KANSAS CITY -- The Royals want Billy Butler back and the designated hitter wants to stay, so let the negotiations begin.
The Royals, as expected, declined to exercise a $12.5 million club option on Butler's 2015 contract, but general manager Dayton Moore said the club wants him to return.
However, the move announced by the club on Saturday makes Butler a free agent and he can negotiate with any team.
"Billy's been a huge part of our success, and we're going to stay engaged with him and do everything we can to bring him back," Moore said.
"I'm definitely a Royal at heart," Butler said.
This season, Butler had a career-low .271 batting average in 151 games. His nine home runs and 66 RBIs were the lowest totals in his six full seasons with Kansas City. But Butler also helped them win the American League pennant and reach the World Series for the first time in 29 years.
"Nobody wants to leave a championship team, so that makes the decision even tougher, and I hope it doesn't have to come to that," Butler said.
Butler, who has earned $8 million in each of the last three seasons, is interested in a multiyear deal.
Would the Royals float a multiyear contract Butler's way?
"The only thing I can say about that is we want him back," Moore said. "We're obviously not in a position now to pick up a $12 million option, but we welcome the opportunity to bring him back."
Butler, who received a $1 million buyout, said he's discussed his situation with Moore.
"A multiyear deal would definitely be a desire from my part, and Dayton has expressed that toward me and hopefully the numbers work out," Butler said. "Hopefully, another team doesn't come in and blow me out of the water with an offer."
Butler was the Royals' first-round pick in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, and he shot up the Minor League ladder with high averages and big RBI totals. He made his Major League debut at age 21 -- as a left fielder, oddly enough -- on May 1, 2007.
After a temporary demotion to Triple-A Omaha in 2008, Butler became a Kansas City fixture, playing some first base but used primarily as the DH, especially afterEric Hosmer's arrival in 2011. Butler peaked in 2012, when he was an All-Star and hit .313 with 29 homers and 107 RBIs and won the Edgar Martinez Award as the outstanding DH.
In 2014, Butler battled through what was, for him, an unusually inconsistent season. It began with a .195 average, no homers and six RBIs in his first 21 games through April 24. Then he got more Billy-like through the end of May, batting .290 with seven doubles and 15 RBIs but just one homer.
An uptick in June yielded a .313 average, nine doubles and 13 RBIs in 27 games but again just one homer. There was another sag in early July, but Butler seemed to catch fire when Hosmer was injured and he took over at first base. In his next 39 games, Butler hit .284 with six homers, eight doubles, 21 RBIs and an on-base percentage of .344.
Butler believes he proved to any interested National League teams that he can play in the field.
"I think I showed everyone in August by the way the team played and the way we went that I can definitely play first base. ... I feel like I can play every day at first base," he said.
In September, Hosmer returned and Butler's playing time diminished as he shared DH time with Nori Aoki and Josh Willingham.
"It was definitely inconsistent from me, coming from a guy that was very consistent over the eight years," Butler said. "Those kinds of seasons happen. If you play long enough, I think every player has a tough stretch or a tough year. That one year doesn't define a player and I think that's why Dayton would like me to come back, because he knows the type of player I am and that I've been."
In the postseason this year, Butler batted .262 (11-for-42) in 13 games, with three doubles and eight RBIs. He sat out two World Series games in San Francisco where no DH was used.
"I just hope in my heart and my head that Kansas City is still the right spot for me," Butler said. "It's been that way for 10 years and I hope that's the way it continues."
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