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MLB power rankings: Best player on each team

By Brad Berreman

Apr 17, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) during the game against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 17, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) during the game against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /

Kansas City Royals: C Salvador Perez

Over the last four seasons, Perez has averaged 18 home runs and 71 RBI per season while catching over 1,100 innings each season. Not surprisingly, he has been an American League All-Star in all four seasons while winning a Gold Glove all four times as well. In 2016, while topping 20 home runs for the second straight season, Perez hit a career-high 22 home runs and won the first Silver Slugger Award of his career.

A scary home plate collision during the World Baseball Classic is a distant memory now, with some good fortune to have avoided a very serious injury, as Perez is off to a nice start this season (.289 batting average, .644 slugging percentage, five home runs and seven RBI).

Purely defensively, Perez has led American League catchers in assists three times and caught stealing (volume and percentage) twice in the last the last four seasons. He has obviously been a key cog in the Royals’ recent success, with back-to-back World Series trip in 2014 and 2015, and Perez was named MVP of the Fall Classic in 2015 after hitting .364 (8-for-22) in Kansas City’s five-game dismissal of the New York Mets.

The physical grind of being behind the plate may catch up to Perez quickly, but he is still just 26 years old (27 on May 10) with some prime years left in career. The Royals have him under contract through 2021, which should line up well with a potential downward turn in Perez’s career. But right now, they have reliability as well as high-level production at a premium position and that makes Perez the team’s best player.

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