5 Reasons Why The Detroit Tigers Aren’t Bringing Back Jhonny Peralta
5 Reasons Why The Detroit Tigers Aren't Bringing Back Jhonny Peralta
Today marked the end of the Jhonny Peralta era in Detroit after the Detroit Tigers declined to make a qualifying offer. Peralta will now hit the open market and the Tigers have publicly stated they will allow him to go ahead and find a new place to call home. No question the time Peralta spent in Detroit will still be considered mostly a positive, even with the steroid scandal that came about towards the end of it. Some will want to say that the steroids were the real reason but really there were a lot of issues other than the steroids that were just as much if not more impactful.
No question one of the biggest reasons came about because of the trade for Jose Iglesias which would not have happened if Jhonny had not been suspended for the steroid use. It was mostly accepted however that when the season was over suspension or not the Tigers want to go in a more youthful direction for their infield and this created the perfect opportunity to do so. One part that is going to be hard for the Tigers to replace was the offense Jhonny gave especially toward the bottom of the order which has always been a major issue for the Tigers.
So now Peralta will be looking to land a starting job on another team and potentially another contending team, while the Tigers hit the open market looking for a multitude of things. Many fans will have wanted to keep Peralta but the five reasons I list are big reasons as to why the Tigers decided that going in another direction was the right call.
Brent Smith is a Detroit Tigers writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @brentweets or add him to your network on Google
1. Jose Iglesias
The Jose Iglesias trade is the biggest reason and has worked out as good as any Tigers fan could have hoped. Sure he struggles at times with his bat but his defense is one in a generation type.