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The St. Louis Cardinals had a major need at shortstop and signed a veteran free agent who, while having PED issues, has been a potent hitter throughout his career. Numbers Game looks at the Cardinals addition of Jhonny Peralta. The Cardinals Get: SS Jhonny Peralta. Peralta, 31, has been one of the more productive shortstops in baseball since sticking as a regular in 2005. From that point, Peralta has slugged 152 home runs, behind only Hanley Ramirez, J.J. Hardy and Troy Tulowitzki in that span, and Peraltas cumulative fWAR of 23.0 ranks seventh at the position since 2005. More recently, Peralta has a fWAR of 11.0 over the last three seasons, which ranks fourth among shortstops. So, weve established that Peralta can hit the ball, but he deserves credit for fielding too. Earlier in his career, with Cleveland, Peralta typically had a negative Defensive Runs Saved and negative Ultimate Zone Rating, indications that his glovework -- and especially his range -- werent necessarily up to snuff. However, while Peralta isnt a Gold Glove candidate, hes fared significantly better in Detroit and does have a strong arm, so he doesnt pose an immediate problem in the field. He is on the north side of 30, though, so it shouldnt come as a surprise if his range becomes an issue. The main concern with Peralta is how his 2013 season was sideswiped by a 50-game suspension for use of performance-enhancing drugs. He did hit a career-high .303 in 2013, before getting suspended, with an .815 OPS that was the third-highest of his career (following a .689 OPS in 2012, his lowest in a full MLB season), so its fair to wonder whether Peralta will be as productive if hes clean. It would probably be reasonable to assume that he wont be as productive. Nevertheless, even if Peralta isnt likely to duplicate his 2013 season for the next four years, he should be an upgrade on punchless Pete Kozma at shortstop for the Cardinals. St. Louis shortstops had an OPS of .583 last season, ranking 28th, so anything resembling competent offensive play would represent an upgrade. Peralta has fared well against the National League throughout his career, hitting .301 with an .856 OPS in 156 career Inter-League games. The Tigers reacted quickly when Peralta was suspended last summer, dealing for slick-fielding Jose Iglesias, who doesnt have Peraltas bat, but is much better in the field. Peralta is signed for four years and $52-million, significant money even for a starting shortstop, particularly because of the risk that, by the end of this deal, Peralta either may not be able to play shortstop or he may simply be a liability in the field. If his bat happens to slow down at the same time, the Cardinals could really regret the length of the contract, but its easy to see the appeal in adding a middle infielder who has pop in his bat, particularly when contrasted with the relative lack of offence that the Cardinals received from their shortstops last season. If Peralta happens to hit 12-15 home runs per season and turns out to be worth 8-10 wins total over the next four years, then hes probably fulfilled his side of the deal. If hes not capable of doing that clean, then the Cardinals are going to regret rolling the dice on a player caught using performance-enhancing drugs in 2013. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Authentic Jerseys For Sale .com) - Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri is expected to miss the next two weeks because of a thigh injury. Discount Jerseys For Sale . 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Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring.NORTH BAY, Ont. -- Connor Jarvis and Jared Steege each had two goals and an assist as the Battalion capped their first season in North Bay with a decisive 12-1 win over the Ottawa 67s in Ontario Hockey League action Sunday. The Battalions first season since moving from Brampton after last season was a big success on the ice. The Battalion finished the regular season on a six-game winning streak and clinched the Central Division title with a 38-24-6 record. North Bay enters the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference and will face the Niagara IceDogs in the first round. Brett McKenzie also scored twice for North Bay, while Ben Thomson had a goal and two assists. Marcus McIvor, Vincent Praplan, Alex Henriksson, Zach Bratina and Jamie Lewis had the other Battalion goals. Barclay Goodrow added three assists. Ryan Van Stralen had the only goal for Ottawa (23-39-6), which finished last in the East. Brendan ONeill made 31 saves for North Bay. Philippe Trudeau stopped 38 of 47 shots before being replaced by Liam Herbst, who stopped five of eight in relief. --- FRONTENACS 4 STEELHEADS 1 MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Kingston scored four power-play goals to build an insurmountable lead over the Steelheads. Ryan Kujawinski, Darcy Greenaway, Lawson Crouse and Samuel Schutt supplied the offence for the Frontenacs (39-23-6), while Lucas Peressini made 30 saves for the win. Lucas Venuto was the lone scorer for Mississauga (24-38-6). Spencer Marrtin stopped 35 of 39 shots.dddddddddddd --- ICEDOGS 5 PETES 4 ST. CATHARINES, Ont. -- Eric Ming, Billy Jenkins and Graham Knott all scored in the shootout as Niagra edged Peterborough. Ming also scored in regulation for the IceDogs (24-35-9), while Jordan Maletta, Brendan Perlini and Johnny Corneil also had goals in regulation time. Brent Moran had 16 saves to earn the win in net. Anthony Stefano, Josh MacDonald, Eric Cornel and Hunter Garlent scored for the Petes (32-30-6) in the first three periods of play. Goalie Jason Da Silva stopped 34 shots. --- GREYHOUNDS 7 KNIGHTS 5 SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. -- Andrew Fritsch struck twice as the Greyhounds topped London. Bryan Moore, Dylan Corson and Blake Speers all had a goal and an assist for Sault Ste. Marie (44-17-6), while Michael Bunting and Tyler Hore also scored. Matt Rupert had a pair of goals for the Knights (49-14-5). Gemel Smith, Michael McCarron and Mitchell Marner chipped in as well. Jake Patterson stopped 27 of 33 shots. Brandon Halverson turned aside 33 shots for the win. --- WOLVES 2 GENERALS 1 OSHAWA, Ont. -- Connor Crisps power-play goal late in the third period was the winner as Sudbury rallied past the Generals. Dominik Kahun tied the game 1-1 for the Wolves (33-24-11) at the 11:50 mark of the third. Joe Manchurek scored early in the first period for Oshawa (42-20-6), while Ken Appleby stopped 30 shots. Sudburys Troy Timpano made 34 saves for the win. ' ' '