believe this guy is built for that position for the long haul,” Matheny said. “Obviously, we need health to cooperate. We saw that this year. Something completely out of nowhere with the eye, the COVID that didn’t seem to affect him like it did a lot of the other guys.
“He has put in a lot of effort. I know he is going to put a focus on keeping his body in a place where he can continue to answer the bell. I know that’s what we want. We want to see him back there.”
This story was originally published October 5, 2020 at 2:01 PM with the headline "Will Salvador Perez follow Alex Gordon’s path as a career Royal? Here’s some analysis."
