Its no secret that the National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals have been looking for an upgrade on the Pete Kozma/Daniel Descalso platoon that they employed last season in the shortstop position. Rumors and reports are now rampant that the Cardinals are close to signing free agent Jhonny Peralta, formerly of the Detroit Tigers, to take that position. Jon Morosi of Foxsports is reporting that it is a four-year deal. Rumors are that the deal will be in excess of $55 million.

Peralta hit .303/.358/.457 with 30 doubles, 11 home runs and 55 RBIs in just 107 games last year for the Detroit Tigers. He missed time serving a 50-game suspension due to his involvement with the Miami-based Biogenesis lab, before returning to the Tigers at the end of the season and for the playoffs where he spent some time in left field.

Peralta is an average defender at the short stop and a bit of a downgrade from Kozma in that respect. The difference in defence is relatively small, 8 defensive runs saved last year for Kozma, versus an even rating for Peralta. Peralta doesn’t have as big a range as Kozma, but he is still relatively sure-handed and his career defensive WAR is plus-4.6 at shortstop according to Baseball Reference.

The big gain though is at the plate where Kozma hit a mere .217/.275/.273 last season. The 31-year-old Peralta, is a two-time All-Star and .268 career hitter with 156 home runs in 11 seasons with Cleveland and Detroit.

This is the second big move in remaking the Cardinals lineup after the David Freese/Peter Bourjas trade earlier this week.

It is expected that Matt Carpenter will take over at third base, Peralta will play shortstop, Kolten Wong will play second base, and first base will be somewhat of a question mark. Allen Craig will be in the lineup, with the question being whether he plays the outfield or first base. A decision on whether the Cardinals will be better off with Oscar Tavares in the outfield and Allen at first, or with Allen in the outfield and Matt Adams at first base will need to be made, likely during spring training.

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Main photo credit: Keith Allison via photopin cc