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Jhonny Peralta

Could Cardinals Be Interested In DeRosa?

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Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com says that Cardinals GM John Mozeliak is seeking help at third base with Troy Glaus out with ligament damage. "And in describing what he's looking for to reporters earlier today, he might as well have just said, 'Mark DeRosa.'"

Castrovince continues:

"The Indians, as you know, have had DeRosa basically on the block for a couple weeks now, because his value to them isn't anywhere near what it was before Jhonny Peralta moved to third base. So this could be an interesting situation to watch in the next couple days."

The Indians want Major League-ready pitching in return for DeRosa, says Castrovince, and he lists Mitchell Boggs, P.J. Walters, and Chris Perez as potential bargaining chips for the Cards.

The Indians have increasing reason to believe that they cannot compete in the AL Central. Yesterday, Jon Paul Morosi of FOX wrote that the injury to Grady Sizemore pushes the Indians that much closer to a selloff.

Edes On Francoeur, Nick Johnson, Valverde

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8:10pm: David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on the Red Sox-Francoeur rumor:

Talked to someone in Braves organization who sort of dismissed the Red Sox rumor. Said he hadn’t heard one thing about them having any serious interest in Francoeur or scouting him recently.

9:01am: Yahoo's Gordon Edes wrote about many different trade scenarios in his column last night.

  • Edes seconds Ken Rosenthal's rumor that the Red Sox have been scouting Jeff Francoeur.
  • The Nationals have been scouting the Mets' Triple and Double A teams, trying to figure out a possible return for Nick Johnson.  Names of interest for Washington: Jon Niese, Mike Antonini, Eddie Kunz, and big leaguer Bobby Parnell.  The Red Sox also had interest in Johnson, but not for the price of Michael Bowden.  Back to the Mets – Joel Sherman of the New York Post has a list of available players they could consider aside from Johnson, including Jermaine Dye, Ben Francisco, Adam LaRoche, and Eric Hinske.
  • Edes likes the fit of Jose Valverde with the Rays, but speculates that the Astros could ask for Wade Davis in return.  Six years of Davis would be a huge price to pay for a few months of Valverde plus possible draft picks.  Edes also likes Mark DeRosa for Tampa Bay, but they seem well-equipped to handle Akinori Iwamura's injury with internal options.
  • Edes names the Phillies, Brewers, Royals, and Twins as possible suitors for Brad Penny.  Edes adds that the Phillies "are already making plans for life without Brett Myers" after this season.
  • The shortstop market includes Jack Wilson and perhaps John McDonald, but could become more interesting for a team like Boston if the Indians make Jhonny Peralta available.

Odds And Ends: Jones, Peralta, Liriano

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Lins for Saturday morning…

  • As ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports, Adam Jones is pleased that the Orioles have so much pitching approaching the majors, but he wants to win now.
  • SI.com's Tom Verducci calls Jones baseball's most improved player and breaks down the outfielder's hot start.
  • Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Jhonny Peralta is playing third base for now.
  • Rob Neyer of ESPN.com writes that there are no guarantees for Francisco Cervelli once Jose Molina and Jorge Posada are fully healthy. 
  • Neyer adds that the Twins need Francisco Liriano to take his game to the next level and regain the form that saw him dominate the American League in 2006. 
  • In a third piece, Neyer weighs in on the White Sox, concluding that there's no reason to panic in a division that the Sox could take with 85 wins. Still, the team has issues in center field and in the middle infield.

Tim Brown’s Latest: Peralta, McPherson, Putz

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Yahoo’s Tim Brown posted a new column this evening.

  • The Nationals got an OK return for Jon Rauch, acquiring second baseman Emilio Bonifacio.  That could set the pace for reasonable reliever prices.
  • The Indians are listening on Casey Blake, Paul Byrd, and Jamey Carroll, as you know.  Jhonny Peralta isn’t off-limits either.
  • Here’s a new name of interest for the Dodgers: Marlins minor league third baseman Dallas McPherson.  He’ll be 28 soon, and carries a .287/.400/.650 line with 32 home runs in 314 Triple A at-bats.  This could be the second time McPherson blasts 40 home runs in a minor league season.
  • The Red Sox inquired on J.J. Putz, but the Mariners say he’s not available.

Ocker On Blake, Marte, Dellucci, Borowski And Lee

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Sheldon Ocker of the Akron Beacon Journal does some speculating on the Indians’ third base, left field, and closer situations.

  • Casey Blake’s contract expires at the end of the season, and at age 35, Ocker doesn’t believe that Indians’ GM Mark Shapiro will re-up for him.  Ocker points to two reasons why Andy Marte probably won’t work out as the in-house solution to Blake’s potential absence: he could be lost on waivers if he doesn’t make the team as a utility man coming out of Spring Training, and he shows no sign of figuring things out and becoming an impact player.  Check out his Dominican Winter League performance if you need further proof that the 24 year-old Marte is regressing: .198/.213/.260 with seven errors.  Small sample size?  Yes, but wowza!
  • Who from the available 2009 free agent list could be had to man third base?  Could Asdrubal Cabrera be shifted to shortstop, and Jhonny Peralta moved to third?  If so, who could move in to play second in place of Cabrera?
  • Ocker also speculates that Shapiro will allow Jason Michaels of the Michaels/David Dellucci platoon walk unless their productivity rises substantially.  Michaels is slated to make $2.15MM this season, and the club has an option for $2.6MM in 2009.  What about Ben Francisco?  Could he be an option to take over for Michaels in the platoon?
  • This could also be Joe Borowski’s last year as closer in Cleveland, Ocker says.  Borowski will be 37 in 2009, and it has long been speculated that Borowski is on the cusp of losing his job.  Ocker points out that it is always tough to find a closer on the free agent market, but remarks that it’s "questionable" that the role could be filled in-house.  I still don’t understand the reluctance to place Rafael Betancourt in the role.  Anyone?
  • Finally, Ocker wonders how Cliff Lee would handle losing the number five slot in the rotation to Aaron Laffey or Jeremy Sowers.  Relying on Lee’s response to last year’s demotion — which was one of surprise at a player with a multi-year contract being sent to the minors ($3.75MM this year) — Ocker says that Lee has a sense of entitlement regarding the number five slot.  Ocker says that is "fine as long as he holds up his end of the bargain."

Posted by Matt Birt

Rolen For Glaus Finalized

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UPDATE, 1-14-08 at 5:44pm: And it’s official, news conference Wednesday.

UPDATE, 1-14-08 at 2:15pm: Both players passed their physicals, according to Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  This could be officially a done deal later today.  By the way, the Belleville News-Democrat discusses some of the failed Rolen scenarios here (including one that involved Jhonny Peralta, Cliff Lee, and Anthony Reyes).

UPDATE, 1-14-08 at 10:57am: A small amount of money will change hands – the Jays will send $1.8MM to the Cards, pending commissioner approval.  Given that Rolen has more money on his contract, it’s surprising to see the Jays sending money.

UPDATE, 1-13-08 at 12:12pm: ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick says the agreement has been reached; the deal will be done if both third basemen pass physicals on Monday.  The Cardinals required that Glaus exercise his $11.25MM player option for ’09 as part of the trade – they didn’t want him to have a big ’08 and then opt for free agency.  No money changed hands, which makes the deal look like a win for St. Louis.

FROM 1-12-08 at 11:00am:

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Blue Jays and Cardinals are "closing in" on a trade of Troy Glaus for Scott Rolen.  Both would have to pass physicals first.  Rosenthal adds that both players agreed to waive their no-trade clauses and the Cardinals might need to cough up some cash as well.

Glaus, 31, hit .262/.366/.473 in an abbreviated 2007 season.  He had nerve decompression surgery for his foot in September, which will hopefully relieve his plantar fasciitis.  Also that month, Sports Illustrated reported that Glaus received multiple shipments of steroids as a member of the Angels.  Glaus is set to earn $12.75MM in ’08 and $11.25MM in ’09.

Rolen, who will turn 33 in April, hit .265/.331/.398 in a similarly abbreviated season.  He also had September surgery, a shoulder cleaning that involved removing scar tissue.  Rolen also had shoulder surgery in ’05, but did show good power for the first five months of ’06.  His other wart is a strained relationship with Tony La Russa.  He’ll earn $12MM in ’08, ’09, and ’10.   

It’s hard to say which team won the swap, though I lean towards the Cardinals.  They get a younger player with a less serious health issue and a shorter commitment.  The reason I think it’s close is that Rolen is a superior defender.  Can you imagine hitting a groundball to the left side when Rolen and John McDonald are both on the field?

Globe and Mail: Jays After Peralta?

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You owe me for this.  I got an email about a sweet Jhonny Peralta trade rumor in Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper.  I found the article and got ready for some juicy rumormongering.  Unfortunately, they only gave me a little taste and made me register (for free).  OK, whatever.  But then, to read this particular article, I was forced to submit credit card information for a free 14 day-trial.  Can someone please remind me to cancel this before July 30th?  Thanks.

Anyway, here’s what Jeff Blair had to say on this topic:

"A contending team could do some serious one-stop shopping by calling Indians GM Mark Shapiro. There was talk in Pittsburgh that the Blue Jays may make a play for shortstop Jhonny Peralta."

The lack of detail was disappointing.  But after going through all that effort to read this I figured I should post something about Peralta and the Blue Jays. 

Peralta, 24, has definitely struggled in his second full season with the Tribe.  He played 141 games last year with a .366 OBP and .520 SLG.  He drew a walk in more than 10% of his plate appearances and put the bat on the ball 75% of the time.  Those last two marks typically play out to a .250 batting average instead of last year’s .292, so we might have seen this coming.

This year Peralta has a .330 OBP.  He’s walked 10% of the time again and has a similar 74% contact rate.  The .256 AVG/.330 OBP are no fluke.  His SLG dropping all the way to .406 was not anticipated, however. Baseball Prospectus called for him to slug .464 this year after a .520 mark last season.  Not sure how to explain the power outage.  Peralta is slugging .610 in 41 July ABs, for what that’s worth.

Mark Shapiro signed Peralta to the standard Indians arbitration buyout deal last March.  It’s for five years and $13MM; the deal finishes with a $7MM club option for 2011.  Any way you shake it, Peralta will be a bargain for years to come (as many young players are). 

The average AL shortstop is hitting .283/.339/.416 this season, very similar to Peralta’s output this year.  So he’ll be at least tolerable with the stick and can probably surpass that.  How about defense?

Peralta’s range doesn’t seem to impress the fine gentlemen of The Fielding Bible.  He’s below average on plays to his left, and even worse going to his right.  On the other hand, they describe his arm as "accurate" and note that he was the best in baseball at turning double plays in 2005.

All in all Peralta should be a 5-6 win player locked up cheap for years to come.  Should the Blue Jays make every effort to acquire him?

Probably not.  Jays’ shortstops are hitting .306/.359/.438 this year, comfortably above average. The Jays recently moved Russ Adams to second base, where his below average arm is better suited.  Right now they’ve got Aaron Hill at short.  The Blue Jays are 4.5 games out of first in the AL East.  The team leads the league in OPS and SLG, so the offense doesn’t seem to be a problem.  They’re 6th out of 14 in defensive efficiency, but Peralta wouldn’t really help that. 

It’s pitching that’s held the Blue Jays back thus far.  Both the bullpen and the starters are ranked 10th in the league in ERA.  The injury woes of Gustavo Chacin have really hurt, as he was the perfect #3 starter between A.J. Burnett and Ted Lilly.  Chacin’s sprained elbow may still need Tommy John, but otherwise he could return in August.  Given the team’s expenditures in the offseason, going the extra mile to get that starter makes sense.

It appears the Jays can only take on another $3MM in salary this year, however.  John Smoltz has been mentioned, and he is owed less than $4MM for the rest of the season.  The opportunity to win the division exists if Toronto somehow acquires a solid rental starter and a top-notch reliever in the Tom Gordon mold.  Getting both pieces seems unlikely given the team’s 25th-ranked farm system.   

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