Salvy back where he belongs: 'He’s made for October'

ATLANTA -- As it became apparent Friday night that the Royals would be clinching a postseason berth with the Twins’ loss to the Orioles, Royals general manager J.J. Picollo sought out Salvador Perez first, to congratulate him and to thank him.

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The GM thanked Perez for sticking through it, for believing in the vision and for just being Salvy, the catcher the Royals have watched grow into a reliable backstop, veteran leader and the fourth captain in franchise history.

Perez helped the Royals to their 2015 World Series title nine years ago. Now he’s back in the postseason again. This time with a different group but with the same goal in mind -- bringing winning baseball back to Kansas City.

“I told him I love him, told him I’m happy he’s here,” Picollo said. “We couldn’t do this without him.”

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At one point last year, Picollo discussed trading Perez in order to get him to a contender and help rebuild the Royals’ farm system as they tumbled toward 106 losses in 2023.

One year later, Perez will play in the postseason with the only team he’s ever known.

“We had that discussion last year and did what we wanted: Got him back to the playoffs,” Picollo said. “That’s the only reason we even ever thought about him leaving here. But we did it with him here. That’s even better.”

Perez, 34, wants to eventually retire a Royal and said he wants to play “until I’m 45 if I can,” but most of all he has wanted to get the Royals back to the postseason.

They wanted to get him back there, too.

“That was one of our main goals in the offseason, to get him back to where he felt like he rightfully belonged,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “Clearly he’s a huge part of the reason we’re here.”

After the Royals won it all in 2015, they stumbled into a rebuild, and Perez has been through it all. He’s stood by the organization and insisted he wanted to see it win again. Slowly, the pieces started to fall into place. The Royals drafted Bobby Witt Jr. -- “the best player I ever played with,” Perez said -- and began to build a team around the shortstop and catcher. Quatraro was constantly grateful for Perez’s guidance in 2023, when things didn’t go the way they wanted.

Perez could see the foundation building.

“This means a lot,” Perez said. “I really wanted it for these guys. I wanted it for the young guys. They’ve never been in the playoffs before. After this year, they’re going to play for the playoffs.”

As the Royals prepared to spray champagne on Friday night, it was Perez who got the group to quiet down for speeches and who brought owner John Sherman into the middle of the circle to thank him for putting this team together.

There were many who thanked Perez on Friday night, too.

“Sal hasn’t been [to the postseason] in a long time,” outfielder Tommy Pham said. “I’m really happy to get in for him as well. He’s been with this organization the whole time. The highs and lows. All he wants is to get back to the postseason. I’m happy we can do it for him.”

While nothing Perez does is ever a surprise, the Royals can’t wait to see what’s in store for him in October.

“I've watched highlights of him in the postseason,” right-hander Brady Singer said. “I can’t wait to watch it live. He’s made for October.”