MLB rumors: Red Sox may pursue Jhonny Peralta

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, an assumption can be made that the Red Sox will at least take a look at former Cardinal Jhonny Peralta:

Peralta was released by the Cardinals on Tuesday morning just four days after being DFA’d, and it comes as no surprise that the team was unable to find any takers for him, considering he’s due the bulk of the $10 million left on his contract for the remainder of the season.

Peralta played in only 21 games for the Redbirds this season, missing over a month of playing time after dealing with an upper respiratory infection followed by an allergy to the medication used to treat it. Peralta had only 11 hits in 54 at-bats (a .204 average) and walked only four times with 13 strikeouts. He didn’t drive in a single run. This continues a decline for Peralta; he was worth 5.7 wins in his first season in St. Louis in 2014, followed by only 1.8 in 2015. He cratered to being worth -0.7 wins in 2016 and 2017 combined.

Obviously, that’s a pretty bleak picture of Peralta. But, the Red Sox’ third base situation hasn’t been much better. Boston’s third basemen-- a ragtag group of Deven Marrero, Pablo Sandoval and Josh Rutledge, have combined to hit just .204 with a .586 OPS, with Sandoval also experiencing defensive troubles that saw him benched for much of this past weekend. Peralta almost certainly would improve upon his Cardinals numbers with regular playing time, and he could also take advantage of the hitter-friendly left field at Fenway Park. At the very least, he’s worth a shot for Boston.