[KootenayFlamesFan]

At least one National League team has had one, sometimes two scouts following the Blue Jays for three weeks, focusing on Cabrera. One of those scouts said he thought his team would do a four-year deal for Cabrera — something approximating shortstop Jhonny Peralta’s four-year, $53-million contract signed last winter with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Peralta’s deal may provide something of a way forward for dealing with the detritus of the games steroid scandal. It is loaded at the front end: $15 million this season, $15.5 million next season and $12.5 million and $10 million for the remaining two years, which gives the Cardinals a bit of insurance against Peralta breaking down. That first-year figure, in fact, looks a great deal like the anticipated qualifying offer the Blue Jays will need to make to Cabrera.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb...signed-by-now/