The holiday season has come and gone, so with the calendar shifting to 2019, the Major League Baseball free agent and trade fronts should begin to pick back up for the Los Angeles Dodgers and other clubs.
Additionally, with Spring Training just around the corner, teams are beginning to make Minor League signings with invitations to Spring Training to bolster their organizational depth.
One team who values depth and versatility perhaps more than any other is the Dodgers as they are known to make a variety of those depth signings every year to have experienced players to call up in case of injuries.
The Dodgers did not waste any time in the new year making one of those signings. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, they have agreed to a Minor League deal with outfielder Shane Peterson:
#Dodgers have signed free-agent outfielder Shane Peterson to a minor-league deal with an invitation to MLB spring training, according to a source. Peterson batted .286 with a .793 OPS for #Padres’ Triple A club last season. Plays all three OF positions. Also has experience at 1B.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 2, 2019
Peterson was a second-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals out of Long Beach State in 2007. The Southern California native has appeared in 125 career Major League games across three seasons with the Oakland Athletics, Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays.
In those games, he hit .254/.319/.359 with four home runs and 28 RBI. Peterson spent the entire 2018 season with the San Diego Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in El Paso where he batted .286/.343/.451 with 11 home runs and 74 RBI.
The 30-year-old has the ability to play all three outfield positions and has played some first base in the past, so he has the versatility that the Dodgers organization loves so much. Peterson’s odds of making the Major League roster on Opening Day are slim, but there is a good chance he reaches the big leagues at some point in 2019 considering the Dodgers’ past history with signings like this.
