It’s no secret that the free agent market for third basemen is extremely thin this off-season. In fact, there are only two who can legitimately be put into the top-tier category – 31-year-old Jhonny Peralta and 34-year-old Juan Uribe.

Late Saturday afternoon rumors were flying through the Twittersphere that Peralta, the same guy who accepted a 50-game suspension for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal last July, was on the verge of signing a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals for what is being reported as something in the four-year/$50 million range.

If these rumors are true, and they are coming from some pretty reliable sources, Peralta could effectively price Uribe right out of Stan Kasten’s and Ned Colletti’s re-signing range – not necessarily in terms of money but in terms of years.

If Peralta gets a four-year deal with the Cardinals, look for Uribe to get at least a three-year deal with some team not named the Dodgers. (Photo credit – Leon Halip)

Both Kasten and Colletti have made it very clear that they plan to “get younger” and signing Uribe to anything beyond a one-year deal (with a possible option year) is probably not going to happen. As we all know, Uribe was absolutely horrible for the first two years of his recently concluded three-year/$21 million contract. He did, however, have an exceptional 2013 season and was flat out robbed of a Gold Glove that was unjustly awarded to Colorado Rockies rookie third baseman Nolan Arenado instead.

To this point there have been zero reports of any contract negotiations between the Dodgers and Uribe. There were, however, unconfirmed reports last week that the Miami Marlins had offered Uribe a two-year deal, but nothing more has been said in that regard and no dollar figures were mentioned.

The Peralta/Cardinals deal could be finalized as early as Monday (pending a physical) and if it is indeed for four years (or longer), Dodger fans can pretty much kiss Juan Uribe goodbye.

With Peralta expected to be off the trading block within the next couple of days, Juan Uribe will become the next big target for teams looking for a third baseman. (Ron Cervenka – ThinkBlueLA.com)

If Uribe does end up signing with another team, the Hot Stove could really heat up for the Dodgers. With rumors flying that the Dodgers are actively shopping outfielder Matt Kemp, they could be in a position to land a third baseman such as 26-year-old Kyle Seager from the Mariners or perhaps even 21-year-old Red Sox phenom Xander Bogaerts, as both teams have expressed an interest in Kemp.

Many are comparing 21-year-old Red Sox third baseman Xander Bogaerts to Adrian Beltre – and we all know how good Beltre looked in Dodger Blue. (Photo credit – Jared Wickerham)

Of course there is still the possibility that Hanley Ramirez could be moved over to third base and recently signed Cuban infielder Alexander Guerrero plugged into his natural shortstop position – this in spite of the fact that Colletti has repeatedly said that Guerrero was brought on-board to play second base. This gives those who are clamoring for the Dodgers to go after Robinson Cano a ray of hope, although it’s pretty safe to say that the 10-year/$300 million that Cano is seeking is well beyond what even the financially sound Guggenheim Baseball Management group is willing to fork out for the 31-year-old second baseman.

Although nobody knows for sure how all of this will play out, it should be interesting – to say the least.

Stay tuned…