Here are the day’s minor moves and outright assignments from around the league:
- The Orioles will hold onto outfielder L.J. Hoes after he cleared outright waivers, per a club announcement. Baltimore re-acquired Hoes from the Astros earlier in the offseason, but designated him about a week back to clear roster space for the addition of Efren Navarro. Hoes continues to produce at Triple-A, and is only 25 years old, but has struggled to a .237/.289/.329 batting line in 337 Major League plate appearances.
- The Brewers announced that outfielder Shane Peterson, who was designated for assignment when the team acquired Rymer Liriano from the Padres, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Colorado Springs. The soon-to-be 28-year-old, who will be in Major League camp as a non-roster invitee, batted .259/.324/.353 in 226 plate appearances last season. He’s a nice depth option for the Brewers to hang onto, as he can play all three outfield spots and boasts an excellent .297/.383/.461 batting line over the life of 1720 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
- Veteran utilityman Don Kelly is headed back to the Marlins on a minor league pact that includes a spring invite, the club announced. Kelly’s 2015 season ended early when he required Tommy John surgery, Soon to turn 36, Kelly has spent parts of eight seasons in the majors, appearing at literally every position on the diamond (including pitcher, catcher, and DH) in his 572 total games. Kelly’s career slash sits at .232/.296/.335.
Glad to see the Brewers were able to hang on to Peterson. He’s not a great player by any means, but like Jeff said he’s great for depth and if he hits well during ST he could easily end up as the 4th OFer for the Brewers.
No way Peterson makes the roster out of spring training. Preference will be given to guys they traded for (Broxton) and guys who are on 40 man but out of options (Liriano). Peterson’s more a depth option if Nieuwenhuis falls completely on his face, or the young guys don’t hit at all or there’s injuries. He’ll be parked in AAA.
Peterson is a LH bat and they don’t have many of those, but I suspect if they want to carry a LH pinch hitter, there will be better options than Peterson available when teams cut down their rosters.