Salvador Perez Opens Up About His Future With the Royals

Catcher Salvador Perez has spent his entire professional career with the Kansas City Royals, and 15 seasons into the job, the conversation around the franchise has moved past whether he can still play and landed on where he should be playing.

Perez turned 36 in May and is heading into the final guaranteed year of his contract, a situation that would normally point toward a quiet farewell tour.

Instead, the franchise catcher went public with a message that suggested retirement is nowhere in his thinking, and the front office is now weighing what a Perez extension might look like on a team that entered September at 62-76 with more questions than answers about the roster's direction.

Perez spoke with MLB.com's Anne Rogers about what comes next, and the answer was as direct as anything he has said in a Kansas City uniform.

"The only thing I know is that I want to play as long as I can," Perez said. "Can be DH, can be first base, can be behind the plate. Keep preparing my body, keep preparing myself...

The willingness to move positions is important for a player who has built his identity behind the plate, and it tells the organization that staying in Kansas City matters more to Perez than holding onto a specific role for the final stretch of his career.

The offense around Perez has struggled to produce consistently this season.

First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino has hit .240 with eleven home runs, and the lineup has lacked enough middle-of-the-order depth to take pressure off Perez on a nightly basis.

Right-hander Steven Cruz has posted a 4.12 ERA across 54.2 innings as the pitching staff continues searching for reliable arms to pair with shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and the few position players who have performed consistently throughout the year.

Perez's bat has held up even as the team has fallen further from playoff contention, and his presence in the clubhouse has been one of the few things the Royals have been able to count on through a turbulent season.

The year-by-year approach Perez described gives both sides flexibility.

Kansas City gets to evaluate whether the roster can build something meaningful around Witt and a younger core without committing long-term money to an aging catcher, and Perez gets to keep playing in the only uniform he has ever worn without the weight of a lengthy deal hanging over each season.

Whether the Royals can justify bringing Perez back will come down to what the young arms and position players show over the final weeks, and Perez has said he is prepared for whatever role the organization needs him to fill.

He is one of the most important players in franchise history, and the fact that he is willing to adapt rather than walk away says something about what 15 years in one place can build between a player and a city.