jhonny peralta

Jhonny Peralta is no longer a Cleveland Indian. Peralta was just traded to the Detroit Tigers.
Tribe fans are now feeling like a little kid waking up on Christmas, or a teenager on their last day of school. In Cleveland, the summer wind feels sweeter, and the water taste better. Umm scratch the water, this calls for a celebration, so crack open the beer or Champagne.
2010 was the last year on Peralta’s contract with the Indians, and there was no way the team was going to pick up the seven million dollar club option for 2011.
There was very little trade market for Jhonny Peralta this summer. That is until Brandon Inge of the Tigers was hit by a pitch, and fractured his left hand on June 19th.
Inge, Magglio Ordonez, and Carlos Guillen are all on the DL, putting Detroit in a desperate situation. The injuries forced the Tigers to make the trade for Peralta, and send Left-handed starter Giovanni Soto to the Tribe.
The 28 year old Peralta is hitting only .246 with 7 homers, and 43 RBIs this season.
Soto is listed at 6’3″, is 19 years old, and is 6-6 with a 2.61 ERA in 82 2/3 innings for the Single-A West Michigan Whitecaps in 2010. He will report to Class A Lake County for the Indian’s organization.
So why is Jhonny Peralta so disliked by Cleveland fans? I can not remember a Tribe player that has been so disliked or who has brought so much frustration as Peralta.
After all, he actually is a very nice person, has never been in any off-field trouble, and has been on the team a long time. But of course the answer to the question is his poor performance on the field. Another casualty in this deal is that in order to make room for Peralta on the 40-man roster, Detroit has designated for assignment the contract of OF Wilkin Ramirez. Ramirez was perhaps the top hitting prospect in the organization as recently as two years ago, but he’s been passed over by several outfielders on the organizational depth chart this year.

Reports indicate that Peralta should be available to play for Detroit in time for tomorrow afternoon’s series finale in Tampa. The Tigers will have to option out one of the young players on their current roster to make room.