How Close Were Royals To Trading Nine-Time All-Star Salvador Perez?
It has been a magical season thus far for the Kansas City Royals. And as it turns out, things could have gone down very differently last winter.
Coming off an embarrassing 106-loss season, the Royals had difficult choices to make. Teams like that aren't supposed to become contenders anytime soon. They had young star Bobby Witt Jr. on their team, but not many other long-term assets. How did they expect to become a winner?
Now, we know that the Royals signed veteran starting pitchers Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, added to their bullpen before the season (John Schreiber) and at the trade deadline (Lucas Erceg), and generally played better all up and down the roster, just well enough to sneak into the playoffs against all odds.
But what if the Royals had decided to go in a completely different direction?
On Wednesday, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported in a feature that general manager J.J. Picollo considered trading franchise icon Salvador Perez. The 34-year-old Perez, who is the last remaining player from the 2015 World Series team, was given the choice of staying in Kansas City or being traded elsewhere.
"At the end of last season, Royals GM J.J. Picollo asked Perez if he had any desire to play elsewhere. Picollo believed the Royals were close to turning a corner, and owner John Sherman pledged to spend money, but he did not want to keep Perez if Perez didn't believe in Kansas City's future," Passan said.
"'I talked to J.J. last year about that when we lost a lot of games,' Perez said. 'A bunch of teams wanted me, but I don't want to go. This is my second home.'"
It's nearly impossible to imagine Perez in a different uniform, but with how directionless the Royals appeared, few people would have begrudged the nine-time All-Star for looking elsewhere. His loyalty was quickly rewarded by the front office in the winter, and then by the city of Kansas City all summer long.
Though it may be more common in baseball than in other sports to see stars stick around in one place for their entire careers, it's still become a major rarity. Perez has been with the Royals since 2011; only Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers debuted earlier with the team for whom he still plays.
What the Royals have in Perez is special. They need to capitalize on the years they still have left with him. And that starts with keeping their playoff magic alive at least another round.
More MLB: Dodgers All-Star Slugger Could Be Perfect Free-Agent Fit For Royals
Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org