A guy was in the box, hittin' .218
But Miggy's on third so he's swinging the wood
'cause its a Caribbean kid named Ribbie B. Good
he never ever learned to walk or field so well
But he drives in a run just like ringing a bell!
GO GO....Go Ribbie Go
NOOO really, GO GO
GOO RIBBIE GO GO
RIbbie B. Goode
He wears his jersey like a gunny sack
to hide the gut he has from eatin' a snack
One day Lloyd Mac saw him sittin' in the shade
Dreamin' of his hits and the runs they made
Pitchers passin' by they would stop and say
If that stinkin' glove ever made a play
GO! GO RIBBIE GO GO
GO RIBBIE GO GO
RIBBIE B. GOODE!
His GM told him "for two years you'll be the man"
and the infield leader of ol' Jimmy's band
Baserunners will come from miles around
and you can knock 'em home 'til the Sun goes down
Maybe someday your name gonna be in lights
Wailin' RIBBIE B. GOODE TONIGHT! "
Okay....horrible song parody. My apologies to the great Chuck Berry.
What can be said about Jhonny Peralta that hasn't been well chronicled? He's a vaunted "RBI Man".....almost like that has superhero status. Never mind he's a telephone pole masquerading as a shortstop and the only walk he takes is to Arby's.
Dave Dombrowski lavished this fellow with a two-year deal. I didn't get it then and I still don't see the rationale. Was the market for Jhonny Peralta really competitive that he could demand two years? Who else was even linked in the weakest possible sense to a possible Peralta-pursuit? This is the kind of contract that fuels the full time critics of Dombrowski (I have great respect for Dombrowski and what he's meant to Tigers' baseball btw....but he throws some doozies in there to keep his fans honest. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the Edgar Renteria Trade and the Dontrelle Willis Extension!)
Now I'll admit...in the grand scheme of things signing Jhonny Peralta to be your shortstop isn't a crime against humanity. I just think Dombrowski was taking the path of least resistance. The shortstop market is kind of threadbare....no question there. So committing to Peralta early just put the shortstop issue to bed early in the off-season and allowed the GM to move on to things like signing Victor Martinez (and sacrificing a first round pick in this unbelievably loaded draft coming up in June......this will be the subject of numerous posts as that draft nears....you've been alerted). I just hated the second year being added to the deal. I could have put a year's worth of faith into Jhonny Peralta trying to play SS, revive his career, and finding the offensive game he showed a couple of times in years (well) past....but two years on the deal was A Bridge Too Far. (WW2 movie reference...gotta work those in from time to time!)
Then....then...then Lynn Henning comes out with an article today about the idea of committing to Danny Worth and trading Jhonny Peralta. Really Lynn? Will Dombrowski really find a suitor at this juncture who wants Peralta to play SS or 3B? How much of his $11.25M deal will the Tigers be willing to assume? Can Peralta even be traded right now....aren't Free Agents unable to be traded for a few months? (I could be wrong on this one....it happens from time to usually) Would Dombrowski really admit to this mistake before the end of Spring Training. I have my doubts.....but in a crazy way I'd actually respect him more if he did pull the trigger on a Peralta Trade (if this is even realistic whatsoever). Former Packers GM Ron Wolf would say words to the effect of this: "Its okay to make mistakes, they can't always be avoided....but the worst thing to do is decide to live with it, you have to fix it". This is harder to do in MLB than in the NFL because of guaranteed contracts....but if Dombrowski can find the right deal that would be quite a move.
I will root for Jhonny Peralta to prove me and lots of his skeptics wrong. Seeing him post a season at the plate of something like .270/.340/.440 would be marvelous.....it would also be nice if his defense didn't induce premature gray hair for Justin Verlander. However I have hard time seeing this. There is a part of me that thinks it would be a lot more satisfying to see how young Danny Worth would perform and hoping for the best. Its always better to watch a young kid and hope for the best instead of watching a mediocre veteran and quietly expect very little. We'll see what happens....
GO JHONNY GO! GO! RIBBIE B. GOODE!
No comments:
Post a Comment