A second opinion on the right elbow of Salvador Perez has confirmed the Royals’ worst fears: Perez will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow, the team told reporters (Twitter link via Lynn Worthy of the Kansas City Star). The surgery should put Perez on the shelf for the entirety of the 2019 season.
The Royals first announced that Perez had damage to the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow last Friday. The initial recommendation for Perez was Tommy John surgery, though the team first sought a second opinion from renowned surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache before scheduling the procedure.
Perez, 28, is earning $10MM in 2019 as part of a $52.5MM contract extension to which he agreed prior to the 2016 season. He’s also owed $13MM in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons as part of that long-term arrangement.
A six-time All-Star, five-time Gold Glove winner, two-time Silver Slugger winner and the MVP of the 2015 World Series, Perez has emerged as the face of the Royals’ franchise in recent seasons. Though Kansas City has embarked on a substantial rebuilding effort following its run of prominence (including consecutive World Series appearances in 2014-15), there’s never been any serious indication that the club would give thought to moving Perez.
With Perez on the shelf, the top catchers on the Royals’ depth chart at present are Cam Gallagher and Meibrys Viloria — the former of whom is a .218/.274/.333 hitter in 96 MLB plate appearances and the latter of whom has all of 29 MLB plate appearances. Viloria, in fact, jumped from Class-A Advanced to the Majors last season as a September call-up but still seems years away from legitimate MLB readiness.
Suffice it to say, it’d register as a surprise if the Royals didn’t look to address their catching situation in some fashion following the unwelcome news. Martin Maldonado is the most obvious and straightforward choice: a premier defensive backstop with nearly 2000 Major League plate appearances under his belt who (surprisingly) still remains unsigned. Maldonado was most recently connected to the Mariners, though at the time of that report, Seattle was still wary of giving him a guaranteed 40-man roster spot. Light-hitting as Maldonado may be (.220/.289/.350 in his career), it’s still jarring that a player with his defensive prowess has struggled to find a 40-man spot this winter. The Royals, it now seems, can not only provide that but could also provide a fair bit of playing time as well.
Beyond Maldonado, there’s little in terms of proven assets on the open market, though the Royals could certainly wait until later in Spring Training to see if a veteran on a minor league pact with another club opts out of his deal. Veterans such as Nick Hundley (Athletics), Rene Rivera (Giants), Stephen Vogt (Giants), Matt Wieters (Cardinals), Devin Mesoraco (Mets) and old friend Drew Butera (Phillies) are all in Major League camps as non-roster invitees — but not all will earn a roster spot with his current organization. Alternatively, the Royals could also look to the trade market or waiver wire late in camp as a means of acquiring some additional depth. Notably, the Red Sox have reportedly been exploring deals involving their trio of backstops (Christian Vazquez, Sandy Leon and Blake Swihart).
Don’t want to be a Royals fan right now. Hope they find someone good to fill the gap
Team was going to be lucky to win 70 games this year anyway. This just gives us a better chance at the #1 pick.
Just when you thought the Royals had a chance to beat the Tigers for 4th place in the Central
No. 1 picks are over rated
Tough blow for a 53 year old catcher I hope he can make it back.
is that in catcher years ?
Lol his birth certificate says he was not in 1992
Sorry born in 1992
He got it from the same place David Arias got his birth certificate
Miguel Sano is looking every bit of 35 and he’s supposedly in his mid 20s. Juan Soto is 20 years old and I’m Bill Gates. Albert Pujols? Miguel Tejada?
It’s nearly impossible, post 9/11 to forge birth certificates.
That sucks for KC… Salvy is a likable player. I recommend a Bourbon based therapy. Worked for me.
Sucks because he’s a great guy but I hope he spends the time learning how to take a walk because he’s embarrassingly bad at getting on base.
Kasnsas City seems to have a philosophy that eschews getting on base. It’s like they’re zigging when everyone else is zagging. I’m not sure what kinds of metrics their front office is using to think this is a good idea; the WS teams weren’t constructed like this, but KCs big off-season signings – Hamilton and Gore etc. are guys who can’t get on base. It’s an odd way to construct a team, to say the least.
Bummer about Perez; he’s a great defender even though the bat has been in decline pretty dramatically. I know the “Silver SLugger” award is fairly meaningless, but Perez won it last year – a season in which he batted 235/274/439. An OPS+ of 92. Is the catching situation in the AL so bad that he was really the best-hitting catcher in the league?
Yes. Who else was going to get it? Perez at least hit some Hrs. Narvaez from CWS didn’t have enough Abs and Gary Sanchez was terrible. Robinson Chirnos I guess would’ve been an option but Perez didn’t slash much worse than him and had about 180 more Abs. Or Mitch Garver. But all these guys didn’t have the #of games played or ABS. They were under 400 and Perez had 510 ABS. So i can see it based on sheer volume.
The World Series teams were absolutely structured like this. Tom Verducci must’ve mentioned 3,000 times that we were last in majors in both walks and last in HR during the 2015 playoffs.
2015 Royals had four regulars with OBPs over 360 and a fifth- Moustakas – with an OBP of 348. They also had Zobrist, who is an on-base guy, for half the season. Very different than the 2018 Royals, who had exactly one player with an OBP over .350.
Those OBPs were driven by average. Gordon was the only guy on that team that took a lot of walks.
That team walked 383 times, last in the majors by more than 30.
wonder who goes to the all star game for them this year…and who wins that other catcher spot.
Whit Merrifield
ah, guess that makes sense.
ADALBERTOOOO
The loser of the Oakland’s Phegley, Hundley, Herrmann or Boston’s Swihart, Leon, Vasquez to KC?
swihardt to KC makes sense, though i still don’t see any team but BOS keeping him in the majors for all of a full season.
If Mejia can handle the position, the Padres have Hedges, who is kind of like Perez-lite: an elite defensive catcher with some power who can’t get on base. I don’t think they’re going to trade Hedges, but his batting line – 231/282/439 is roughly similar to Perez’s, and Hedges’ 94 OPS+ compares favorably to Perez’s 92.
I don’t see KC trading away future assets for a catcher. Swihart will basically be free but the Padres aren’t giving hedges away. Swihart? Maybe. Hedges? Can’t see it
Yeah, that’s a good point. I’m curious about the precedent for catchers coming back from TJ. Perez’s Chief skill is his arm. Without that I wonder what his value is going forward.
Maldonado to the Royals
Told y’all
I hope the rays make a transaction for him. He would be a great option. Rehab and work with our young pitchers.
What now? They should trade for an aging, injured and out for the year catcher? To “rehab and work with young pitchers”? You weren’t serious, right?
Aging. lol. he’s 28
He’s an old 28. He’s been a big league regular since he’s 22 with one of if not the highest usage % out any catcher since that time. There’s a lot of wear and tear on Sal Perez.
Yeah, he has been worked hard for a catcher, and his offense has really declined badly, perhaps because of that. Most catchers aren’t used as much as Perez; the ones like Yadi are real outliers. Perez has always been allergic to ball four, but here’s a sobering fact: in 8 seasons (six full seasons) Sal Perez has drawn 131 walks. Bryce Harper, in 2018, drew 130 walks. As much as I like Perez for his glove, he’s going to have to eventually change his approach if he wants to have a Yadi-like career well into his 30s.
22 bWAR over his career without drawing a walk is pretty damn impressive. He could stand to drop his K’s a bit and take some more walks but even Yadier isn’t some walk machine. Most catchers aren’t and that’s fine. I haven’t looked but his 92 OPS+ is probably league average for a catcher anyway. Perez will be able to stick around as long as the skills don’t decline any further. Cut the K’s down and take a couple more pitches and he should be at least a part time catcher for a long time if he wants to be. Might do him a lot of good offensively to actually have a backup who spells him. Give him 4 starts a week instead of the 5-6 he always logs.
Ned the former catcher cannot control himself. He has just kept penciling Salvy in day after day. Excuse was Salvy wants to catch every day. Salvy’s numbers always drop as the year progresses. This isn’t rocket science. Everyone loves Salvy, but some days off would help him.
Yep, most players want to play every day. The manager’s job is to, you know, manage. That means occasionally sitting your starting catcher, even against his objections. Making the tough decisions is what a manager is supposed to do.
Too bad. Hope he has a successful recover. It could be a dreadful season in KC
Tremendous player! Huge blow! Hope he comes back stronger.
As a royals fan, I would be more interested in seeing what meibrys Viloria can do than see a declining salvy on a non contender
Whoever loses out as Molina’s backup between Peña and Wieters could take the 3 1/2 hour trip west on I-70 straight to Kansas City.
They’ll probably take a plane since they’ll be going from Florida
Unless the back up catcher is one of the last cuts made to get down to 25 men on the roster. The Cardinals don’t go from Florida straight to St. Louis. They go from Florida to Memphis to play a game. Then they have a couple of days off. Other than that, good thought.
It will be Pena. He is likely out for a few weeks though, so his nonexistent bat is likely to be even worse.
Bryan Pena or so on former Royal who is retired that has played in this decade? Butera best choice.
I’m wondering why they would go out and spend on a replacement when they are nowhere near contending.
Shouldn’t they just let it ride?
When you don’t have a catcher then you tend to wind up with an excessive number of wild pitches.
Nice. Or would they be passed balls?
Surprised d’Arnaud isn’t mentioned. Can see the Mets preferring to keep Mesoraco and moving d’Arnaud for a guy like Staumont or Lovelady.
Lol. Brian Flynn might be a more realistic return
Agreed. Royals could watch one catcher return from TJ to get an idea how to work with Salvy next year. I would love to see my Mets do this.
Not getting Staumont or Lovelady for d’Arnaud…..
well darn there goes his streak of 27 homer 80 RBI 17 walk seasons.
And 129 games played and 1 stolen base and 5 sacrifice flies. This is one consistent dude.
As well as .sub .300 on base percentage.
Bad times for Royals fans. Hard to believe their fall from grace with 2 World Series appearances in the last 5 years.
Now who’s the all star catcher
Gary Sanchez if he can remember how to play catcher.
That’s the problem, I fear that he’ll never figure it out defensively.
Anyone else find the irony in the doctors name (Dr ElAttache, intentionally misspelled before you trolls leap) who is legitimately re‘attach’ing his elbow together.
This is beyond science
The answer to all these questions is…… Blake Swihart.
Who’ll be the All Star Catcher? Swihart.
Who will KC get? Swihart. (for Merrifield of course) .
See how easy it is…….
Blake Swihart for Kyle Zimmer
Sal your in our prayers for a speedy recovery, this franchise needs you back badly
Sal has been the heart and soul of the Royals for a number of years. As an Indians fan who has watched and admired him, I wish him a speedy and complete recovery.
Sal for President.
The AL central is so bad. The twins, white Sox, tigers, and royals all are horrible teams.
Jays could spare Luke Maile. He’s trending in right direction and controllable for four.