St. Louis Cardinals' Post-Suspension Jhonny Peralta Risk Has Paid Off Huge

After coming up short against the Boston Red Sox in the 2013 World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals entered the offseason with a very specific to-do list.

At the top of that list: adding a productive shortstop.

With the regular season in the books, it’s safe to say the Cardinals found what they were looking for in Jhonny Peralta.

The .222 batting average and four home runs from Cardinal shortstops in 2013 ranked 14th among all National League teams, while the duo of Pete Kozma and Daniel Descalso combined for a dismal minus-0.2 WAR.

The Cardinals’ lack of production at shortstop was only magnified in the postseason, as Kozma and Descalso collectively batted .132/.233/.151 over 61 plate appearances.

Having seen enough, the Cardinals front office decided to aggressively pursue a long-term solution at the position. And less than a month after the World Series loss, they’d already found their guy in free agent Jhonny Peralta.

In one of the first major moves of the offseason, the Cardinals signed Peralta on Nov. 25, 2013 to a four-year, $53 million contract, locking up the two-time All-Star through 2017.

At the time of the signing, Peralta, 32, was a career .268/.330/.425 hitter with 156 home runs, 295 doubles and 698 RBI over 11 seasons between the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers.

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak expressed his excitement to The Associated Press (h/t ESPN.com):

"

We are pleased to announce that Jhonny has agreed to terms and I know he is equally excited to be joining the Cardinals. Jhonny is among the game's top offensive shortstops, he's a steady defender and he has experience playing for a contender. He gives us proven veteran experience and brings balance and versatility to our everyday lineup.

"

Jeff Roberson/Associated Press

However, the rest of the baseball world didn’t share the Cardinals' enthusiasm, as the signing was met with harsh criticism given Peralta’s previous transgression.

Peralta was suspended 50 games last summer due to his ties to performance-enhancing drugs in the Biogenesis scandal, and the Tigers shortstop quickly took responsibility for his mistake and began serving the ban.

After batting .303 with 11 home runs and 54 RBI in 104 regular-season games before the suspension, Peralta rejoined the Tigers in late September and went on to hit .333 with five extra-base hits and six RBI in 10 postseason games.

Understandably, the signing didn’t sit well with some major leaguers, especially other free agents pursuing contracts such as right-handed pitcher David Aardsma.

Plus, the Cardinals—an organization not known for offering large contracts to free agents—deciding to give Peralta a lucrative, multiyear deal added a new layer to the ongoing debate regarding the treatment of proven steroid users following their suspensions.

Following the signing, Bob Nightengale of USA Today argued that with the PED penalty system structured as it is, teams have no reason not to pursue steroid users as they would any other player, provided he’s the right fit:

"

That's what Peralta got, up from the total $16.75 million he made over the past three years with the Tigers, and a big jump from the PED-violator record two years and $16 million given by the Phillies to Marlon Byrd two weeks ago and by Toronto to Melky Cabrera last offseason. ...

Maybe the union will follow through with what seems like growing player sentiment for tougher drug-program penalties, but in the meantime the write-a-check approach – especially when it best fits the needs of a team – has few deterrents.

"

Mozeliak defended the signing from the beginning, and, more importantly, never shied away from the tough questions, via Phil Rogers of MLB.com:

"

But my understanding and doing our due diligence, we felt like the mistake he made was a one-time event and he was ready to move on. We feel it's not our job to never again have interest in players who test positive. There's a certain line you have to walk in professional sports, but we were confident it wasn't going to happen again. If it did, shame on us.

"

But simply saying that Peralta has rewarded the Cardinals for their confidence and support doesn’t begin to describe the impact he’s had in his first year with the organization.

Peralta proved to be the team’s most consistent source of power, hitting at least three home runs in five of six months during the regular season en route to a team-leading 21 homers. He also paced the club with 38 doubles and finished the season with a .779 OPS.

On top of that, the veteran shortstop enjoyed the best defensive campaign of his 12-year career, ranking third in the major leagues at the position in terms of defensive runs saved (17 DRS) and fourth in zone rating (12.7 UZR/150).

The 32-year-old’s 5.4 WAR in 157 games was the highest among all qualified shortstops and 25th-best in the major leagues, not to mention a revelation compared to the team’s production (or lack thereof) from the position the previous year.

And for the Cardinals, those five-plus wins proved to be the difference between winning the NL Central and fighting for the second wild-card spot.

All statistics are courtesy of FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.