11:15 p.m. EST update: FOXSports.com’s Jon Morosi says it’s expected to be a four-year pact between the Cardinals and Peralta.
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A source told ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick that the Cardinals and shortstop Jhonny Peralta are “closing in” on a deal.
The word Friday from MLB.com’s Peter Gammons was that Peralta already had a four-year, $52 million contract offer on the table.
It seems like a very steep price to pay for a steroid-aided 31-year-old who has finished with OPSs in the .700 range three of the last five years. Peralta did hit an improved .303/.358/.457 last season when he wasn’t serving his 50-game Biogenesis suspension. His defense is fine, according to the numbers, but it’s certainly not going to get any better at his age. Some teams were believed to be considering him as an outfielder, not a shortstop.
That’s obviously not what the Cardinals are planning; they desperately need to upgrade from Pete Kozma and Daniel Descalso at shortstop. Peralta will do that, but his signing hardly seems like a typical Cardinals move, especially if he’s going to be earning in the neighborhood of $50 million.