Detroit Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta has accepted a 50-game suspension due to his role in the biogenesis case. The announcement was made Monday afternoon, and came as no surprise to fans around Detroit.
Peralta was one of the players that had a seemingly difficult decision to make when the suspensions were handed out. As a free agent at the end of the season, both Peralta and Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz had to choose between appealing the suspension to finish the season and help their teams win a World Series or getting the suspension out of the way before entering free agency.
Looking at the history of these two players, it is no surprise that both of them chose to forego an appeal and leave their teams hanging to ensure they can sign the best contracts possible this offseason. Using performance-enhancing substances is a selfish move to begin with. Players that decide to use banned drugs to improve their abilities are more concerned with their personal careers than they are with helping their teams.
[caption id="attachment_516" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Jhonny Peralta was batting .305 with 11 homeruns and 54 RBI with the Tigers this season."]
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People in Detroit will feel little pity for Cruz, who single-handedly kept the Tigers out of the World Series in 2011 with his six homeruns, two doubles and 13 RBI in the six-game ALCS. Peralta, who has always been the quiet, pudgy-faced shortstop who never hurt a fly is an interesting case. Though his performance has obviously increased during the 2013 season, Peralta has never been a big homerun threat with the Tigers. In parts of four years with the team, he has hit 53 homeruns and shown very mixed results, over-performing in 2011 and struggling throughout 2012. The feeling around Tigers baseball hasn't been anger towards Peralta, more like resignation. He hasn't been very vocal about his side of the story, but simply continued to play good baseball until the dreaded announcement put him on the sidelines for 50 games.
Luckily, the Tigers were prepared for this bad news. Dave Dombrowski traded away outfield prospect Avisail Garcia to acquire Jose Iglesias, who has already shown his value wearing the Old English D. In just three games, Iglesias has hit his first homerun, a blast into the leftfield bullpen, and driven in a two-out run in a 2-1 win.
[caption id="attachment_518" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Jose Iglesias will improve the Tigers defense with his vacuum glove and rocket arm."]
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The most exciting part of his game is his wizardry with the glove. Filling in for Miguel Cabrera at third base, Iglesias has shown incredible range and a strong throwing arm on the infield. Iglesias has a very quick exchange and can get rid of the ball quickly and accurately. In his young career, he has proved he is one of the strongest defenders in the entire MLB, and so far this season his offense has been a pleasant surprise.
While the offense will certainly take a hit with the loss of Peralta, the defense will be vastly improved with the addition of Iglesias. For a rotation with groundball pitchers like Doug Fister and Rick Porcello, having a shortstop with incredible range will save as many runs as Peralta's bat would produce.
Even after the suspension, the Tigers offense will be formidable as the recent resurgence of Alex Avila and Victor Martinez has carried a team playing without Cabrera. When the MVP returns to the lineup, the offense should remain strong enough to win games alongside the best starting rotation in baseball.
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