Yankees made Jhonny Peralta a three-year offer to play third base

Jhonny Peralta, who signed a four-year, $52 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals this past offseason, told the NY Post on Sunday that he drew more than just a little bit of interest from the Yankees and New York Mets while on the market -- both teams made him an offer.

“The Mets talked to my agent, but the offer they made was not really good. But they were really serious,” Peralta told the Post on Sunday. “The Mets came in first and they offered only two years and the Yankees offered three, but I decided to come here to the Cardinals.

“The Mets said they had a little problem with [Ruben] Tejada and they were looking for a shortstop. The situation for the Yankees was a little bit different because they wanted me to play third base and shortstop. They were looking more for third base.

“I would have liked to play in New York, because I have a lot of family there. But I wanted to play for the Cardinals a long time ago, so it’s good that I decided to come here.”

It was reported by FOX Sports back in November that the Yankees were showing interest in Peralta, especially with the impending suspension of Alex Rodriguez, they wanted his mostly as a third baseman. The Yankees also made Stephen Drew an offer to play third base, but he, too, turned it down and is still a free-agent.

Before being suspended 50-games for his role in the Biogenesis scandal, Peralta earned the second All-Star selection of his career. He finished the season with an .815 OPS in 107 games with the Detroit Tigers.

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Gavin Ewbank is the Lead Writer of Yanks Beat Blog

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