St. Louis Cardinals: Boston signs Jhonny Peralta to minor league deal

Former St. Louis Cardinals infielder Jhonny Peralta signed a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox.

In a very active day, the Red Sox have also added Doug Fister after claiming him off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels and then added Jhonny Peralta who became available after the St. Louis Cardinals designated him for assignment.

Fans in St. Louis are not upset to see Peralta go, and frankly he seems like Boston’s problem now.  After playing only eighty-two games in 2016, and having an extremely lackluster 2017 campaign, getting rid of the 35-year-old was being shouted frequently by the Redbird faithful.

However, this move makes sense for a team that needs help at the hot corner.  Remember, Peralta is a three-time All-Star and even got some MVP votes in 2014.  Despite hitting only .204 in 2017, he poses as an interesting signing decision.

A minor league deal means nothing if Peralta doesn’t prove that he can still play.  But at the very least he adds a veteran presence to the organization.  It is not bad to have a player with 202 career home runs playing where the players of the future are grooming and giving an aging player one last shot to make it back to the Major League level.

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This will most likely turn out to be nothing.  There are really no grounds for a Peralta resurgence.  He had two really good seasons at the beginning of his contract with the St. Louis Cardinals, but as age caught up with him, he became wasted money.  Hence, the decision to DFA him to make room for Kolten Wong.

The player to replace Peralta has been the pretty impressive Paul DeJong.  Dr. Miles says that the player may be playing to prove his worth.  A great article that can be read here.

As far as the St. Louis Cardinals need for Peralta? They do not.  There is more room for prospects to get some experience, or for the team to be buyers at the trade deadline. The Red Sox possibly have found an answer to one of their needs.  It is at least worth a shot.

Next: Podcast episode nine recap

Both teams did what they thought would help them the most moving forward this season.  If Peralta makes it back with the Red Sox, then the change of scenery theory really works because this year was a struggle on every side of the ball for the aging infielder.