Salvador Perez worth more than he’s being paid, but he’s no victim

To appreciate and put in context star catcher Salvador Perez’s contract, Royals general manager Dayton Moore said Friday, starts with this: “You’ve got to evaluate deals based on when they were signed.”

This is an entirely fair and reasonable perspective, and there are two particularly salient points to it.

The Royals in 2012 signed Perez to a guaranteed five-year contract for $7 million with options that could ultimately reap him $26.5 million over eight years.

Also, the contract was offered after Perez had batted all of 148 times in 39 big-league games … and about two weeks before he suffered a torn meniscus in his knee that would keep him out until late June and be a jarring reminder (“a period of uneasiness,” as Moore put it) of the perils of long-term contracts.

At the time, Moore called the deal “an exchange:” security and more money sooner than expected for Perez, flexibility and “potential savings” for the Royals to manage their payroll later.

Now, Moore calls the deal “historical.”

“I don’t think there was another catcher in the history of our game … that had been signed (to such a long-term contract) with that little amount of service time,” he said in the Royals’ dugout before their game against Texas on Friday at Kauffman Stadium.

To appreciate and put in context Perez’s contract, Perez told Yahoo Sports in a story released Friday, starts with this: where Perez is today.

This, too, is an entirely fair and reasonable perspective.

No matter how wowed the Royals were by him in 2012, they couldn’t know what would come to pass since: back-to-back Gold Glove and All-Star seasons (he leads the American League in this year’s All-Star voting) and status as perhaps the most indispensable player on the team.

So it’s hard not to be sympathetic when Perez, a native of Venezuela who was then 21, speaks of his regret now at signing the contract.

Perez told The Star on Friday night that he didn’t want to talk about the matter, but he told Yahoo:

“I had nothing. That’s the problem, you know? Where I’m coming from, they’re talking about a million dollars. And I don’t (have anybody) in that moment to explain to me how it’s going to be or how high it could be.

“I (didn’t) know what arbitration was. I (didn’t) know free agency. After I signed the deal, I heard from a lot of players: ‘Why are you doing that? You don’t know what kind of player you are.’”

It’s tempting to try to choose one side or another here, or maybe it comes instinctively to you, but the truth is that each has a case:

Perez deserves money befitting his rising stature, and he has proven himself exceptional … but the Royals extended themselves before they had to and aren’t obliged to do anything more until they have to again.

The truth also is this:

Perez is underpaid, and that is a true shame, and I’d rather see the laborer get the money than The Man.

But any implication that he is being cheated somehow is patently false.

Even if somewhat ill-informed, he made a decision from which he greatly benefited for a few years … and less so now.

Most of us sign off on deals we wish we could do over with the benefit of hindsight, and most of us have to deal with the consequences.

Like, say, the Royals when it comes to their rights deal with Fox Sports and Omar Infante’s four-year, $30.25 million contract.

Not that the Royals necessarily won’t be considering measures to enhance Perez’s contract.

It’s just that they aren’t going to negotiate through the media or call attention to it in the middle of a season.

“Salvy has done an incredible job, he’s been a huge part of our team, and we want to keep him here for a long time,” said Moore, who also considers Perez a vital clubhouse presence. “There’s a day in the future where you look to address things, but right now we’re focused on this team and today and getting back to the playoffs and hopefully to the World Series.”

But this is a slippery slope for the Royals, too, especially with so many young players coming of age.

To maximize their ability to keep the core together, they’ll need financial flexibility and perhaps creativity and can ill-afford to set precedents of tearing up long-term contracts.

Asked what circumstances would call for a renegotiation, Moore said, “Those conversations and discussions will be held at the appropriate times. We’re always analyzing and evaluating who we are today and what we need to do in the future.

“We always want to make sure that we’re in a great position to keep a core group of players here a long time and also have the flexibility and affordability to bring in future players or to add to a group.

“So if it needs to be addressed, we’ll address it.”

Because of the Royals’ market size and payroll, the signing of Perez in 2012 was seen as a fundamental building block of the future of the Royals.

That, also, was fair and reasonable.

“The vision of a successful Royals’ future depends upon contracts like Perez’s,” Sam Mellinger wrote then. “The vision depends on players being more valuable than their salaries, of a potential star like Perez … signing away the first eight years of his career at a significant discount because he likes the team as much as he wants financial security.”

Reflecting on the time, Moore said the Royals had tried to model the deal on the first few years of what Yadier Molina had made in St. Louis.

As it happens, albeit not adjusted for inflation, Perez will have prospered faster earlier than Molina.

Research by The Star’s Tod Palmer showed that Molina made roughly $6.25 million his first five years and, ultimately, $22.75 million in his first eight seasons with the Cardinals.

So, yes, it would be great if Perez were better-paid.

But the Royals haven’t victimized him, either.

And here’s betting the day is coming when both sides see it all the same way — delicate as the process might be.

“Happy players are good players,” Moore said, smiling, “and we want players happy.”

This story was originally published June 5, 2015 at 10:14 PM with the headline "Salvador Perez worth more than he’s being paid, but he’s no victim."