SATURDAY, 10:19pm: The Cardinals are close to a deal with Jhonny Peralta, a source tells Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Peralta is expected to receive four years in the deal, a source tells Jon Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter). However, the Cardinals have yet to confirm that an agreement is in place, Morosi adds in a second tweet.
Peralta, 31, is coming off a solid .303/.358/.457 season but his value took a hit thanks to his 50-game suspension for involvement with the Biogenesis PED scandal. For the Cardinals, Peralta represents a very significant offensive upgrade over shortstop Pete Kozma, even if he looks more like his 2012 self (.239/.305/.384) than ’13.
A report late last week indicated that Peralta was seeking a four-year pact in the $56-75MM range. Meanwhile, three GMs told Peter Gammons that Peralta’s reps were hinting to teams that they had a four-year, $52MM offer in hand. This weekend, that team has been told that they’re “not even in [the] game,” according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).
For his career, Peralta owns a .268/.330/.425 slash line over eleven seasons with the Indians and Tigers. The veteran’s -0.4 career UZR/150 isn’t terribly impressive, but the metric shows that he has been playing much better defense at the shortstop position over the last three seasons.
Peralta is represented by SFX, according to the MLBTR Agency Database.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
