Dec. 9: The Giants have announced a one-year deal with Peters, per MyKBO’s Dan Kurtz (Twitter link). He’ll receive a $600K base salary and can earn up to $80K worth of incentives.
Dec. 3: Outfielder DJ Peters is nearing agreement on a contract with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization, reports Daniel Kim (Twitter link). While Kim cautions the deal is not yet completed, he relays that it is “getting closer.”
Peters was recently outrighted off the Rangers’ 40-man roster. He didn’t have the requisite service time to elect free agency, but it’s not uncommon for MLB teams to grant players their release to pursue opportunities in a foreign professional league. In these instances, the player typically receives a better salary in the foreign league than they’d make spending the 2022 campaign in Triple-A — or even bouncing between the majors and the minors. To get to that point, Peters would have needed to play his way back onto Texas’ 40-man roster.
The 25-year-old (26 later this month) was long a prospect of some regard in the Dodgers’ farm system. Scouts credited the right-handed hitting Peters with big raw power and enough athleticism to play center field, but he struggled with strikeouts throughout his minor league tenure and had major questions about his hit tool.
That evaluation largely played out during the 2021 campaign, Peters’ first as a major leaguer. He popped 13 home runs in just 240 plate appearances between Los Angeles and Texas, sporting an impressive .224 ISO (slugging minus batting average). Yet the former fourth-round pick also fanned in 34.2% of his plate appearances en route to a .197 batting average. Paired with a tiny 5% walk rate, Peters simply made too many outs to be consistently productive. Altogether, his .197/.242/.422 line was around 29 percentage points below league average by measure of wRC+.
Assuming a deal is reached, Peters will spend the 2022 campaign with the Busan-based Giants. It’s not out of the question the Southern California native could pursue another opportunity in the United States down the line. Numerous players have landed guaranteed big league deals after putting together strong seasons in both the KBO and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball over the past few years, and Peters is young enough to be a desirable free agent a year or two from now if his performance merits.
…shocking news for those he was part of the Rangers future. He never was.
dude’s gonna mash over there.
He hits baseballs really far. That’s about it. Wish him luck in the KBO, he’s gonna absolutely mash over there.
Not necessarily. He’s gonna see a lot of AAA level braking stuff which he couldn’t hit in U.S.
He might see some breaking stuff but the only way he’ll see braking stuff is if he follows too closely on the road.
typpo policee in action-so sory, wats the finee?
Really?
HA! Goteem
With Semien at 2B and Seager at SS with IKF likely at 3B Solak probably heads to CF. With Garcia and the Calhoun’s vying for time at the corners and DH there was no real place for Peters other than minor league depth
Solak does not possess the speed or range to play CF. His best shot is a transition to LF or he becomes trade bait for someone wanting a cheap controllable 2B … You mentioned Adolis. He can play either CF or RF extremely well, as in gold glove caliber.
You’re kidding me, right? 28.7 ft/s was in the tops of the big leagues.
Defensive WAR was -4.6. Speed score was 4.3, UBR was 1.5 and when you factor in stolen bases was -1.1. His range runs above average was -2.8.
In other words, raw speed is not bad, but his range isn’t cut out for CF. He didn’t play in the OF at all last year and Rangers tried him at 3B, which didn’t go as well as hoped. So it’s an Ian Kinsler 2B/LF hybrid that they’ll probably shoot for, provided he doesn’t get traded elsewhere to a team like Oakland, that would want a cheap controllable 2B.
I love off season dumb arguments! #LockoutStoveLeague
There have to be more than a few guys in similar situations that have an easy decision due to the lockout. More money, see the world. Sounds fun.
I’d like to see all the major leaguers playing overseas this next season. No MLB in 2022.
bet
Is there a thumbs down icon?
My cousin played travel ball with him. Said he’s a good dude. Good luck, DJ.
Wow my cousins second cousin played against him. ⚾️
Are y’all related???
Everybody is related in Arkansas ⚾️
My grandfathers contractor coached Peters. He has it that some people in the dodgers clubhouse clearly smoke a bit too much referring to a specific lefty if y’all catch my drift. Not saying it’s trueeee but just a tidbit
My ex brother in laws former next door neighbor, great uncle on his mother’s side used to do the do outside of Dodgers stadium in the 70’s until Steve Garvey put the kibosh on it, because -so the story goes- Garvey said, “Nobody do the do like I do the do so do it somewhere else.” Not saying it’s true but just a tidbit. Ahahahahaha!
Someday Peters will be the MVP of a slow pitch beer softball league.
I was in a 6-12 ft arc league…….12 teams maybe 175 players….you….?
He has the talent to be a great player in the major leagues. I don’t think the Dodgers or the Rangers were patient enough to see if he could figure it out.
When the Dodgers DFA’D DJ they needed to clear a spot on the 40 man roster & was hoping that another team would claim him
He has power. Dodgers wanted him to work out, but his bat to ball skills just need improvement. KBO could be good for him to see a bunch of different breaking balls.
To outright him off the 40, Rangers thought he was taking space of someone more valuable. An OF at age 26 and 5 yes in minors, WYSIWYG
He’ll hit a hundred homers over there.
If he sticks around for 3-4 years
I bet you a Diet Coke he doesn’t. I think Vegas has over under at 75
Just hope he keeps off the “Train to Busan”…..just sayin….
Who is DJ Peters??? And who cares if he’s going to Korea??? There’s a clear reason, that being he’s irrelevant in MLB.
Who is Jake? Mr Irrelevant ⚾️
He’s a big strong athletic quick outfielder with above average defense. He can moon shot fastballs but struggles against breaking balls striking out a ton. I was really surprised the dodgers gave up on him so quickly. I thought he was going to be the next Joc Pederson.
Except Joc never even came close to clearing that K rate. He was in Kyle Russell territory. If we’re being honest, he’s also had like 2 good months passed A ball. And really was exposed.
Peters is Gallo minus the walk rate. The lack of walks made his OBP too low to keep him. Otherwise, he would have been an asset.
Prediction for him in kbo 2022
254 28hr 74 RBI
Farewell to the face of the franchise
What does DJ stand for – Dirty John?
Fans will be flocking to attend the games of the KBO’s Lotte Giants.
Although the team’s efforts on the field may be less than inspiring
The atmosphere in the stadium will be top notch – especially musically.
The team has entered into a contract with a DJ !!!