MARCH 10: Peralta did indeed undergo thumb surgery this morning, Mozeliak confirmed to reporters, including Goold (Twitter link). Mozeliak added that clubs have called to gauge his interest in acquiring a shortstop, which he likened to “ambulance chasing.”
The aforementioned 10- to 12-week absence would point to a possible return in early June, but Mark Saxon of ESPN tweets that Peralta’s return will more likely be around the All-Star break. Peralta will be in a cast for at least the next four weeks, Saxon notes.
MARCH 8: Peralta says that he hasn’t yet decided but could well opt for a surgical route, as Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. That would hopefully avoid lingering issues, but would likely require at least a ten to twelve week absence.
MARCH 7: Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta left camp today with an apparent injury to his left hand, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. General manager John Mozeliak addressed the media minutes ago and told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jen Langosch, that the team’s early read is a torn ligament in Peralta’s left thumb which could result in an absence of two to three months (links to Twitter). Peralta is traveling back to St. Louis to receive a second opinion on the injury.
Any lengthy absence for Peralta would be a blow to a Cardinals club that some pundits felt was already light in terms of power production. The 33-year-old Peralta (34 in late May) appeared in 155 games for the Redbirds last season, batting .275/.334/.411 with 17 home runs. That line, while solid overall, masks what was a miserable second half of the season for the veteran infielder, though. Peralta was batting a robust .288/.345/.465 as late in the season as Aug. 4, and while the nature of that endpoint is entirely arbitrary in nature, admittedly, he slumped to a meek .246/.312/.291 batting line over his final 199 trips to the plate.
The Cardinals picked up Jedd Gyorko in an offseason swap with the Padres in part to help keep Peralta fresh and avoid a similar second-half decline. Gyorko has limited experience at shortstop but could be in line for significant playing time at the position in the event of a prolonged stint on the disabled list for Peralta. St. Louis also has infielder Greg Garcia as an option at short, and Aledmys Diaz, who signed a four-year deal as a free agent in 2014, could surface in the Majors after rebuilding his stock with a strong rebound campaign in 2015.
The timing of Peralta’s injury is terrible for the Cardinals not only in terms of proximity to the season but also because as recently as eight to nine days ago, a viable replacement sat on the free agent market in the form of Ian Desmond. Desmond, however, inked a one-year deal to play left field with the Rangers, removing him as a possible alternative.
I’ll bet Desmond would approve a trade, and MLB wouldn’t have a problem with it either.
He should of waited out , But the injuries are beginning to start again for the cardinals. But I still won’t bet against them
Eric Aybar could be had in a trade and shouldn’t cost too much.
Not sure atlanta would do that
What’s the difference if he gets traded now or in 3-5 months from now?
Well, a lot. If Peralta is out 3 months, you’re talking about almost half the season. And then you’re also expecting him to be in midseason shape, though he’s now had a shortened spring training and little game experience, though he’s a vet and doesn’t need much time to get acclimated barring any soreness. However, during that 3 months, ATL is hoping Aybar can rebuild his value from a relative down season a year ago to shop him. That also gives more time to for someone to step up and younger SS prospects to mature – though they won’t be ready until 2017.. If STL wants to overpay, I’m sure ATL would listen, but I don’t see them selling low on Aybar and putting themselves in a bind at SS without impacting another area in need in a significant way.
It isn’t 1/2 the season. It is March 8th. If he is out 2 months, he will be ready the first week of May.
Plus, Diaz is 4 for 4 today, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs, small sample size but he has been smokin’ with the stick since the last half of last year, Arizona fall league, and now.
I should of clarified my post better, but if Braves get what they want in the trade what difference in the time line that he gets traded? For the Braves they are going to want what the best return is and it’s not really going to impact there overall season much. Braves are still a bottom 5 team with or without him. But for the Cardinals it could be a big impact on their season since they are still considered a contending team. If the Braves trade him now they could use another stop gap till there Swanson/Albies is ready without rushing either.
I’d trade Aybar and Daniel Winkler for prospect Nick Plummer.
Peralta’s only out 2 months of regular season at most, maybe one. They can tough it out with what they have until mid-May or what have you. Gyorko’s not impossibly bad, and like most organizations they have a few glove only SS types hanging around. Not a huge deal.
1/2 a season is a bigger deal then your internet diagnosis…
Perfect match and with the farm to get this done. Braves have Reid Brignac who could hold down the fort for a month or two or even sooner, they could also just get bold and start Swanson on Opening Day. Aybar would be a fine everyday guy who could spell the aging Peralta and take over in the late innings for defense. STL has the prospects ATL would want, would love to see this trade go down asap.
Wouldthe Cardinals cough up prospects of interest?
Not even sure.
For a year of Aybar that could save their season? Sure, they’d give up a couple of guys outside of their org’s top 10 prospects, for sure.
What “save their season”? Peralta’s coming back in May.
Aybar isn’t worth any legitimate prospect. Garcia!/Diaz will likely be as good as Aybar for a couple months.
Also, thanks for hating me because of a media narrative!
See, this is what I’m afraid of. Fans starting clamoring to rush elite prospects up to the bigs before they’re ready, just to fill STL’s SS need for 2-3 months. If you’re an ATL fan, you’re accepting the mulligan that will be the 2016 season, and not sacrificing the future by rushing someone like Swanson/Albies through. Swanson, by all accounts, IS NOT READY. Albies looks great at the plate, but he’s just 19. Frankie says relax, people. Let STL sort their stuff out and not impact the future of the rebuild for ATL.
Man… I agree with you %!! I hope the Braves do NOT rush Swanson or Albies through. Who cares about this year, really?! The only thing I would add though is… If the Braves trade Aybar to STL, I would just ask for a minor leaguer and picks 33-34 of this years draft plus some $$. They have Beckman and Kelly Johnson or even Jace Peterson if they really need to. Just saying!
Neither would Stephen Drew, infact.. The nationals FO has had some time to rethink the 3m they gave him this winter and maybe giving him and his lethargic bat to St looie for nothing may be a wise choice.
It’s hilarious how much you hate Stephen Drew, a guy no one else in the baseball world bothers even thinking about.
The Braves are dumb. They gave away Shelton. But want a ton for Aybar
Pretty big blow to the redbirds. I would imagine it is highly likely to still be a bit of an issue if/when Peralta returns. The silver lining of all of the FA whiffing is they should have the resources to address this problem, if they want to.
Boy, that’s a big loss for them. I’m a Pirates fan, but I don’t relish in them losing guys to injury. Gyorko isn’t primarily a SS. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Cards scan the waiver wires for a Clint Barmes-type of veteran fill-in, a glove-first option to put behind Gyorko and./or Garcia.
Diaz is the most likely option, and if Peralta is only out 2 months then he will be back by the first week in May. They may indeed scan the waiver wire after teams are set, post Spring Training, buy they aren’t desperate. Barmes is the second name that came to mind.
If there was going to be an off year for the cardinals this might be one of those years, but the cardinals are the one team you never count out.
Can we please ban this troll
I loathe the STL fanbase, they are the worst fans in the game by far, but you are very wrong on so many points here its hilarious. For starters, other than Perralta, only 2 key players are over 34 and most of the team is under 28. They have a farm system that is probably the most consistently great in MLB. I understand that you probably dislike their fans more than I do, but there’s no need to make yourself look uninformed and sill.. Even losing Peralta they’re still a high 80s/low 90s win team.
*silly
Loath all you want. If Peralta is out 2 months, then he will be ready by the first week in May. If 3 months, then early June. The toughest decision the Red Birds were going to have coming out of Spring Training was whether or not Diaz would be on the squad, now that is answered. I doubt if they make any move, until other teams complete their squads, post Spring Training. Then they can pick up a defensive specialist, for a couple of months if needed. They aren’t desperate, and it isn’t likely to effect them much. This team is better than the injury riddled 2015 team that won 100 games. If it knocks them back it will most likely be from 105 wins to 100.
What? It took their pitching staff having a historic strand rate to get to 100 wins and they got worse going into this year. How does that equal 105 wins?
How did they get worse? Wainwright is certainly an upgrade over Lackey, and Leake is at least a lateral move over Lynn, especially since he struggled in the second half due to injury.
Lance Lynn 2015 – 3.1
MIke Leake 2015 – 1.7 2016 projection 2.1 (-1)
John Lackey 2015 – 3.6
Adam Wainwright 2016 projection 3.5 (-.1)
Carlos Martinez 2015 3.4
2016 projection 3.0 (-.4)
You lose 6.7 from Lynn and Lackey and Wainwright + Leake are not projected to make up that difference. Additionally, Carlos Martinez is dealing with injuries and is not projected to have as good of a 2016, but that’s close enough that you could call it a wash.
So no, Leake is not a lateral move and while Wainwright may provide additional value over Lackey, it is likely not enough to make up for Leake vs. Lynn.
You distort the reality. Lynn was injured the last half of 2015, so his earlier numbers are meaningless. The point is the 2015 team excelled, despite numerous in injuries, and the their is no insurance that Lackey would repeat his 2015 year.
Martinez is reported to be fine, Wacha is another year removed from his injury, which was not in the joint, so he too should be fine. Both are maturing, learning, and progressing, the notion they will regress is pure folly, based on wishful thinking.
Wait, how is pointing out stats distorting reality? Lynn being injured doesn’t change the production he put up, so no, his numbers are not meaningless. I don’t care what your point is, you responded to me. And that was most certainly not my point. Their starting rotation does not look to be as good right now as it produced last season.
I’m not sure how you get wishful thinking. I don’t really care what the cardinals do. They should be a decent team that competes for 2nd in the NL central. That doesn’t change the fact that their pitching staff is worse.
The direction of the original post was whether the Cards pitching is better than the 2015 squad. Lynn was hurt the last half of the season, and performed poorly. Plus, he won’t pitch in 2016.
Choosing to use stats from earlier years misses the point.. It is whether the current staff is better than the 2015 rotation. One can argue that Wacha and Martinez will regress, but I find that unfounded, as stated earlier..
Wainwright is an upgrade over Lackey. Garcia while injury prone, has always posted excellent numbers throughout his career, and 2015 is no exception. An argument can be made that he won’t make it through 2016 without a setback. Time will tell. But as it is currently, the staff may very well outdo the 2015 squad, if their hurlers repeat their 2015 numbers.
You conflate comparisons between 2015 and 2016, with numbers and projections of the past. I am mystified by your reasoning on Lynn. If he is healthy he is better than Leake, but he wasn’t in 2015, and Leake most likely will outpitch his 2015 production. It isn’t a matter of who is better, but will Leake be better than Lynn was in 2015.
” It isn’t a matter of who is better, but will Leake be better than Lynn was in 2015.”
And the answer to that, is no. Lance Lynn was worth 3.1 fWAR in 2015. Mike Leake has produced that exactly 0 times.
The point of using 2015 performance and 2016 projection is to point out that their staff does not look to produce as much in 2016 as it did in 2015. I’m sorry that you can’t follow that…
Alright I will try this one last time. We are comparing the 2015 staff, and the 2016 one. Regardless of past fWars, Lynn wasn’t his usual self, particularly in the second half due to injury. Yet the Cards still managed to post the best ERA since the ’80’s. Leake is better than the 2015 Lynn. So the Red Birds will have a better pitcher than Lynn was.
Wainwright didn’t pitch in 2015 so the comparison has to use past numbers to project his 2016 season, and his history makes him a stronger hurler than Lackey.
The other 3 starters are the same. It is hard to fathom why they should regress. Yes, Garcia’s has had injury issues, but if he is healthy, he should project similarly to his 2015 season. He has always pitched well, when healthy. Both Wacha and Martinez are in their early 20’s, and the notion they should regress cannot be justified. If anything another year of experience should enable them to be better, thus the 2016 rotation should be better than the 2015 one.
They will regress because wainwright + leake will not out produce the 2015 production of lackey + lynn.
I’m not sure why you can’t understand this. Perhaps homer glasses make it too hard to see what I’m saying
It looks like 2mon was incredibly optimistic. If it is closer to half a season, then STL really should consider outside options. It may not matter though, as they have more issues than just Peralta being sidelined.
Like what?
Farm system should be the best since we have learned that the Patriots of the MLB have been cheating by stealing other teams scouting and draft data. Redbirds should have to forfeit all draft slots for three years.
Yeah, that is likely. Perhaps they will lose two of their three first round picks, but that will be seen as serious punishment.
Nah, the worst fans in baseball reside on the north side of Chicago.
Man…Ian Desmond can’t catch a break right now
He taunted the baseball gods when he turned down a ridiculous high extension offer. Thank you agent.
st louis will be a better team without him for two- three months. hopefully, he has a hard time getting back in the lineup.
Maybe Ruben tejada can be a target for cards. He is adequate backup that can start. He has asdrubal and Flores ahead of him. Can get Tejada for very cheap
if tejada does get traded to stl would he start crying again ? better iff with Gryorko at ss for a few weeks. he can hit. wong would have to play againat lefties for awhile but stl got thru that last year ok during regular season. please excuse my spelling
Clever… but you got the wrong guy. You’re thinking of Wilmer Flores who was in the trade package that didn’t happen last year and started crying on the bench.
yeah Flores. thanks.
And you are saying this with a straight face?
Totally unsurprising. I figured the Cards are going to be in a transition year this year in part because of reliance on too many injury prone players. Holiday, Peralta, Molina, Wainwright, C Martinez, Adams, J Garcia, and Grichuk are all good bets to be injured. We’ll see.
Peralta has been one of the most durable players in the league throughout his career. His only sub-140 game campaign since he became a regular in 2005 was in 2013 when he was suspended for 50 games.
As has Holliday, Molina, and Wainwright. Martinez is a converted infielder, and his injury at the end of 2015 is his first. Same for Adams. The idea that St. Louis is in a transition year is simply wishful thinking, they are better than the injury riddled 2015 team.
I can see an arguement that they are as good as last year but better? Hows that possible? Lets set the names aside… how much better do you think Wainwrights numbers will be than Lackeys from last season? Plus they lost Heyward. I just dont see any upgrades… they have the same injury riddled (as you put it) players.
Wainwright is significantly better than Lackey. Leake is better than the injured Lynn. The additions of Pena, Gyorko and Oh, adds to the bench.
A full year of Holliday, Adams, Walden, Moss, Grichuk, Piscotty, and Pham, make the Cards a much better team than the 2015 squad.
You should take up a hobby…like following baseball.
Last August the Cards went 19-9 while Peralta had a .612 OPS
They’ll make it until he gets back in May with Diaz, Garcia, and Gyroko.
I don’t see them making a move to get anyone to help out at short.
Is that because John Lackey has a lot of Wins?
If you are referring to my August comment, the cards went 3-3 in his August starts
Garcia vs RHP, Diaz vs LHP, should be fine for a month or two.
I hope they give Diaz a good look, he could very well be a solid SS for the time being.
Cards need a replacement next year anyway. What about a cheap Reyes deal? That or move Wong to SS…
White sox could trade saldino or Sanchez now that they’ve got Rollins
Cards have the exact equivalent already in Diaz and Garcia. So why?
Better off just picking up a non-roster invitee who played well but seens unlikely to make the roster out of camp like a Ryan Jackson type.