St. Louis Cardinals release Jhonny Peralta
The St. Louis Cardinals have cut the aging infielder Jhonny Peralta loose after a horrendous start to the season.
The St. Louis Cardinals have parted ways with veteran shortstop Jhonny Peralta. As Jonathan Soveta of TheScore.com reports, the team has granted Peralta his unconditional release. The decision comes after the Cardinals designated Peralta for assignment on Friday.
This season has certainly not gone well for the now former Cardinal. Peralta appeared in 21 games and batted a pitiful .204 alongside diminished power and increased strikeouts. Of his 11 hits, not a single one amounted to extra bases. According to advanced metrics, Peralta produced runs at a rate 72 percent worse than the average batter.
Combining 2017’s abysmal results with the prior year’s issues makes it quite apparent why the St. Louis Cardinals decided to move in a different direction. The righty missed a large portion of 2016 with thumb injuries, and only managed to appear in 82 games. Even while he was healthy, he failed to play well. Peralta’s offensive output slipped for the third season in a row.
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Tuesday’s decision to cut the infielder loose will be unlikely to impact the St. Louis Cardinals in a meaningful way. Jedd Gyorko and Aledmys Diaz have replaced the 35-year-old Peralta at his former positions, third base and shortstop, respectively. The Cardinals may decide to trade for an upgrade at one of those positions, but Gyorko has played exceptionally well this season and Diaz has not been too shabby either. At 28 and 25 years of age, the two players are also relatively young.
Perhaps the larger implication for the St. Louis Cardinals is the financial aspect of Peralta’s contract. The team inked the righty to a four-year contract before 2014 with a total value of $53 million. Unlike many other signings at the time, the agreement was front-loaded, meaning that the Cardinals only owed Peralta $10 million for this season.
As a whole, the contract probably worked out well for St. Louis. Peralta had arguably the best season of his career during the first season with his new team. FanGraphs valued his work at 5.3 wins above replacement, and the shortstop provided a clutch performance in the penultimate game of the season to retain the division crown.
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It seems highly likely that this will probably be the infielder’s last significant source of income from a major-league team. As mentioned earlier, Peralta has seen his production drop over the past few years. Odds are that very few teams will want to take a gamble on an aging infielder with a declining track record. He may be able to find a minor-league deal or even a bench role, but his All-Star days are almost certainly over.