St. Louis Cardinals: Bench Jhonny Peralta

The St. Louis Cardinals should let Aledmys Diaz remain at shortstop and bench the declining Jhonny Peralta.

Injuries allowed Aledmys Díaz to emerge as an All-Star shortstop last year. With everyone healthy now, though, there's pressure for playing time. The Cardinals have chosen to move Matt Carpenter to first base, but a better idea would be to leave him at third so Matt Adams can take most of the time at first. Shuffling Carpenter to allow a declining Jhonny Peralta (.260/.307/.408 in 2016 at age 34, with bad defense) to keep a job is playing the contract rather than the player. Adams, who has battled various injuries the last two years, can still rake and is just 28.