Why Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore thinks Sal Perez will get better

Perched on the bench in the home dugout, decked out in a dress shirt and tie, his back against the wall facing the field at Kauffman Stadium where his club was taking batting practice, Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore sat circled by reporters and fielded questions one after another on Wednesday in a similar fashion to how Nicky Lopez scooped up grounders.

Moore explained the club’s plan and reasoning for reintegrating Adalberto Mondesi into the lineup at third base and with regular days off. He acknowledged the excitement about top prospect Bobby Witt Jr. but also avoided any speculation about the youngster’s potential ascension and what that might mean as far as infield shuffling.

But Moore really waxed poetic when the topic of conversation shifted to the recent performance of All-Star catcher Salvador Perez, who just finished one of the most prolific road trips in club history in the middle of a career year just a few months after the club signed him to an extension that represented the biggest contract given in franchise history.

“There’s no adjectives to describe Salvador Perez,” Moore said. “He’s without a doubt one of the most special players and talents that I’ve been blessed to watch play.

“He just keeps getting better and better. Why? Because he has this innocence to play that is unmatched. He plays with the same enthusiasm today as he did the very first time I saw him. He has a hunger to get better, and because of that he will continue to get better.”

A seven-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove winner and three-time Silver Slugger honoree, Perez entered Thursday night with the third-most home runs in the majors (38), fourth in RBIs (94) and seventh in the AL in slugging percentage (.536).

Perez, named the American League’s Player of the Week on Monday, served as the dominant force in nearly every game last week. He slashed .357/.455/1.000 with six runs scored, 10 hits, six home runs and 14 RBIs over seven games.

He tied Mike Sweeney’s club record with homers in five consecutive games, and also tied a club record shared by Chili Davis (August 1997) and John Mayberry (July 1975) for home runs in any calendar month (12).

Perez entered this week having already hit more home runs in a season than any AL player who played at least 75% of his games at catcher, one more than Carlton Fisk’s 37 in 1985.

“We believe in the player,” Moore said. “I can’t predict results, but Salvador Perez is 100 percent, in my mind, committed to getting better, preparing, working hard and loving to play. There’s no question about any of those areas with him. I can’t predict results, but I just know who he is and what he’s about. It’s easy to believe in him.”

When asked whether Perez having a career year at age 31 validates the organization’s assessment in signing him to the multi-year extension, Moore replied, “I don’t know about that. As a general manager we’re asked to look into the crystal ball. It’s hard to get it right in a lot of cases. I don’t think any of us in our organization could imagine Salvador Perez not being in a Royals uniform, very similar to how we felt about Alex Gordon.”

Moore said wanting to extend Perez as a “no-brainer.” At that point it just became a matter of whether or not the club could get him signed.

From an organizational perspective they evaluate any potential long-term signee from a medical, analytical, scouting, character and economic standpoint.

Perez, one of the few remaining links between the current roster and the 2015 World Series championship, signed a four-year extension with a guaranteed $82 million dollars with a fifth-year club option during spring training.

It assured Perez would stay with the only organization he’s ever known at least into his mid-30s, and it surpassed the four-year, $72 million contract signed by Gordon as the richest in Royals history.

The deal also put Perez among the top echelon of catchers in MLB as far as average annual value ($20.5 million).

Only former Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer, current Philadelphia Phillies catcher JT Realmuto and current St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina have reached the $20 million plateau.

“Honestly, I’m not really concerned about what 29 other markets or 29 other teams think,” Moore said. “I’m focused on our market and what our fans think and obviously what (Royals chairman and CEO) John Sherman desires for this franchise. It really wasn’t a difficult decision for me, personally, or the rest of our group.”