The Mariners announced that former top prospect D.J. Peterson has been designated for assignment. His roster spot goes to Leonys Martin, who is back with the Mariners after having his contract selected. The M’s also added Erasmo Ramirez to the active roster following the recent trade with the Rays, placed Mitch Haniger on the 10-day DL with a facial laceration and optioned Cody Martin to Triple-A Tacoma.
Peterson, 25, was selected by the Mariners with the 12th overall pick in the 2013 draft and was considered to be among the game’s top 100 prospects in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 offseasons. However, his glovework at third base was never considered to be especially strong — he’s split his time between both corner infield spots in recent years — and his bat has stalled at the Triple-A level. In parts of three seasons with Seattle’s affiliate in Tacoma, he’s posted a pedestrian .260/.316/.418 batting line. While those numbers aren’t terrible, they’re fairly light for a bat-first prospect that will turn 26 years old this winter.
Peterson does still have a pair of option years remaining beyond the 2017 season, so clubs that are light on upper-level bats could either claim him on waivers or work out a trade with always-active GM Jerry Dipoto prior to his placement on waivers.
This is pretty surprising since Peterson was a highly regarded prospect not too long ago.
He’s not good and hasn’t hit well since A ball.
I’m sure some team will claim him.
Wow this is surprising I don’t think he’ll make it through waivers
He’s not a liability and is still developing as a player in AAA with middle of the road stats. I don’t get this move at all.
Nab him Padres.
yeah, they should
New term should be “Designated for Dodgers for 1-3 weeks”
He’ll go to a system like the Dodgers that actually have coaches that know how develop talent. Said coaches will laugh at the Mariners joke of a system yet again.
Jack z left the minor leaguers in bad shape. We had a lot of over hyped guys and horrible development. Jerry is still cleaning up this dumpster fire in the minors. The Mariner’s roster is in good shape. Injuries hurt them early but now that Felix and Paxton are back things should improve. Losing all 5 sp to start a year it’s amazing they are at 500. Erasimo and Phelps hopefully sure up the bullpen and 3 SP can stabilize behind the top 2. I would say in a year or two the minors will be much inproved. Have some very young guys who should be high ranked prospects.
I get it in that he is a free-swinging, poor fielding now-1B whose only real upside (power) has diminished greatly as he rose the ranks… but surprising still.
Raw skill is there, and I imagine a couple teams are licking their chops at chance to adjust/fix the current issues. Can’t hurt trying afterall
Could probably get another pitching prospect from the Braves for Peterson. I am thinking Huascar Ynoa recently obtained from the Twins for Jaime Garcia and Anthony Recker.
No. DJ Peterson isn’t even the best prospect in his family. The Braves don’t have a logical spot for him in their organization. He might one day develop some power, but he is basically limited to first.
His younger brother, Dustin Peterson appears to be much more athletic than DJ. Dustin had a very nice spring until he was hit by a pitch and broke his hamate bone (which normally saps your power for a year or more). If DJ was more athletic then he’d be more in demand because you could at least move him to the outfield.
I doubt the Braves would give up a raw, high upside arm like Ynoa for a guy who was just DFA’d, but I’m sure there’s some eh pitcher on the 40 man roster they would be happy to ship to Seattle. I’m looking at you, Aaron Blair.
Next up, Vogelbach.
Would love if the A’s claimed him and designated the ancient Chris Smith, even though we have some similar profiles in Olson/Healy… but I really believe in DJ Peterson. Whoever does claim him will have a solid, if unspectacular, CI for the next few years
What on earth? I know Peterson hasn’t set the world on fire but we have now dropped 3 of our best prospects (in a really poor farm system) and don’t have a lot to show for it. That plus signing Santana and the Ramirez trade has me wondering what Dipito is doing.
Santana?? You mean Espinosa??
DJ Peterson is not good and not even close to the Top 10 in the system much less Top 3. He hasn’t really hit since A ball and shows no signs of getting better. Not sure the stick in the move.
Yeah, losing Gohara and A-Jax didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but man they have really bounced back since moving over to the Braves….Gohara looks like an excellent #3, and A-Jax could very well become a legit power-hitting, bat-first ML catcher, who does suprisingly possess enough defensive abilities to in fact remain as a catcher…
I’m honestly suprised at how well both those guys are doing, especially Gohara!! At times, Gohara has looked almost unhittable, he just needs to be a tad bit more consistent…But I never would have guessed he would fly through High A and AA so fast!! Now at AAA, I expect him to come down to Earth a bit, but still he’s having a terrific season…And after seeing him pitch, he honestly no longer even looks like the same pitcher!!
Agree on Gohara but he was pretty solidly a Top 5 guy in the organization. I don’t buy into Alex as much but he’s still young. Regardless, those guys were traded and young. Peterson will be 26 this offseason and hasn’t hit much since 2014 in Single A ball
Another knee-jerk move by DiPoto. Instead of Casey Lawrence or Cody Martin or Christian Bergman, he DFA’s a former first round pick who still possesses some raw talent. The M’s will regret letting Petersn go (and go he will; he’ll either be claimed off of waivers or spun into another useless trade.)
DiPoto has tried to completely purge the system of Jack Z’s prospects, even those who may still have a chance at success in the majors. Look at Alex Jackson; the Jack Z and the M’s drafted him and immediately made him change positions from C to OF (something the M’s do with far too much frequency.) Jackson predictably stumbled offensively as he tried to adjust to his new position. So DiPoto trades him to Atlanta for “depth”, and what do the Braves do? Immediately move him back to catcher. Know what he’s doing right now? Hitting .272/.333/.502 with 14 HR and 45 RBI in High-A.
Oh, and by the way, the M’s have been playing with an illegal 40-man roster for over a week now (unless they made a move a month ago and forgot to report it.) Check out their roster on MLB.com; 41 players on the 40-man. That includes all of the moves today. Shouldn’t they be fined for that? More front office stupidity.
Yeah man that’s exactly what I said about Jackson as well. I forgot what Braves exec said it but when they got him he subtly slammed the Ms saying something like “we had zero idea why they moved him to the outfield”
I’m pretty sure he’d never played the OF in his life. Typical Mariner thing to do, make a dude completely learn a new position his first year or pro ball. Then deem him “uncoachable” . They should be deemed “Zero idea how to coach young talent”
Really setting the world on fire with his .272 average in High-A. He strikes out a bunch and never walks. He’s 21 and the raw talent is there but I’m not too upset about that trade. Peterson may have an impact somewhere else as well but he’s just not hit well enough for Tacoma to warrant a call-up, especially since he would just sit on the bench behind either Valencia or Cruz
Good lord, get into reality. DJ Peterson is barely an average AAA player. He hasn’t hit well since he left A ball in 2014. This is not a loss and he isn’t going to haunt us. Get real!
If you read my entire post you’ll understand it’s not this in particular that infuriates me.
My post was to Zoinks emotionaldustribe
Emotional diatribe
i agree with this, dipshit sucks
And Alex Jackson was promoted to AA Mississippi today. Solid move by the Braves.
Jackson has surprised many, myself included. I do wonder though how much a role Jackson played in Soroka having probably his worst start of the season (and probably his only poor start in the last couple of months).
seems like another opportunity for Dodgers and Mariners trade. Player like Trayce Thompson for Peterson, about same ages and both could use a change.
My braves sneed to scoop him up
Makes sense because the Mariners already seem to be trying to help make the Braves farm even better instead of their own.
How do you say Justin Smoak wannabe?
someone will take him and make him a good player, the M’s are just not capable
A soon to be 26yr old that can’t hit in AAA, and isn’t all that athletic. Oh yeah, teams are clamoring for those guys. Remove the 1st Rd pick from his bio and we’re not talking about this guy at all. No way the Braves trade for this guy. A team that has a lot of roster space and absolutely nobody in the outfield might.
And didn’t the Mariners receive Max Povse and Rob Whalen for Alex Jackson??? Povse may turn into a 3-4 type rotational piece while Whalen was a lil better than a throw in. So I’m not sure that was a horrible trade. As mentioned, he’s only tearing up A ball right now.
Povse has not been able to get Major league or AAA hitters out so far this year, you need to do that to be a 3 or 4.
The soon to be 24yr old Povse has logged 11 whole innings at the AAA & MLB levels. Here’s what the report says, “He projects to have at least average control and command of his three-pitch mix, giving him the potential to develop into a No. 4 starter.” So it’s about what I said “may develop into a 3-4 starter”. Development usually takes more than 11 innings…..I would think he has some bullpen potential as well if the rotation doesn’t work.
Our top prospects, such as Dustin Ackely and DJ. Peterson are gone now. What a bummer.
And then gone goes Smoak. Now look at the success he is having in Toronto. He’s making Springers numbers look like he’s not raking at all. A 300+ average and 25+ hrs already. It makes you wonder if the ‘Z’ days are still here, you can contend the same with former GM’s before him as well (post ’01 season), being that our prized M’s prospects are being brought up too fast in the system -via draft or trade- and not allowed to progress through the minor leagues at a level that caters to them and not according to the needs of our big league lineup.
It will be interesting to see how Povse works out. If I were the GM I would send Povse down to Modesto, more starts. While in the neighborhood keep Kyle Lewis in Modesto A ball club for the remainder of the season.
The only young intriguing prospect the M’s have is Kyle Lewis.
He will be a middle of the order bat, 20-20 hr/sb, gap hitter, similarities to Adam Jones with respect to his athleticism and potential to hit for average and power. Although, his power is still raw, hard to gauge and being that he’s only 21 yrs old I would think he adds more weight for durability and he projects to be more of a corner outfielder in the future.
DJ Peterson will have success with the big league club that picks him up. Atlanta?? Boston?? Phillies or Chicago don’t have much to lose in giving him a shot!
Completely ridiculous! Smoak was terrible for the past 2 plus years since he left the Mariners. He’s having a career year at 30yrs old and eight ML seasons. Come on now!
DJ Peterson hasn’t hit in the minor leagues since 2014 in High A ball. Let’s not overbow this…
Why would you demote Povse to Single A ball when he dominated as a starter at AA for the first two months of the year before his promotion?
Apparently you aren’t intrigued by Neidert, White, Carlson, or Rodriguez?? Why should you, I mean Neidert is only a Top 100 prospect in Baseball America. White and Carlson were both considered Top 20 talents in the draft this year. Rodriguez was only a Top 10 International talent on ALL lists and as high as #5. Nothing intriguing…okay then…