By JP
After a long delay during which I relocated to the great state of Texas, I am back and into the game again, so to speak. When last I left you, David Freese had been dealt to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (or some such bullshit) for Peter Borjous, a trade I think will be beneficial to the Cardinals. I couldn't give a shit if it helped the Angels. It probably won't. Signing Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton, and C.J. Wilson hasn't done them a damn bit of good. But, whatever, the Cards I think are better off. Well, since then, the Cardinals have added a short stop, a position that they needed to fill. However, some people have been complaining about who the picked up:
Jhonny Peralta.
Why all the complaints about Peralta? Well, he was linked to Biogenesis, a company that allegedly supplied performances enhancing drugs to players such as Ryan Braun, Peralta, and Alex Rodriguez. I am not going to defend Peralta except to say that he was linked in 2012 and he had a slight dip in performance that year and that he wasn't linked to anything in 2013 and was (as far as we know anyway) clean in 2013 when he had a better season that in 2012. Take that for what you will.
Some MLB players are whining about the signing and some writers think that the signing is bad for baseball. I disagree with both of them. I will call bullshit when I see it, but people are entitled to their opinions (like, for instance, when I accuse certain MLB players of whining). But I also think that if people are entitled to their opinions, they are also entitled to second chances. To a certain extent, Peralta wasn't rewarded for "cheating" he was rewarded for his circumstance. Let me explain:
1) The St. Louis Cardinals needed a short stop. Peralta is a short stop
2) Detroit did NOT make a qualifying offer to Peralta (which means that any team that signs Peralta would NOT have to give up a draft pick)
3) The only other legitimate short stop on the market was Stephen Drew who has a history of injuries, something the Cardinals wanted to stay away from (the Red Sox also DID make a qualifying offer to Drew, which means the Cards would have had to given up a draft pick)
4) Cardinals GM John Mozeliak doesn't like to give up young talent, so a trade was probably a last resort option for Mo.
5) The Cardinals had some money to spend this off season and felt that spending on Peralta was a better business decision, despite the controversy, than giving away a chunk of their young talent for someone like, say, Troy Tulowitzki who seems to be injured all the time
So, before people start spouting off about Peralta being rewarded for cheating, they should think about it for a moment and realize that Peralta wasn't rewarded for cheating, he was rewarded for being in the right place at the right time.
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