The Royals agreed to terms on a two-year contract with reserve catcher Drew Butera, the club announced on Friday.
The contract is worth $3.8 million over two seasons. Butera will make $1.5 million in 2017 and $2.3 million in 2018, according to a source familiar with the contract.
"We made it very clear once the season was over that we wanted to bring back Drew," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. "He's been a valuable performer for us. He works well with our pitching staff and Salvador and our coaches."
Butera, 33, batted a career-high .285 with a .328 on-base percentage and four homers in 133 plate appearances. He appeared in 56 games while serving as the backup to Salvador Perez for the second straight year.
"He has made tremendous strides offensively," Moore said. "We feel extremely confident with him defensively and feel like he can contribute in a lot of ways."
With Butera signed, Moore said the Royals could enter a quiet period before the winter meetings in early December.
The nature of the offseason is unpredictable, Moore said, but he repeated the club's offseason stance: The Royals' roster could be close to set, barring an addition or two, entering 2017.
"There'll be some moves that we make and present themselves for us the remainder of the offseason," Moore said. "But I think what you see now is about what it's going to be going into spring training."
Butera was originally acquired by the Royals during the 2015 season. He became a free agent when the offseason began.
