Peralta recently signed a minor-league contract with the team June 23, but hit just 8-for-40 with two home runs and five RBI for Triple-A Pawtucket in 10 games. Boston has seen solid production out of Tzu-Wei Lin and Deven Marrero at the hot corner, and didn't foresee any opening for Peralta at the big-league level. Prior to his time with the Red Sox, Peralta was batting .204/.259/.204 during 21 games with the Cardinals. The 35-year-old could wind up joining a contending team in the next couple weeks, but his future is very much up in the air right now.

Peralta gives the organization an additional option at third base, a position at which the Red Sox have been among the worst in MLB this season. Boston's third sackers had a league-worst .577 OPS entering Friday.

Peralta, who was released by the Cardinals earlier this month, will get another shot at continuing his career with the Red Sox, yet remains hard-pressed to find any room on a big-league roster. The 35-year-old languished over 21 games with St. Louis -- posting a .204 batting average and .462 OPS -- before being dropped from the roster. He could provide a utility bat for the team down the road, but likely assumes his duty as organizational depth until he can improve his offensive stats.

This move seemed to be in the works for a while, as the Cardinals couldn't justify playing Peralta, and there seemed to be little reason to keep him at Triple-A, taking away at-bats from players with a potential future in St. Louis. He was hitting .204/.259/.204 in 58 plate appearances this year, and will likely have to settle for a minor-league deal if he wants to catch on with another MLB organization. The Cardinals will have to pay Peralta the remainder of the $10 million he was slated to earn this season.