Perez extended

I just heard that Salvadore Perez was extended by the Royals. Great move. They buy 3 years of pre-arbitration years and they get him in the fold for the next 5 years. Very nice move. This Royals team could have the makings of a great one. Perez is a vital cog. He is the best catcher this organization has seen in many, many years. He may turn out to be the best catcher the team has ever seen. Signing him now shows foresight and it just adds to my optimism for the season. I'm excited for the Royals this season and going forward. I love that fact that Butler and now Perez are here for the future. I'm pretty sure the Boras clients on the team will not be willing to sign such team friendly contracts. I'd love to wrap Hosmer up now, but that will not happen. Perez is locked up. He is the anti Jason Kendall. I love the energy he plays with and the smile he wears while playing. The kid works hard and the pitchers the Royals do throw out there will be better of with Perez than most other catchers. Escobar/Gio/Cain as the up the middle D. Well, a very good catcher is in the fold. Hopefully the season will result in the Royals being 500 and in contention. Hey where is Mijares?

Gordon, arbitration, and Nelson Cruz

The Royals completed the offseason by avoiding arbitration with Gordon. They signed him to a one year 4.8 with escalators contract. This comes the same day, or within a day or two, of Nelson Cruz signing for 16 over 2 with Texas. The Royals got the better of the deal. Alex had a fantastic year. He hit well and he won the gold glove. You can argue that someone else could have won the gold glove. What you can't argue is that someone else was Nelson Cruz. Rangers fans will need sedation when the game 6 fly ball is replayed. Not an easy catch for Nelson but one that he could have made. I don't really care about that. What I care about is that Royals were more patient than I would have been. I may have knee jerked and rewarded the season Alex had with a big extension, you know how Lloyd did with Frenchy. If anything good comes from the stupid Frenchy extension maybe it will be using their head with Alex. You can lock him up long term or you can still have 2 arbitration years. I have stated that I would extend Alex now, I even asked DM to do so. I like the approach both sides are taking on this. Alex has another great season, he gets paid. The sides work out an extension, Alex gets paid. Either way the Royals will be better with AG in the lineup. He approached the potential I was hoping for last year. If the Royals are to be 500 and in contention they need a season equal to or better than last year out of Gordon. They need 20 and 90 from Frenchy, too. I think Alex having a great year is more likely than Frenchy having a 20/90 season. The Frenchy extension was a Lloyd Christmas move. Yuni being back was too. Maybe Lloyd took a detour on the way to Surprise and made a 16 over 2 year deal to Nelson Cruz. Pretty sure Jeff would have made that catch in the World Series. Fun and games until the fun and games start. Go Royals. Get to camp and lets get ready for being 500 and in contention.