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.

David Freese traded to Angels for Peter Bourjos and prospect Randal Grichuk

The St. Louis Cardinals and  Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have agreed to a four player deal. The deal includes All-Star third baseman David Freese and relief pitcher Fernando Salas to the Angels for centerfielder Peter Bourjos, and outfield prospect Randal Grichuk. David Freese was an All-Star in 2012, after showing what he can do when healthy in 2011 and coming through big in the 2011 postseason, winning both NLCS MVP and World Series MVP. After, having a great season in 2012, Freese's numbers were down in 2013.

Why were Freese's numbers down? Maybe no one knows, but people can always guess or assume things. But, I think I might know of a big reason why his numbers were down. Mark McGwire leaving to become the Los Angeles Dodgers hitting coach. Freese seemed like he did well with McGwire as his hitting coach, and at times it can be hard for players to fully adjust to a new hitting coach or even change. Freese could get a bounce back year on the Angels, if he can stay healthy. The Angels have one of the best hitting coaches around in Don Baylor, who gets lots of credit for helping Andres Galarraga re-find his career in 1993 playing for the Colorado Rockies.

Fernando Salas filled in as closer for a bit during the 2011 Cardinals season. He finished the season with 24 saves, and an era of 2.28. After 2011, Salas never seemed to pick up where he left off in 011.

What do the Cardinals have in both Bourjos and Grichuk you might ask? Well, both players could be interesting. Pete Bourjos is one of the best defensivie center fielders, when he's healthy. Even though, he hasn't been fully healthy since 2011. But, he tied Austin Jackson for the most triples in the American league in 2011, with 11 triples. He ended up hitting 271, with 72 runs scored, 136 hits, 26 doubles, 12 home runs, 43 rbi's, and 22 stolen bases. During the 2011 season, he ranked 5th for runs saved among MLB centerfielders. So far, for his career his has 41 stolen bases.

As for Randal Grichuk, he was the Angels no.2 top prospect. He seems to be best as a corner OF in the future. He was drafted in 2009, one spot a head of Angels CF Mike Trout. Grichuk seems like he's a work in progress at 22, with power. The downside is he strikesout a lot, so he'll need to try to imrpove on  the strikeouts somewhat. Overall, he has hit 284 in the minors with 61 home runs, 259 rbi's in 433 games played.

If both Bourjos and Freese can be healthy, they both help improve both teams. Maybe both players just needed new teams. Bourjos will be coming off of wrist surgery. As of right now, it looks like Matt Carpenter will be playing his normal position thirdbase, instead of second base. And Kolten Wong could be starting at second base. Yes, Wong could be a question mark at scond base, because he hasn't done much to show that he can handle the MLB. But, the Cardinals seem to do well with question marks surrounding them. Again, it looks like this trade could help both teams. The Angels needed a thrid baseman. Now the Cardinals need to go find a starting shortstop.

Mike Matheny agrees to contract extension with Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have announced that they have signed manager Mike Matheny to a three year contract extension, that will keep him as the manager through the 2017 season. Matheny 43, had been in his last season of this current deal which was an option from his original deal. He never managed in any baseball level before becoming the Cardinals manager after Tony La Russa retired in 2011. In Matheny's first season as manager, he led the Cardinals to the 2012 NLCS. But, that team lost in the seven games to the San Francisco Giants. And in 2013, the Cardinals lost starting pitcher Chris Carpenter for the season, along with closer Jason Motte, and starting shortstop Rafael Furcal all due to injuries. They had to use twenty rookies in 2013, and were able to win 97 games (their most wins since the 2005 Cardinals, when they won 100 games). Matheny's 2013 Cardinals, were only two wins shy from winning the franchises 12th World Series title.

Matheny became the first Cardinals manager to lead them to lots of success in his first two seasons as their manager. His managing record is 185-139, with a winning percentage of .571. There's no word on how much money Matheny's new deal will pay him.

It's a win-win for both sides, Matheny seems to have learned a lot as a manager. And he seems like he learned a lot about managing when he was a player in the MLB playing under Tony La Russa, Phil Garner, Jim Fregosi, and Felipe Alou. Players seem to enjoy having Matheny as their manager, and he does a great job with rookies. I think a lot of that is because he's a former player himself.

When, Matheny first joined the Cardinals as their manager, I wasn't sure on what to think of it and wondered if the Cardinals were making the right hire. The Cardinals have proved people wrong, including myself who weren't sure about it or who thought it would be a bad move. I think a lot of that was because he had never managed anywhere before.

Kudos to the Cardinals for hiring Matheny and giving him a chance. Hopefully
soon the 12th World Series title will be going down Market Street.

Orioles hire Dave Wallace as pitching coach

The Baltimore Orioles have hired former MLB pitcher Dave Wallace to be their new pitching coach. Wallace, 66, has been around for awhile, if no ones heard of him before. The first became a MLB pitching coach for the New York Mets, from 1999-2000. He later became the Boston Red Sox pitching coach in 2003, until August 2006. After that, he worked for the Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners, and most recently the Atlanta Braves. He worked for the Los Angeles Dodgers after he retired as a player, and he's been given credit for developing some pretty good pitchers over the years, just to name a few of the names who he helped are: Orel Hershiser, Pedro Martinez, Ramon Martinez, Hideo Nomo, and Chan Ho Park.

It seems like the Orioles may have found a pretty good pitching coach. Wallace replaces Rick Adair, who left the Orioles back in August for personal reasons. Regardless, Wallace at least has a proven track record for the Orioles to work from. Will he be good for them as their pitching coach? Time will tell, but the Orioles have the talent in their pitchers, with likes of Chris Tillman and a few others. And back in 2000, the New York Mets went to the World Series with Wallace as their pitching coach, even though they lost to the New York Yankees.

As for myself, it looks like a good hire by the Orioles.

Brenden Morrow lands with Blues

The St. Louis Blues and free agent left-winger Brenden Morrow have agreed to a one-year deal, worth $1.5 million. The deal could end up being a bargain for a player like Morrow, who had other teams wanting him. My guess is that the Blues, may have have offered less money.

Morrow, 34, was picked by the Dallas Stars in the first round of the 1997 NHL draft, he was picked 25th overall in the draft. He's been playing in the NHL since 1999-2000. All of his seasons were with the Stars, up until he was traded around the trade deadline to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Yes, Morrow's best days as a 20-30 goal scorer, could be behind him. But, he might able to add some scoring. And he'll add some leadership to the team, who was a captain on the Stars. Last season, Morrow scored 12 goals, with 13 assists. Can Morrow score 10-15 goals with the Blues? I guess we all will find out during the season, I see him scoring around there, if he can stay healthy.

He also use to kill the Blues a lot in games, when he was playing against the Blues. So having him on the team, is better than having him playing against us.

Morrow's career stats: 850 games played, 249 goals, 293 assists, 542 points, and is a plus 107. In the playoffs he's played 92 games, 19 goals, 27 assists, 46 points, and is a plus 2.

His best season in the NHL was back in 07-08, when he scored 32 goals, with 42 assists .... which were good for a total of 74 points on the season.

All in all, it seems like a good move for the Blues and for Morrow. Now it's time for Morrow to show us that it's a good move for both sides. Morrow knows Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock and GM Doug Armstrong all from the Dallas Stars. And he knows current Blues center Derek Roy, who played for the Stars some last season, before being traded to the Vancouver Canucks.

Welcome Morrow to the St. Louis Blues!

PIETRANGELO AGREES TO DEAL WITH BLUES!

The St. Louis Blues and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo have agreed to a seven-year contract. Pietrangelo ended his holdout by getting the deal signed. Pietrangelo's new contract is worth a total of $45.5 million. This season he'll make $5 million, 2014-2015 $5.5 million, 015-016 $6.5 million, $7 million until 018-019, then in his last year of his contract in 019-020 he'll make 7.5 million. He was drafted by the Blues in the 2008 NHL draft, and was picked 4th overall. He played his first full season in the NHL with the Blues in 2010-2011. During the 011-012 season, Pietrangelo became the second defenseman in Blues history to have both six game-winning goals and six power play goals in the same season, the only other defenseman to do so in Blues history was Hall Of Fame defenseman Al MacInnis.

Pietrangelo's career stats in the NHL as of right now: 224 games played, 29 goals, 92 assists, 121 points, and is a plus 25. In the playoffs, he's played in 14 games and has 1 goal, 6 assists, 7 points, and is a plus 1.

Even though he's developing into one of the league's top defenseman, last year he seemed to take a step back.  I think that could have been due to the lockout, which pretty much seemed to be the case for other NHL players. But, when the Blues traded for defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, Pietrangelo seemed to improve after the trade happened. His best season was in 011-012, when he played 81 games, scoring 12 goals, with 39 assists, and 51 points.

It's nice to see the Blues finally get Alex Pietrangelo signed, with him signed they got their offseason done. And it should be good season for the Blues starting in October. If defenseman Ryan Whitney does well in camp on his tryout, what do you do with him? Do you end up signing him and trading defenseman Ian Cole? After all you can never have too much defense. I even wonder if Whitney does well in camp, if they could talk him into signing a two-way contract, that way he could be playing at Chicago. And if any of the Blues defenseman were to get hurt, he could earn the call up.

KUDOS TO THE BLUES OWNERSHIP FOR SPENDING MONEY THE RIGHT WAY. LETS GO BLUES!

Cardinals land fromer closer John Axford from Brewers

The St, Louis Cardinals have acquired John Axford from the Milwaukee Brewers for a player to be named later. Axford, 30, is a former closer for the Brewers. He came up for the Brewers back in 2009, and pitched in seven games, with 1 save and no blown saves. In 2010, he became the Brewers closer saving 24 games, with 3 holds, and 3 blown saves. Then in 2011, it was Axford's best season in the MLB. He had 46 saves, and two blown saves. That included with an era of 1.95. He also lead the NL in saves in 011, and won the NL Rolaids Relief Man Award (that award is given to the top relief pitchers in the AL  and NL).

In 2012, he pretty much fell apart as the Brewers closer, getting 35 saves and blowing 9 of them, with an era of 4.67. So far in 2013, Axford has been a little bit better than he was in 2012 even though all of his stats may not show it (some of them do show it though). He has 19 holds this season, even though he's blown 6 games, with an era of 4.45. Lots of his problems seem to be giving up the home run ball in Miller Park and at The Great American Ballpark. Sometimes players need a change of scenery after falling off a team. He's under team control through 2016, he's arbitration eligible. So if he doesn't do well, he could end up being non-tendered in December by the Cardinals.

If Edward Mujica needs a day off or two, Axford could get a chance to save, because he has closer experience in the MLB level. It also could end up being a nice pick up if, Mujica's arm problems are worse than thought of. Time will tell if Axford can do well on the Cardinals, I have a feeling that he can if given a chance. He also won't have Ryan Braun as a distraction.

For Axford's career his stats as of now are: 268 games played, 263.1 innings, 21 wins, 19 losses, 106 saves, 20 blown saves, a whip of 1.33, and an era of 3.35. In his postseason career, he has an era of 1.29 and has 3 saves, and 1 blown save.

He'll be in no.34 for the Cardinals starting tonight in Pittsburgh. He's making $5 million this season. He also could end up being a nice help with Trevor Rosenthal leading to closer Edward Mujica. Looks like a good move for the Cardinals bullpen, again time will tell if it is or isn't.