NEW YORK (AP) — Salvador Perez was back in the lineup for the Kansas City Royals after his first day off this season and posting on social media about not needing a mental breather.
Perez was the designated hitter Sunday and said things between him and manager Matt Quatraro are fine.
“No frustration, Zero frustration for us,” Perez said before the finale of a three-game series against the Yankees. “The people they don’t want to know what’s going on here. They can think and they can say whatever they want to say, you know, zero frustration. I don’t have time for that.”
On Saturday, Perez was given his first day off since sitting out two games last August.
Quatraro described it as giving him a mental breather.
On Saturday night, Perez posted on social media: “I don’t need a mental breather.”
“I know people were surprised I didn't play yesterday, but I think everybody has off days in the big leagues," Perez said. "It’s kind of hard to play 162, especially behind the home plate."
“Everything’s fine,” Quatraro said. “Salvy and I have talked multiple times about it. We’re in a good spot. I think some of it comes from it’s a story when Salvy doesn’t play and there’s usually a follow-up question to how’d that go, how’s he feeling. “So it was just me trying to provide a little color to the answer that didn’t go the way it was intended and that’s really all there was to it.”
Perez was the DH for the seventh time this season.
Off to a slow start, Perez is hitting .160 with three homers and six RBIs in his first 20 games. Last season, the 35-year-old batted .236 — his second lowest-average in a full season — but hit 30 homers and drove in 100 runs for his third career 100-RBI season.
Perez caught 92 games last season, was the designated hitter in 38 other games and also played 28 games at first base. He played 47 games at first base in 2024.
To give Perez more time at designated hitter, the Royals added a third catcher when they selected the contract of Elías Díaz from Triple-A Omaha. Díaz signed a minor league contract with Kansas City in late-February and was hitting .226 at Omaha.
Last season Díaz batted .204 with nine homers and 29 RBIs in 106 games for the San Diego Padres. He is a career .247 hitter with 71 homers and 326 RBIs in 11 seasons for Colorado, Pittsburgh and San Diego.
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Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez runs out his three-run home run against the Detroit Tigers during the seventh inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez, right, celebrates his three-run home run with Carter Jensen (22) against the Detroit Tigers during the seventh inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez celebrates his three-run home run against the Detroit Tigers during the seventh inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
The Cincinnati Bengals acquired three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence from the New York Giants for the 10th pick in the upcoming NFL draft.
The teams announced the deal Sunday after agreeing to it Saturday night pending a physical.
Cincinnati then signed Lawrence to an extension that pays him an average of $28 million through the 2028 NFL season, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Giants now have the fifth and 10th picks for the draft that begins Thursday night. They’re heading into their first draft under coach John Harbaugh after finishing 4-13 last season.
The Bengals paid a hefty price for the 28-year-old Lawrence, who asked for a trade because he wanted a new contract. He was set to make roughly $20 million each of the next two seasons and is now under contract for three more.
“I know they gave up a lot for me, and I appreciate that. I don’t take that for granted. I have a fire in me,” Lawrence said Sunday at Paycor Stadium, according to the Bengals' website.
Barring a trade, it’ll be the first time Cincinnati doesn’t have a first-round pick since 1989, when the Bengals traded the next-to-last pick in the draft (No. 27) to Atlanta for a second-round pick (No. 35), a fourth (No. 89) and a 10th (No. 256).
The 6-foot-4, 340-pound Lawrence had a career-high nine sacks in 2024 but only registered a half-sack last season. He made the Pro Bowl in 2022-24 and was a second-team Associated Press All-Pro in 2022 and 2023.
The Bengals ranked near the bottom in several defensive categories last season. They were 31st in yards allowed, 30th in points allowed and 30th against the run.
With Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins leading a dynamic offense, improving the defense was a must this offseason. Lawrence gives Cincinnati a proven star in the middle of the defensive line, though the cost was steep.
The Giants will be the 22nd team in the common draft era (since 1967) to have two top-10 picks and the fifth in the last five years. They did it in 2022 with Kayvon Thibodeaux (fifth) and Evan Neal (seventh). The Bears took Caleb Williams first and Rome Odunze ninth in 2024. The Texans selected C.J. Stroud second and Will Anderson Jr. third in 2023. The Jets got Sauce Gardner fourth and Garrett Wilson 10th in 2022.
On Tuesday, Giants general manager Joe Schoen said the team was having productive talks with Lawrence’s camp.
“We’d like for Dexter to be here, and at some point we’ll come to a resolution here, whatever that may be,” Schoen said. “We’ll see. But conversations have been really good, they’ve been productive and we’ll see what happens here down the road.”
But owning two top-10 picks was too good to pass up.
AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow and AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy contributed to this report.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL
FILE - New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II (97) walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger, File)
