I hope everyone had a great New Years. Spring training is getting closer and closer. This certainly won’t be headline news but the Dodgers have signed outfielder Shane Peterson to a minor league deal and an extended invite to major league spring training camp. The 30-year old Fallbrook native has not appeared in the majors since a 2017 stint with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Peterson spent the entire 2018 season in the Pacific Coast League playing in El Paso, where he slashed .286/.343/.451 with 11 home runs and 74 runs batted in over 467 plate appearances. Peterson has slugged 90 minor league home runs, and has an .808 OPS during his minor league career.
SOURCE: The Los Angeles #Dodgers have signed outfielder Shane Peterson to a minor-league deal with an invite to #MLB spring training camp.
— Andersen Pickard (@AndersenPickard) December 31, 2018
Peterson was originally drafted by the Cardinals and is best known for being one of the minor leaguers involved in the Matt Holliday trade. However his MLB career never materialized. He batted .259 with 2 home runs and was 52 for 201 with the Brewers in 2015 before his 30 game stint with the Rays in 2017. Peterson ended up lacing up his spikes for 93 games with Milwaukee in 2015.
Peterson has played all three outfield positions with left field being his most utilized position. He’s also appeared in four MLB games as a first baseman. I’m assuming he starts the year in Oklahoma City, but we’ll get to see some of him in spring training on the major league side.
Hell yeah, who says Friedman doesn’t make big acquisitions? Puig gone, Peterson here.
Happy New Year, True Blue! What do ya know, Freidman signs yet another LH hitter, albeit a minor league deal with a ST invite, Lol , but it’s almost too funny. I don’t know how I can get by with this ‘amazing’ signing…..
True Blue
How can you explain the Dodgers getting Peterson ? Here he is a top outfielder and available. Friedman has done another outstanding job with this pickup. Must have been a 3 team trade for the team to get such a great player? Oh, I forgot he came from the Rays and Friedman has contacts on the inside there.
Nothing more than AAA fodder and they signed another one today. Daniel Corcino a RHP signed to a minor league deal. He pitched in 2 games for the blue last year but spent most of the season at OKC where he was decent. I do not expect either to spend more than a few days with the big club if any at all. Tulo is signing with the Yankees and Harper is off to see Philly.
This FO kicks some serious ass. I hope they can pull off some more blockbuster trades and get a few more single A players in here. Holy Shit!
Let’s hope he’s another Muncy!
Although he’s probably not.
Muncy, surely you jest. He is the next Ted Williams or Mickey Mantle, or Willie Mays, or Duke Snider or Stan Musial, Or Roberto Clemente, even some others to numerous to mention but now the Dodgers have, wait for it, Shane Peterson. How did Friedman pull this one off? We will never know.
Heck, I’ll settle for another Andrew Toles.
But i like your names better.
Glad to see that while Seattle has been chasing Kikuchi the Dodgers have been combing the depths for more 4A talent. Excelsior!
Maybe the Dodgers should have gotten Tulowitski. Dodgers could have gotten him for league minimum. Everyone just assumes that Seager will be ready but that is a definite unknown. Meanwhile the Yankees snatched him up even if they get Manny. What a great bench player! Oh wait, I guess I know why, because ownership are a bunch of cheap SOBs who throw away more money than they spend but do nothing to make the team better.
It is still early, there is about 6 weeks until spring training. Right now the team is right at 24 million under the CBT. Now, will Friedman use most of that in a move for someone like Harper? Will he trade some minor league assets and maybe some surplus starter for a guy like Kluber? The Kluber rumors have all but died. I do know they are still kicking the tires on Cervelli, and exploring the option of bringing Grandal back on a 1 year deal. Which I am pretty sure at this juncture he would take. Some things they can address internally like second base. But they need bullpen help, some RH pop, and a catcher. Those are needs. Unless they address those needs, they are no where near close to being the best in the NL. The may well waltz to another Western Division title. I see only the Rockies as a real threat at this point. The Padres will be better than most think, but they are a couple of years away from serious contention. Other questions. Are they serious about signing Harper. I believe they would love to sign the guy, but not at 10 years 300 million plus, which is what he wants. As talented as Harper is, he is not that great a defender, and they traded one of the best. He hits lefty’s fairly decent, but he is also very streaky. He would be a force on offense, a liability on defense, and a question mark in the club house no matter how much he would like to play here in LA. His best friend is Kris Bryant. He is talking with the Phillies this week. But the Cubs asked that he come back to them before he signs any deal. That will all be settled in the next few weeks. Most likely before the end of the month Harper will sign. Machado is not even in the equation. They talked to him right after the season and that was it. They are paying Kershaw 93 million dollars over the next 3 years. So, the biggest question is which Kershaw will they get for all that money? Friedman and Roberts believe that Kershaw does not have to get all his velocity back to be effective. Perhaps they are thinking that he will be a left handed version of Greg Maddux. Maddux never was a power pitcher. Kershaw has a great curve and there are indications he intends to use it more than ever this year ala Rich Hill. The best curve I ever saw was the one Koufax had. Another question is what can we expect from Justin Turner who is 34. The aches and pains may well sideline him again. Do they trade Verdugo, or give the kid a legitimate shot at being an everyday player. Will Pederson build on the success he had last year? And perhaps the biggest question, what can they expect from Corey Seager. Those are just some of the questions that we need to know the answers to. They need an injury free spring. Pack, I am pretty sure Tulo felt he has a much better chance of getting to the World Series with the Yankees.
Ho Ho Ho Hum… Another Hollywood scripted aquisition. Dodgers dump two fully capable, All-Star Outfielders and throw $25M down the drain, and then pick up a washed up, 30 year old outfielder who has not played in MLB for quite some time, and has very little MLB experience, with the hopes and dreams that this clown will be able to dust off his cleats and glove, and resurrect his career.
Does not surprise me, but it does get old, year after year.
Oh well, not much to brag about, Friedman… what other lumps of coal are you going to be able to cash in? Walmart probably has a bunch of has been, MLB flops, who greet you at the door, and give you a Dodger Blue Balloon. You like those Dodger Bluelight Specials, don’t you?
LOL, But good post here Bluefan. I just sometimes find Freidman and Co. hard to believe or figure out. Hey but there is also the Dollar General Store too!
Don’t forget, we have been told that finishing second is a great accomplishment, just like winning [yeah crazy I know, but that’s what some believe], so these recent moves are just like winning. In fact, since every game of the season is only played by two teams, every game is like winning. One team wins the game and the other team comes in second, a near winner. So we should all be happy, at the very worse we will continue to come in second in each game and hopefully come in second in the WS again. Good Morning LA, The Dodgers Way – playing the way that made Atlanta great!
They signed a German born pitcher who has been in the Australian league to a minor league deal. Guy by the name of Solbach. He had a 0.43 ERA in 43 innings down there. He is a righty. Looks like AAA for now and see how he works out of the pen. Robertson signs with the Phillies for 2 years and 23 million with an option. Machado, according to the buzz seems to be leaning towards signing with the White Sox, and a new rumor has surfaced that Harper has talked directly with the Nats ownership. That took place over Christmas. The Indians seem to have cooled on trading either Bauer or Kluber, so that seems less likely. Marlins not budging from the price for Realmuto. Dodgers not really mentioned as landing places for any of the major guys left, whereas earlier in the month, they were in on everybody. The only serious rumor is that they might bring Grandal back on a 1 year deal if he will take it. Guy was a moron for passing up the Mets 4 year 60 million dollar offer.
Is it going to be two years in a row with a salary dump trade followed by signing ONE relief pitcher? (I think two solid bullpen additions are in order, not just one) When it happened last year, some said that it was to save money for this years’ free agents. We’ll have to wait and see.
Do not hold your breath, Mexivin.
Based on this FO’s M.O. you have to believe that they will talk a little, float a few things to the press, then not pull the trigger on anything ground-shaking. Just watch, they will resign Grandmal Seizure and inflate it as a great addition. Move along, nothing to see here.
The laws of physics cease to exist inside Yasmani Grandal’s mitt…
And that swing definitely “applies the maximun allowable torqauge”, with no results.
True Blue,
Yup…. probably with a substantial raise too. ?♂️?
Undeserved raise, at that. Where else, except for MLB, do employees get raises for doine absolutely nothing.
What a situation with Grandal. He plays himself out of a starting job in two straight postseasons. 2017 wasn’t as bad as 2018. It worked out in 2017 because Barnes came on strong at the end of the year and took the starting job.
In 2018 Barnes had next to no at-bats towards the end of the season. They went with Grandal and he choked on an epic level. Barnes was totally unprepared for the post-season and whiffed just as bad as Grandal.
In 2017 there was the wife in hospital excuse for Grandal. I’m not sure, but didn’t I see a report that was blaming his wife AGAIN for his poor performance. This was a rumor I heard. I did not see a real report on this. (It implied that Grandal wife left him) Who knows on that. But this is not a terribly great excuse for not being able to catch the baseball.
Answer to BlueFan: Government
It’s pretty clear, Grandmal is a choke in the post season. But hey, just getting there is what counts, at least that is what some keep telling us. Why shoot for the stars when just getting off the ground is enough?
Baseball America has the Dodgers new top 10 up.
Great chat with Kyle Glaser here:
https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2019-los-angeles-dodgers-top-10-mlb-prospects-chat/
Dodgers have signed 2 RH hitting outfielders to minor league contracts with spring training invites. Paulo Orlando and Cameron Perkins. Orlando was with the Royals and Perkins with the Phillies. Neither brings much to the organization except for being AAA fodder. Perkins is a big mother though, 6’5″. Looks like the Yankees might be backing out of the Machado sweepstakes. Management said Tulo is the starting SS until Gregorious gets healthy. White Sox only team to make Machado an offer. Nats back in the Harper sweepstakes as the 10 year deal is still on the table. The only team offering him that kind of money. A lot of writers seem to think that as each day passes, the chances of Grandal coming back to LA increase. I hope not.
Definitely not a very encouraging offseason. Yes, the Boys in Blew went sailfishing, got married, vacationed in Cabo… I hope they had fun in the off-season, ‘cause it looks like they will once again come up a dollar short at season’s end. At least they still got their guaranteed contracts to rely on. Four popular players were sent packing (including three All Stars), $25 Million wasted on a rubber arm, and Gandmal is an orphan, like the ugly mutt left in the Dodgerdawg Pound that nobody wants to adopt.
All while Friedman sat on his hands and watched, as possible impact aquisitions fell off the radar.
I guess Management feels they do not need to make any moves. Heck, they got their big Spectrum Cable Contract, and clueless Dodger fans continue to roll through the turnstiles in record numbers like zombies, purchasing $100 tickets, paying $35-$50 for parking, guzzling down $20 beers, gobbling up $6 “plain” hot dogs, and splurging on expensive souvenirs, rooting for players who suddenly disappear from sight. Absolutely no reason to field a winning team when the revenues keeps rolling in. Even if the Dodgers somehow manage to land the “big fish”, Harper, will that one “big fish” alone take them to the promised land? I don’t thnk so.
At least we will still have something to gripe about on LA Dodger Report.
You hit the nail on the head there Bluefan…..check this out. Rays are reducing the seating capacity of their stadium to 26,000. Hell, that’s a really bad day at Dodger Stadium. Hey I have an idea for Ol Andy. Sign some good, not great players for 1 year to fill the gap to next season when Hill’s money is also off the books. Why? Go after both Goldy and Arenado who will be free agents. Not interested? Gerrit Cole and Bogaerts are free agents too. Lots of choices, some awesome RH power. Arenado is a LA kid. A lot of good players out there next year who are not going to command the stupid money that Harper and Machado want. Bring Goldy in and walla, Belli is your everyday CF. Arenado alone would move JT to first, where there would be less wear and tear on JT. Bring in Bogaerts and Seager could move to second. Bring in Cole, and the rotation is really solid. Oh yeah, if the Reds do not offer Puig a contract, he becomes a free agent too.