The Kansas City Royals' task in 2016 is as simple as it is difficult: defend their World Series title.
But there's a larger plan brewing in Western Missouri—one that involves keeping the club's largely homegrown championship core intact for the long haul. By extending catcher and reigning Fall Classic MVP Salvador Perez at the outset of spring training, the Royals took a crucial step in that direction.
The deal, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported Tuesday, locks up Perez through 2021 by picking up three team options and adding an additional two years, plus "at least $30 million" in new money.
Though he's already logged 545 big league games, mostly behind the dish, Perez is still just 25 years old. And he cemented his durability the past two seasons, shrugging off various dings and bruises during KC's pair of deep postseason runs.
Before the extension was announced, Perez expressed his desire to remain a Royal in perpetuity.
"I want to be George Brett," he said, per Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star. "I want to be like Frank White, like Alex Gordon. One of those guys."
Gordon, of course, opted out of his Royals contract this winter but eventually re-signed with the club on a four-year, $72 million pact.
"I want to enjoy the success we have now, and the fun we have with all these guys," the left fielder and four-time Gold Glove winner said after inking his new deal, per Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post. "I've got a lot of friends on this team, and a lot of coaches, that I've gone through a lot with. It's just a more comfortable thing to come back here with all those relationships I have."
So that's two key cogs spinning in the machine for the foreseeable future.
There's more work to do, however, and it remains to be seen if the Royals have the resources to pull it off.
First baseman Eric Hosmer, third baseman Mike Moustakas and center fielder Lorenzo Cain—essentially the remainder of Kansas City's offensive backbone—are all set to hit the open market after the 2017 season.
That trio, along with Perez and Gordon, combined for 18.3 wins above replacement in 2015, per FanGraphs. And that's merely a crude, short-hand measure of their actual worth to the franchise.
Hosmer recently indicated he'd be open to an extension, telling MLB.com's Jeffrey Flanagan, "If this group stays together, the best opportunity is right here."
Then again, talk is cheap. Extensions for budding stars generally aren't.
At a certain point, the Royals will have to decide how far they can stretch financially. Currently, their payroll sits at No. 13 in the game, per Spotrac.com, which is almost exactly the middle of the pack. Championships, however, mean more than confetti and champagne.
They mean an infusion of cash and a swelling, hungry fanbase. If the Royals charge through October again this season, it's entirely possible the purse strings could loosen enough to accommodate more sizable paydays.
That's not a given. FanGraphs projects the Royals to finish a pedestrian 77-85, tied for last place in the balanced American League Central. Maybe the starting pitching won't be enough. Maybe cracks will emerge in the vaunted bullpen.
More than anything, though, the doubts should provide added motivation and bulletin-board fodder for a team that's been underestimated before. And it might only strengthen an already cohesive clubhouse.
"As an organization," Mellinger noted, "the Royals credit much of their success to a relentlessly supportive culture for their players."
Will that culture be enough to keep all this talent from jetting off to larger markets? Not without some beefy checks to back it up.
But, as it proved with Gordon and Perez, Kansas City is now in the check-cutting business. After years as a perpetually rebuilding afterthought, the Royals have a great thing going.
Now, their simple, difficult task is to keep it going.
"We fully expect to sign as many of our players that we currently have on our team to long-term contracts," general manager Dayton Moore said, per Flanagan. "We anticipate that happening as we go forward. Will we get them all? Time will tell."
Time and, if everything breaks right, another World Series run.
All statistics and contract information courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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