Cardinals close to signing Jhonny Peralta, Yankees sign Brian McCann

Today's news:

-P- The Cardinals are apparently close to signing Jhonny Peralta to a four-year deal. The Cardinals had a giant hole at shortstop. That's annoying when you're actually in the midst of a season, but it's great in the offseason, because upgrading is easy, particularly if you have enough money to throw at the problem. Due to his Biogenesis suspension and probably also to his physique, Peralta doesn't get as much credit as he should. His hitting is a huge plus at shortstop, and UZR has liked him a lot for the past several years. He doesn't look like someone who ought to be a decent defensive shortstop, but looks can be deceiving. At his age, the question is how much he'll decline, and how quickly, but he could be a big plus for at least the first couple years of his deal with the Cardinals, particularly compared to Pete Kozma. The Cardinals keep getting better.

-P- The Yankees signed Brian McCann for five years and $85 million with a vesting option. This is good, in that I'd rather dislike a small number of things, rather than lots of things, and this signing allows me to dislike Yankee Brian McCann, as opposed to disliking the Yankees and disliking Brian McCann. It may also provide some schadenfreude at the end of the deal, too -- McCann is already pretty far removed from the 5-WAR seasons he had with the Braves in 2008 and 2010, and catcher aging patterns scare me. As with the Peralta deal, though, the Yankees are really paying for the first couple seasons here.