Zack Greinke Reunites with Royals on Reported 1-Year, $13M Contract
Mar 16, 2022
HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 03: Houston Astros pitcher Zack Greinke (21), activated after being injured, throws a pitch in the top of the eighth inning during the baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and Houston Astros on October 3, 2021 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
After more than a decade apart, Zack Greinke and the Kansas City Royals are reuniting.
Kansas City announced Wednesday that it had signed him to a one-year contract. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the pact is worth $13 million with $2 million available in innings bonuses.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the deal.
Greinke, 38, previously spent seven seasons with the Royals after being drafted by the team in the first round in 2002.
He was traded to the Houston Astros from the Arizona Diamondbacks midway through the 2019 season. He has also pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels and Milwaukee Brewers.
Greinke was part of the Astros' American League pennant win in 2019. Houston lost the World Series to the Washington Nationals in seven games. Greinke started Game 7 and was pulled with a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning after allowing a one-out solo home run to Anthony Rendon and a walk. The next batter, Howie Kendrick, hit a two-run homer off Will Harris, and the Astros lost 6-2.
A six-time All-Star and six-time Gold Glove Award winner, Greinke went 11-6 in 29 starts during the 2021 regular season with 120 strikeouts and a 4.16 ERA in a team-high 171 innings.
It was Greinke's second consecutive season with an ERA over 4.00 after he went three straight years with a sub-3.25 ERA. His strikeout percentage dropped from 24.5 in 2020 to 17.2 last year, marking the first time since 2010 it was below 20.0, according to FanGraphs.
Greinke was called up to the majors in 2004, and he missed most of the 2006 season after being diagnosed with depression and social anxiety disorder. He returned in 2007 as mostly a relief pitcher before rejoining the starting rotation in 2008.
Greinke won the AL Cy Young Award in 2009, posting an MLB-best 2.16 ERA. He enjoyed the best year of his career in 2015 with the Dodgers, leading the majors with a 1.66 ERA and 0.84 WHIP while compiling a 19-3 record.
Kansas City will hope Greinke can return to form as a consistent starter near the top of its rotation. He will likely provide veteran leadership, but the Royals have more work to do if they hope to become contenders in the American League.
Salvador Perez Is the HR King at Catcher; How Does He Stack Up Overall?
Zachary D. Rymer
Sep 24, 2021
CLEVELAND, OH - SEPTEMBER 20: Salvador Perez #13 of the Kansas City Royals celebrates after hitting a two run home run off Triston McKenzie #24 of the Cleveland Indians in the fifth inning during game one of a doubleheader at Progressive Field on September 20, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. Perez hit his 46th home run off the season setting a record for home runs by a catcher.(Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images)
On Monday, Kansas City Royals backstop Salvador Perez went where no catcher had ever gone before when he launched his 46th home run of the 2021 season.
Like many of the long balls Perez has hit this season, No. 46 was an absolute shot with a projected distance of 429 feet. Even Johnny Bench, who had previously held the single-season record for home runs by a catcher, took a break from awkwardly holding hamburgers so he could hand it to Perez:
If you want to get technical, Perez has hit 31 homers while playing catcher. That's only tied with Mike Zunino for the lead in Major League Baseball in 2021 and well short of Javy Lopez's single-season record of 42 in 2003.
Nevertheless, a 46-homer season by a player who spends most of his time crouching behind home plate is, well, a 46-homer season by a player who spends most of his time crouching behind home plate. A big deal, in other words.
It's thus safe to ask a question that, while straightforward, can only lead to less straightforward answers: Home runs aside, where does Perez's season rank among the best ever by a catcher?
Perez Has a WAR Problem
As any discussion of baseball history pretty much has to at this point, this one begins with a look at wins above replacement.
Royals fans know all about how WAR can be a good thing. As Joe Posnanski argued for NBC Sports at the time, it was in part because of WAR that Alex Gordon heard "M-V-P!" chants at Kauffman Stadium in 2014 even though his traditional stats lacked the sheen typically seen on the back of an MVP's baseball card.
This, however, is a different story. Though Baseball Reference puts Perez's WAR at a career-high 5.2, that same figure ranks only 93rd all-time among players who logged 51 percent of their games at catcher in a given season.
For position players, WAR's fundamental offensive component is a stat called "batting runs," an all-encompassing hitting metric that is park- and league-adjusted. It rates Mike Piazza's 1997 season for the Los Angeles Dodgers (in which he hit .362/.341/.639 with 40 homers) and Josh Gibson's 1943 season for the Homestead Grays (.466/.560/.868 with 20 homers) as the two best offensive campaigns ever by catchers.
17 Apr 1998: Catcher Mike Piazza of the Los Angeles Dodgers in action during a game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. The Dodgers defeated the Cubs 10-3. Mandatory Credit: Harry How /Allsport
Perez's 2021 season? It's all the way down at No. 152 with just 21.6 batting runs.
Despite his home runs, the 31-year-old has an obvious weakness as a hitter in that he doesn't get on base with much regularity. No thanks to his 4.2 walk percentage—third-lowest among qualified hitters—he's rocking just a .317 OBP this season. That's better than the average catcher (.305) yet only as good as the league average. It's also not even inside the top 500 among individual catcher seasons.
Bear in mind that what Perez has done at the plate is only one of three major aspects of his WAR. There's also baserunning, where the 6'3", 255-pounder is unsurprisingly below water with a minus-two tally, and defense, where there's good news and bad news.
On one hand, Perez leads the majors with a 45.0 caught-stealing percentage. Yet such a high mark is only worth so much when stolen base attempts are falling. He's thrown out only 18 runners, or 19 fewer than the career-high 37 he nabbed five years ago.
There's also Perez's framing, which has never been his strong suit and is now a liability. Baseball Info Solutions' data rates 2021 as the worst framing season of his career. Statcast's metrics agree and further cast Perez as the worst framer of 2021.
Let's Look at This Another Way
Then again, what WAR can't gauge is the improbability of Perez's season.
Consider the frequency of 5-WAR seasons among catchers. They used to happen all the time, often with multiple catchers achieving that status in a single year. As recently as 2014, Jonathan Lucroy, Russell Martin and Buster Posey were worth 6.4, 5.7 and 5.1 WAR.
Yet the flow of 5-WAR seasons by catchers has slowed to a trickle. Only Posey and Perez have done it since 2015, and Posey did it five years ago.
Thing is, WAR is a counting stat, and catchers don't catch as much as they used to. Whereas it used to be common in the 1990s and even into the early 2010s for a single backstop to catch 100-plus games, it's become more of a rarity in the last few seasons:
Rather than an anomaly, this is a choice. Teams want to keep their catchers on the field, so they're resting them more. This has made everyday catchers a dying breed, so Perez should be celebrated simply for playing more games (117) at catcher than everyone except Christian Vazquez (119).
As a side effect, it's not as common as it once was for a catcher to be a prolific home run hitter. Though Perez is indeed one of four backstops to cross the 30-homer plateau in the last five years, there have been only six such instances since 2004. There were equally as many just from 2000 to 2003.
Regarding Perez's home runs, there is something to be said about how they're perhaps cheapened by baseball's modern offensive standards. Though 2021 isn't on par with 2019, it's still fourth on the all-time list for home runs per game.
Yet there's nothing cheap about Perez's actual home runs.
According to Statcast, only six of his homers qualify as "doubters," or clouts that would clear the fence at seven or fewer stadiums. He has otherwise crushed his long balls, so much so that Statcast estimates he should have 49 of them. If only, say, this one, this one and this one had gone out.
So in hitting 25 home runs in only 56 games since July 24, Perez hasn't been on an unsustainable tear so much as he's been making up for lost dingers. If he can keep it up for just a little while longer, he may yet win a home run race in which he's tied with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with Shohei Ohtani (45) hot on their heels.
Should Perez capture the lead, that would be another, perhaps no less important, historical achievement on top of his new record for home runs in a season by a catcher. He would join Bench (45 in 1970 and 40 in 1972) as the only catcher to ever lead the American or National League in home runs—though it is also worth mentioning that Gibson led the Negro Leagues in home runs 11 times during his 14-year career.
These things don't mean we should ignore Perez's shortcomings and proclaim his season to be one of the five or even 10 best ever by a catcher. The fact that he's rubbing shoulders with Bench and Gibson in this environment for players at his position, however, is fodder to at least argue for his season as the most unlikely great year by a catcher.
Where Did This Come From?
Of course, Perez is an unexpected home run-hitting superstar even in the context of his own career.
Suffice it to say he's been a different player since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2019. Previously, he homered in 3.8 percent of his plate appearances with a high of 27 (twice) from 2011 to 2018. Since returning in 2020, he's homered in 7.3 percent of his plate appearances and is still adding to his total this season.
He leads qualified hitters with an out-of-zone swing rate of 48.1 percent since the start of last season, so his ascent isn't being fueled by a sharper eye for the strike zone. Yet he has also upped his in-zone swing rate, and that's benefited him to the tune of a .766 slugging percentage against in-zone pitches over the last two seasons.
That Perez used to struggle against breaking balls even inside the strike zone should sound about right to anyone who regularly watched his pre-Tommy John self. Breaking stuff was his Kryptonite, as he racked up just a .217 average against it through his first eight seasons.
As for what, specifically, has changed in the last two campaigns, Perez is hitting breaking pitches higher in the zone. Which is to say he's become better at taking advantage of hangers, like so:
So, regardless of where the 2021 version of Perez belongs among his all-time catching peers, there's little question that this is the best he hasever been. And considering that he was a six-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glover just from 2013 to 2018, that is no small achievement.
Royals' Salvador Perez Breaks Johnny Bench's Single-Season HR Record for Catcher
Sep 20, 2021
Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez reacts after hitting an RBI single in the the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. the Royals defeated the Mariners 8-11. (AP Photo/Colin E. Braley)
Welcome to the history books, Salvador Perez.
The Kansas City Royals catcher launched his 46th home run of the season in the fifth inning of Monday's game against Cleveland. That total put him ahead of former Cincinnati Reds backstop Johnny Bench for the most home runs in a single season for a player who primarily plays catcher:
Perez has turned heads throughout the season with his power numbers, including when he hit 28 home runs in the opening round of the Home Run Derby. Unfortunately for the Royals star, he was matched up against eventual champion Pete Alonso and lost in that round.
The 31-year-old hit 27 homers in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018 but missed the 2019 campaign because of an elbow injury. He also played just 37 games during the shortened 2020 campaign.
To his credit, he has bounced back from the missed time and impressed as the anchor of Kansas City's lineup. Entering play Monday, he had a .274/.314/.542 slash line with a league-leading 113 RBI.
The five-time Gold Glover, three-time Silver Slugger and 2015 World Series MVP also made his seventh career All-Star Game this year.
Bench set the previous record with 45 home runs during the 1970 season while helping lead the Reds to the World Series. He finished his Hall of Fame career with 389 home runs and led the league twice, including when he hit 40 long balls in 1972.
Perez won't have a chance to match Bench's two World Series titles this year considering the Royals are eliminated from playoff contention and in fourth place in the American League Central.
Salvador Perez, Royals Agree to New 4-Year Contract Worth Reported $82M
Mar 21, 2021
Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez watches his fly ball during the first inning of a spring baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Mesa, Ariz., Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Perez was heading into the final year of his current contract initially signed in 2016 and was set to make $14.2 million in 2021.
The 30-year-old bounced back in a big way in 2020 after missing all of 2019 with Tommy John surgery. The slugger finished with a .333 batting average and .986 OPS during the shortened season, both the best of his career.
He also added 11 home runs on his way to the Silver Slugger award, even earning MVP votes despite the Royals falling short of the playoffs.
Perez has been one of the best two-way catchers throughout his career, earning six straight All-Star selections from 2013-18, adding five Gold Glove awards and two more Silver Sluggers during this time frame.
He was also named World Series MVP after helping the Royals win it all in 2015.
The veteran has spent his entire career in Kansas City until now and will seemingly remain in the city for the foreseeable future.
Hunter Dozier, Royals Reportedly Agree to 4-Year, $25M Contract Extension
Feb 28, 2021
Kansas City Royals' Hunter Dozier bats during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the against the Detroit Tigers Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
The Kansas City Royals and Hunter Dozier have reportedly agreed to a four-year extension worth $25 million plus a $10 million player option for a fifth season, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
Per Passan, the deal could max out at $49 million over five years based on bonuses and escalators.
Dozier could have hit free agency in 2023, but the latest deal could keep him under team control through 2025.
The 29-year-old split his time between first base and right field last season, hitting .228 with a .344 on-base percentage and six home runs in 44 games.
The 29-year-old also becomes the first Royals player with guaranteed money beyond 2022, perSpotrac. Mike Minor and Whit Merrifield also have club options in 2023, but there are no other liabilities on the books.
Dozier split his time between first base and right field last season, hitting .228 with a .344 on-base percentage and six home runs in 44 games.
He made a bigger impact in 2019 while posting a .279 average, .348 OBP and 26 home runs to go with his league-leading 10 tripes. The versatile player also spent the majority of his time at third base that season.
After the Royals signed first baseman Carlos Santana and traded for outfielder Andrew Benintendi this offseason, Dozier will likely move back to third in 2021 while further strengthening the roster.
If he can continue to produce at the plate, the Royals will have locked down a key piece of their core at a great value will helping get back to contention in the AL Central.
Royals' Updated Starting Lineup, Payroll After Reported Andrew Benintendi Trade
Feb 10, 2021
Boston Red Sox's Andrew Benintendi walks back to the dug out after grounding into a double play during the second inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2020, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, Boston and Kansas City are swapping left fielders, with Franchy Cordero headed to the East Coast. Royals prospect Khalil Lee is headed to New York, while Heyman added the Mets are sending right-hander Josh Winckowski to Boston.
Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported in mid-January that the outfielder was on the trading block, but rumors had died down recently.
The Royals are hoping the Arkansas product will provide a boost offensively after Cordero's quieter campaign at the plate.
Here's a look at what the Royals will look like with Benintendi in the outfield:
The Royals are rid of Cordero's $800,000 contract, but they'll absorb a bigger deal with Benintendi. Per Spotrac, he is owed $6.6 million in the final season of a two-year deal.
That would put the Royals' Opening Day payroll in the $90 million range, though the group is reportedly receiving cash somewhere in the deal that will help offset the costs.
Notes on Benintendi
The 26-year-old was limited in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, appearing in just 14 games before a rib injury ended his season. Along the way, he slashed a miserable .103/.314/.128, but he was a solid piece of the Boston lineup over the two previous seasons.
His 2019 production was a drop from his sophomore campaign in 2018, in which he made headlines for his graceful play in the outfield en route to a World Series title. But Speier pointed out that his dip in 2019 might not be as bad as it looked on paper. When injuries are taken out of the equation, he hit .286/.362/.476 through 117 games.
Overall, he never quite found the same level of success he experienced in 2017 when he finished second to Aaron Judge in American League Rookie of the Year voting.
In addition to his offensive skill and defensive prowess, the Ohio native comes with a lower price tag compared to some of the other outfielders who could have been acquired in free agency, so it's a solid upgrade for the Royals.
Yasiel Puig Rumors: Royals Not Interested in Signing Free-Agent OF to Contract
Feb 2, 2021
Cleveland Indians' Yasiel Puig walks out of the dugout after a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Heyman added that the Miami Marlins and New York Yankees, who were "rumored to be in on Puig," aren't interested either.
The 30-year-old outfielder's last MLB action occurred during the 2019 season, when he played for the Cincinnati Reds before being traded to Cleveland. He had 24 home runs, a career-high 84 RBI, a .267 batting average and .785 OPS. He also added a career-high 19 stolen bases.
Puig missed the entire 2020 season. He agreed to a one-year deal with the Atlanta Braves on July 14, but he announced a positive COVID-19 test result three days later, nixing the contract.
Puig played the first six years of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, breaking into MLB with 19 home runs and a .925 OPS during his rookie year in 2013. He finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting behind Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez.
However, injuries (namely strained hamstrings in 2015 and 2016) hampered his production for much of the remainder of his Dodgers career. He did hit a career-high 28 home runs in 2017 (alongside a .833 OPS) and added 23 more in 2018 (with a .820 OPS).
The Dodgers traded Puig to the Reds in December 2018 in a seven-player deal. Puig enjoyed a power surge in Cincinnati with 22 home runs in just 100 games.
With the team out of the playoff picture, the Reds traded him to a contender in Cleveland, where Puig hit two homers, knocked in 27 runners and hit .297.
Puig has also played 58 playoff games, hitting .280 with five home runs (two in the 2017 World Series versus the Houston Astros) and 23 RBI.
MLB Rumors: Adam Wainwright Drawing Interest from Royals in 2020 Free Agency
Dec 21, 2020
St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright pauses on the mound during the second inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
The Kansas City Royals "have shown interest" in veteran starting pitcher Adam Wainwright, according to MLB Network's Jon Morosi.
However, Morosi added that the Royals "don't appear to be frontrunners" for Wainwright's signature.
Kansas City has one thing working in its favor since new manager Mike Matheny coached the three-time All-Star for seven seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Wainwright started his career with the Atlanta Braves but was traded to the Cardinals in 2003 as part of the J.D. Drew deal before making his MLB debut. His 326 starts for St. Louis are the fourth-most in franchise history.
It doesn't appear Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak is in a hurry to bring the 39-year-old back, though. The Athletic's Mark Saxon reported Dec. 9 that St. Louis would like to have Wainwright going forward but is also keeping a tight focus on its payroll.
According to Saxon, Wainwright is "believed to be seeking" a one-year contract that might be incentive-laden rather than guaranteeing him the biggest payout possible. If that's the case, then he'd make sense for any team with eyes on a playoff run.
The two-time Cy Young runner-up went 5-3 with a 3.15 ERA and 4.10 FIP over 10 starts in 2020. He was also 14-10 with a 4.19 ERA and 4.36 FIP in 2019. Wainwright is obviously no longer at his peak but can contribute in the middle or back end of the rotation.
The Royals are a somewhat surprising suitor since they don't seem to be a strong contender on paper. They figure to be the third-best team in their own division behind the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox. Cleveland might be able to wring another postseason run out of its current roster as well despite its efforts to cut payroll.
Kansas City has, however, signed Mike Minor and Carlos Santana. Although those weren't transformative additions, they point to a team that wishes to do more than bottom out in 2021.
Report: Carlos Santana, Royals Agree to 2-Year, $17.5M Contract in Free Agency
Dec 8, 2020
Cleveland Indians' Carlos Santana exits the batting cage before Game 1 of an American League wild-card baseball series against the New York Yankees, Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
Sherman noted the deal features $1 million in incentives.
Jon Heyman of MLB Network first reported the deal.
The 34-year-oldis an 11-year veteran who has spent nearly his entire career with the Cleveland Indians, including last season.
During the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Santana appeared in all 60 games, hitting just .199 with eight home runs, 30 RBI and 34 runs scored. Although his power production was down, he led the American League with 47 walks and posted a .349 on-base percentage.
His penchant for getting on base has always been one of his greatest strengths, but he did more than that in 2019, which was a career year for him.
His .281 batting average was a career best, as were his 34 home runs, 93 RBI and 110 runs scored. He also had 108 walks, plus a .397 on-base percentage and .515 slugging percentage. As a result of his production, he was named an All-Star and won a Silver Slugger award for the first time in his career.
Santana broke into the big leagues as a catcher with the Indians in 2010, but he eventually transitioned to first base. He played in Cleveland for his first eight seasons before signing with the Philadelphia Phillies in free agency in 2018.
He lasted just one year in Philly before getting traded back to Cleveland, though, which turned out to be a positive move for his career.
While Santana is getting up there in age and coming off a down season, his ability to draw walks and get on base gives him a high floor in terms of being an effective player.
Even when he isn't hitting homers and driving runs in with regularity like he did in 2019, he is a useful player since he finds a way to keep the line moving.
If Santana can continue to do that, he has a chance to be one of the biggest steals of free agency for the Royals.
Kansas City is coming off a 26-34 season and hasn't reached the playoffs since winning the World Series in 2015, but with Santana joining a talented lineup that also includes Jorge Soler, Whit Merrifield, Salvador Perez and Adalberto Mondesi, KC could be a tough team to play against in 2021.
Patrick Mahomes, Whit Merrifield React to Royals Jerseys with Chiefs' QB's Name
Nov 24, 2020
Kansas City Royals' Whit Merrifield (15) bats during a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. The Royals won 5-4. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
It can be hard during the middle of football season in Kansas City to remember there are two professional athletes in town who sport No. 15 on their jerseys.
The more famous one, of course, is Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Super Bowl champion and MVP who recently signed one of the largest contracts in sports history. The other No. 15 is Kansas City Royals second baseman Whit Merrifield—a 2019 All-Star, two-time American League stolen base leader and as consistent a hitter at the plate as they come.
A sporting goods store in K.C. may have overlooked that fact in setting up its Royals display for the MLB offseason. Instead of putting out jerseys celebrating Merrifield or Alex Gordon or George Brett, Scheels stocked up on Royals' Mahomes gear—all with No. 15 on the back.
That didn't sit too well with the ballplayer of the same number, and the quarterback said it had to be fixed.
This wasn't some type of gaffe on the part of any manufacturers, either. Mahomes became a minority shareholder of the Royals over the summer, and the opportunity to put his name on a jersey was too great to pass up.
Scheels responded to Merrifield with pictures letting him know his apparel was on display, too, but it would take a few stacks of jerseys to equal the Mahomes setup.
