Jhonny Peralta lands in St. Louis

The St. Louis Cardinals have signed free agent shortstop Jhonny Peralta to a four-year contract that's worth $52 million. Peralta was one the the top free agents on the market at shortstop, besides Stephen Drew. Pretty much, the market in free agency for a shortstop was thin. The Cardinals also don't give up a draft pick and keep their prospects without giving anything big up. So, that seems like a win-win for the Cardinals. I even think Drew signs for more money than Peralta did, but we'll see if I end up being right on that.

Peralta will be 32 in May. He came up with the Cleveland Indians back in 2003. He played for the Indians until July 2010, when he was traded to the Detroit Tigers. He played for the Tigers from July 2010, until the 2013 season. He ended up making the All-Star team two times for the AL in 2011 and 2013. Last season, he was suspended for 50 games after being connected to the Biogenesis scandal. He accepted it and served time. He came back and did well for the Tigers in the playoffs. During the ALDS, he hit 417, and in the ALCS he hit 286. His lifetime postseason batting average is 283.

So far, for Peralta's career in eleven seasons in the MLB, he's played in 1,383 games, hitting 268, with 1,369 hits, 295 doubles, 156 home runs, and 698 rbi's. He should be an upgrade over Pete Kozma at shortshop. Yes, he cheated, but he served time. Players seem to be forgiven a lot of the time in sports after they serve time and if they don't make the same mistake again. Will he remain clean? Lets hope so; he's been a good player over his career, besides last season getting suspended. The Cardinals have wanted Peralta in recent years. As of right now, he looks like he'll help improve the Cardinals line up. He can hit 10-20 home runs.

The Cardinals as of right now look like they might have a better team than they did in 2013. Pretty much all they need to do now is upgrade their bench. If the Cardinals can get a strong bench, then the Cardinals should have a better team heading into the 2014 season. So, now for the Cardinals to go improve their bench. The bench was pretty much one of the things that hurt the Cardinals in the World Series. As of right now, the Cardinals are having a pretty great offseason, without giving up anything to improve their team.