Royals Should Pick Up Club Option On $82 Million 9x All-Star After Historic Season

The Royals would be wise to bring him back for 2026.

Sep 19, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (13) reacts during the sixth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images | Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

The Kansas City Royals missed the postseason this year after winning the second American League Wild Card in 2024 with an 86-win season. The pitching staff held up its end of the bargain, but could only do so much while the offense struggled. The trade to acquire Jonathan India wasn't enough to give them the boost they needed. This could be an area they look to improve in the offseason.

However, not every aspect of 2025 was bad for the Royals. In fact, there were some good moments along the way. Catcher and franchise legend Salvador Perez hit his 300th career home run earlier this month.

He has a club option for 2026. Jacob Milham of Kings of Kauffman advised that the Royals should pick up that option.

Royals Urged To Keep Longtime Backstop

Sep 23, 2025; Anaheim, California, USA; Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez (13) smiles after catching a pop foul during the third inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

"This shouldn't even be a discussion. The idea of catcher Salvador Perez playing elsewhere should make Royals diehards want to toss their brisket nachos," Milham wrote.

"Perez hasn't been as good in 2025 as he was in 2024, but at least one more year for the Venezuelan in Kansas City doesn't feel that egregious. That only applies doubly after how Perez bounced back from a career-worst year in 2023 to having a renaissance of sorts in 2024. Let's see if he can do it again in 2026, on a reasonable salary."

Perez has hit .241/.286/.454 this season with a .740 OPS. However, he still has hit 30 home runs and knocked in 100 runs.

Picking up the club option would be wise because of what Perez has meant to the Royals organization and Kansas City. He's a franchise legend who has played his entire career with the Royals. He came up through their system in 2011 and has been a cornerstone ever since his Major League Debut.

Perez helped guide the Royals to back-to-back World Series in 2014 and 2015, with the Royals winning their first title since 1985 the second go-around.

Losing Perez would be hard to take for the fanbase, and it isn't a road the Royals should hope to go down this offseason, so bringing him back for at least one more season makes sense.

It will be interesting to see what else the Royals try to do this offseason as they look to bounce back from a disappointing 2025 season.

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