Jhonny Peralta Worth $15 Million Per Season?
The Mets apparently like the idea of Jhonny Peralta manning shortstop at Citi Field so much that Sandy Alderson met with him personally this week at the GM Meetings in Orlando. But is Peralta worth $15 million per season, or more?
ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that with so many teams seeking shortstops and so few quality players available at the position, Peralta wants “much more” than $45 million over three years. Don’t forget, this is a guy who is coming off a 50-game suspension for his role in the Biogenesis scandal.
Jhonny Peralta is a good player. He hit .303 in 107 games in 2013 and four times in his career he topped 20 home runs. But how much of that was from PEDs? His career batting average is just .268. If that was the best he could do while apparently juicing, what should be expected of him when he’s clean? Plus, Peralta will turn 32 during the 2014 season. Not old, but not exactly a spring chicken in the baseball world.
That’s not even taking into account the fact that Peralta is not a great fielder, and we all know how much strong defense up the middle can mean to a team.
There is no way the Mets should go anywhere near $15 million per season for Jhonny Peralta, and I don’t think Alderson has any intention of doing so. For $15 million, the Mets better get someone who is going to hit 30 home runs, not a shortstop who will probably hit around 10.
I think Alderson would be a buyer at around $8 million, an appropriate number, and I’m sure he made that clear to Peralta. So it is likely Jhonny Peralta will seek his fortune elsewhere.
No way. Take a pass at $15M. It could be Bobby Bonilla all over again.
I don’t think anyone could be as bad as Bonilla (although Oliver Perez was close!), but $15 million is just far too much for Peralta. I’d be surprised if any team goes that high.
Peralta will get his money but it shouldn’t be from the Mets. Citi is too big for Peralta anyway. To tell you the truth I think they should give Tejada another chance. I mean, can you honestly tell me what the kid did wrong other than make a couple of errors and struggle a bit at the plate? He was a second year player that had a pretty good season replacing Reyes in his first real season in the bigs so what gives?