THE UGLY SIDE OF THE PERALTA SIGNING

Reward the behavior you want to see. Everyone from parents of small children to corporate executives understands that piece of advice. If you believe that nugget of wisdom, then Major League Baseball took a hit this past Sunday as the St. Louis Cardinals announced the signing of Jhonny Peralta to a 4-year, $53M contract. A 10-year veteran shortstop with the Tigers and Indians, Peralta fills a hole in the Cardinals roster. At the same, Peralta served a 50-game suspension this past season because of his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal regarding performance-enhancing drugs. Therefore, it makes you wonder why the Cardinals would shell out that much money to a player who has tarnished the image of baseball.

Let us review his performance over the last several years. In the four years that he played for the Tigers, he hit for a .275 average, and a modest .764 OPS. He does not work too many walks, and he does not steal bases. He has excellent fielding ability and range, which makes him a defensive asset. For this work, he has never made more than $6M in a year, exclusive of club options. So why does his annual salary suddenly jump to $15.5M, which is what he will be paid in 2014, as per his contract with St. Louis? You can see why many are crying foul, saying that baseball is rewarding bad behavior.

There is a dark issue here that needs to be addressed. If you ask any sports organization, whether it is professional or collegiate, they will tell you that winning is the name of the game. Winning fills seats at stadiums, winning sells merchandise, winning gets marketing endorsements. Because of that, sports organizations tend not to care about issues like PED use unless it gives them a bad name. However, PED use has given players a bad name, not teams. The Red Sox and the Dodgers do not have a bad name because of Manny Ramirez’s PED use – only Manny does.

Furthermore, all the financial risk goes to the player. If Peralta stays clean and plays in a way that meets expectations, then everybody wins. If he does not stay clean, the Cardinals will benefit from his “enhanced performance”. If Peralta fails a drug test, he will be suspended without pay and the Cardinals are not financially liable. Their biggest problem is being without a shortstop. That is where they were this time last week – in need of a shortstop. There is absolutely no downside for the Cardinals on the deal. Which is why it pays for them to reward bad behavior.

This is going to be a problem for baseball. Teams will go out and sign players that have violated Major League Baseball’s policy on performance enhancing drugs, without regard for the consequences. Maybe the penalties need to be harsher. Maybe there needs to be a penalty for teams connected to player drug use. One thing is for sure - baseball cannot ignore this.

Commissioner Selig, I hope you are listening.

 
--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row

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