What Salvador Perez’s contract extension means for the Royals lineup and their catching prospects

The Kansas City Royals are keeping their captain around another two years. The Royals have signed catcher Salvador Perez to a two-year contract extension through the 2027 season, the team announced Tuesday. The deal is worth $25 million and includes some deferrals, per MLB.com. The extension replaces Perez’s $13.5 million club option for 2026.

“Salvy is a Royals legend and one of the most important players this franchise has ever had,” GM J.J. Picollo said in a statement. “We had the option for next year, but everyone knew we wanted to make sure his legacy with us continued longer than that. We appreciate Salvy’s commitment to the Royals, and we’re just as excited as our fans.”

Now 35, had another productive season in 2025, slashing .236/.284/.446 with 30 home runs in 641 plate appearances. The on-base percentage is an eyesore, though Perez has never been a big on-base player, and the overall production is very good for someone who spends most of his time behind the plate. His catcher defense is passable more than an asset at this point.

Perez should pass Hall of Famer George Brett for the most home runs in Royals history sometime in 2026. He has 303 and Brett retired with 317. No other Royal has hit even 200 homers. Also, Perez could become only the third player in team history to appear in 2,000 games. He’s at 1,707 games. Only Brett (2,707) and Frank White (2,324) on the franchise leaderboard.

The two-year extension ensures the Royals will keep Perez alongside Bobby Witt Jr., All-Star third baseman Maikel Garcia, and ace Cole Ragans through 2027, which will be prime contention years for a Kansas City team that went to the postseason in 2024. The AL Central is winnable and it would more difficult to win the division without Perez than with him.

That all said, Perez’s new contract does great some questions about his future defensive home, and also the team’s bevy of catcher prospects. Here are a few things Kansas City must now sort out with Perez locked up through 2027.

Where will Perez play?

Since 2000, only seven players have caught 170 games during their age 36-37 seasons, and only one has done it since 2009: A.J. Pierzynski (195 games from 2013-14). Even with the one-knee catching stance reducing wear and tear, catcher is usually a young player’s position. It is no surprise then that the Royals have cut back on Perez’s catching workload the last few years.

Here is the breakdown of Perez’s starts by position since the shortened pandemic season in 2020:

The trend is clear. Fewer starts at catcher, more at first base and DH. Expect that to continue these next two years, perhaps to the point where Perez starts fewer than half his games behind the plate come 2027. Less time at catcher will put a bit more pressure on Perez’s bat, though his power plays at any position, plus he brings off-the-charts intangibles and leadership.

Something along the lines of 50% starts at catcher with 25% at first base and 25% at DH seems reasonable enough. That would still give Vinnie Pasquantino most of the playing time at first base. Perez will still catch a lot. That much is clear. He’s just unlikely to carry the enormous workloads he had earlier in his career. It’s time to scale back in an effort to keep him healthy and productive.

What about those catcher prospects?

One of them, Carter Jensen, made his MLB debut in September and impressed, hitting .300/.391/.550 with three home runs in 20 games. In those 20 games Carter split his workload evenly: 10 games at catcher and 10 at DH. The 22-year-old is Kansas City’s top prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and a big part of their future. He and Perez will again share catcher/DH time in 2026.

Jensen is not the Royals’ only touted catcher prospect, however. Blake Mitchell, their 2023 first-round pick, is a consensus top 100 prospect. Ramon Ramirez is regarded as one of their 10 best prospects as well. He’s also a catcher. The Royals have Perez under contract through 2027 plus three well-regarded catcher prospects in the system. How do they handle this?

For starters, this is not something the Royals have to figure out right now. Jensen and Perez can coexist on the MLB roster and neither Mitchell nor Ramirez have played a game above Single-A. They’re still at least one year away from the big leagues, likely more given the steep development curve for catchers. Perez and Mitchell/Ramirez may never be on the same MLB roster!

Also, catchers are always valuable trade chips. If the Royals decide Jensen is their guy long-term, they can use Mitchell and/or Ramirez to get help elsewhere on the roster (outfield, hint hint). Mitchell, Ramirez, and even Jensen are hardly proven commodities. If the Royals find themselves with too many good catchers in a year or two, they should celebrate, not worry.

The Royals went 82-80 in 2025 but were better in the second half (35-30) than the first (47-50). With better health and a few new outfielders, Kansas City can return to the postseason in 2026. The hardest part of the building the roster is done. They have their foundation in Garcia, Pasquantino, Perez, Ragans, and Witt. Now they just have to upgrade the supporting cast.