15 worst St. Louis Cardinals free agent signings in franchise history

Aug 7, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Dexter Fowler (25) is
Aug 7, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Dexter Fowler (25) is | Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
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#11 - Jhonny Peralta: 4 years, $53 million, 2014

This is a bit of a controversial pick, but I do think Jhonny Peralta deserves a spot on the worst contracts list based on how his time in St. Louis ended.

Peralta's first two years with the Cardinals were great, finishing 14th in MVP voting in 2014 and being named an All-Star in the 2015 season. Across those two years, he hit .269/.335/.427 with 38 HR and 146 RBI while playing shortstop for St. Louis. He was an excellent addition to the Cardinals lineup during those years.

The final two years of his deal though were awful. During 2016-2017, Peralta played just 103 games, slashing .251/.299/.376 with 8 HR and 29 RBI, eventually being released by the club midway through the 2017 season.

While Peralta was extremely helpful for the first half of his contract, the last half of his deal was just too polar opposite for him to not be counted as a bad value deal and placed on this list.

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