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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. Cheap Nike Shoes For Sale . Kamloops, B.C., the host city of this years Tim Hortons Brier, is where he won his first Canadian mens curling crown in 1996. 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Doug Fister allowed two runs over seven innings and Washington hit three solo homers in a 6-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.The Ottawa Senators no longer have to deal with the pressure of getting coach Dave Cameron his first victory, but they are feeling some heat from the Buffalo Sabres, who look to take another step closer to escaping the Atlantic Division basement Monday night. Viewers in the Senators region can catch all of the action live on TSN5 at 7pm et or listen to the action on TSN Radio 1200 Ottawa with coverage beginning at 5pm et. Cameron took over last Monday following the firing of Paul MacLean, and his tenure began with a 5-3 defeat to Los Angeles. The Senators (12-12-5), though, regrouped with a 3-2 shootout victory at Boston on Saturday, twice erasing one-goal deficits before Mika Zibanejad and Bobby Ryan converted their shootout attempts. You know youre in the business of winning. Its a case where youre preaching a certain style of play, and until you get that first win, theres probably always a bit of doubt or maybe a little bit of gray area, whether it works or does work, Cameron said. So it was great to get the win, for sure. Zibanejad also scored Ottawas first goal, giving him five in his last six games to go with three assists. David Legwand continued his strong recent play by netting his third power-play goal in four contests, and five of his six goals have come with the man advantage. Simple. Obviously there werent too many turnovers and playing simple and keeping the odd-man rushes down to a minimum, Legwand said about how the Senators found success. We want to stick with that for the full 60 (minutes) night in and night out and give yourself a chance to win night in and night out. Cameron said Sunday that Robin Lehner will make the start after turning aside 29 shots and two shootout attempts Saturday. He has won back-to-baack starts once this season - his first two - and is 0-1-1 in two lifetime starts against the Sabres.dddddddddddd Buffalo (12-16-2) has won nine of 12 since its disastrous start to draw within three points of Ottawa for seventh in the Atlantic. The Sabres are seeking their first six-game home winning streak since Jan. 17-Feb. 15, 2007, after a 4-3 overtime win over Florida on Saturday that was also their third consecutive victory overall. The team feels good about themselves, coach Ted Nolan said. Theyre playing hard for one another and when you do that good things happen. So right now, knock on wood, things are going good for us. Nikita Zadorovs first goal of the season 29 seconds into the extra period capped his first career multipoint game, with the 19-year-old logging more than 23 minutes after injuries to Andrej Meszaros and Josh Gorges left Buffalo with four healthy defensemen. I probably never had that big a goal in my life, Zadorov said. Its a great feeling and Im going to try to do it again. The improved play of Jhonas Enroth has been pivotal in Buffalos revival. Hes gone 8-2-0 with a 2.04 goals-against average in his last 10 starts after going 1-8-1 with a 3.77 GAA in his first 10. Enroth, though, has posted an 0-2-1 and 2.93 goals-against average in his last three starts against Ottawa after winning his first three with a 2.27 GAA. Additionally, Nolan will have to plug some holes on his backline since the injuries to Meszaros and Gorges will keep them out of this game. That means more ice time for Zadorov and Andre Benoit, who spent his first two seasons with the Senators. Ottawa went 3-0-1 against Buffalo last season as the teams combined to score only 11 goals and go 1 for 31 on the power play. ' ' '