KC Royals: Salvador Perez Signs Extension

Before the 2016 season even started, the KC Royals took care of some business by giving Salvador Perez a well deserved contract extension.

Salvador Perez‘ new contract will keep him Kansas City through 2021 which would make him a Royal for at least 11 seasons. He was widely considered to have one of the most team friendly deals in baseball and a re-worked contract seems to make sense for both parties.

According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the deal will be for just over $50 million starting in 2017 and ending in 2021. That’s an average annual value of just over $10 million per year, but still seems like a good deal for the Royals .

Perez will only be 31 when his new contract expires and should his legs hold out, he’ll have plenty of time to earn a new contract at that point. He’s very young at only 25 years of age. He already has a World Series championship, World Series MVP, three gold gloves, and three All-Star appearances under his belt. He’s very established for his age and his deal looks even better when comparing to other top catchers.

According to Spotrac.com the following catchers are set to have a higher yearly salary in 2016 than Perez’ new average annual value:

Only Posey and Wieters are still in their 20’s but the rest of those catchers are over the age of 30. Molina looks to have already begun his decline and the other two may soon follow suit.

Here is what Jeff Passan, an MLB columnist for Yahoo Sports, tweeted about the deal:

Full deal for Salvador Perez, as @JonHeyman said, is five years, $52.5M. Option years were for $16.5M, so new guarantee is two years, $36M.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 1, 2016

Giving Salvador Perez a new contract just feels right. He’s one of the key players for this Royals’ team and some could make the argument that he is the heart and soul behind the Royals’ style of play.

He’s one of the toughest and most durable players at his position. He has caught 422 games in the last three years and repeatedly takes a beating behind the plate. He’s constantly being evaluated for concussions after taking a foul-tip off the face mask.