The Texas Rangers claimed DJ Peters off waivers after he was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Dodgers in order to add Danny Duffy to their 40-man roster upon completing a trade with the Kansas City Royals.
Peters joins Brett de Geus, Josh Sborz and Dennis Santana as Dodgers who have joined the Rangers since the end of the 2020 season. Texas selected de Geus with the second overall pick in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, though he is now with the Arizona Diamondbacks after being claimed off waivers.
Sborz, who was designated for assignment in order for the Dodgers to finalize their signing of Trevor Bauer, got traded to the Rangers this past February. Santana, another casualty of the Dodgers’ 40-man roster crunch, was traded to Texas in June.
The Dodgers designating Peters for assignment was a bit surprising considering he was their fourth-round selection in the 2016 MLB Draft. Though, Peters has been plagued by high strikeout numbers throughout his career thus far.
Peters continued to work on improving in that area, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was optimistic there would be strides made this year after seeing him in Spring Training.
“For me, this is as good of at-bat quality as I’ve seen from him,” Roberts said during camp. “So now it’s about continuing to do that and then getting the opportunity. I think this year, whether it’s early or whenever it is, I think this will be the year DJ gets to be a big leaguer and get some service time. He’s worked really hard.”
Peters made his MLB debut on April 23 but struggled in limited opportunities with L.A. He hit .192 over 18 games (seven starts) across three stints in the Majors.
Peters leaves Dodgers with memory
Although the Glendora, California native struggled at the plate, he relished in making his debut and later hitting a first career home run at Dodger Stadium.
“To get it here at Dodger Stadium was surreal. In order to do it against the team in orange and black is that much better,” Peters said.
In five Minor League seasons with the Dodgers organization, he hit .266 with 96 home runs and 290 RBI.
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