Marlins deal Dillon Peters to Angels

The Marlins designated Dillon Peters for assignment on Tuesday and didn’t waste any of the seven days allotted for them to trade or release him. On Wednesday, they sent the 26-year-old pitcher to the Angels for minor-league hurler Tyler Stevens.

Peters entered 2018 as the Miami’s 11th-ranked prospect, according to Baseball America, but became expendable as he did not make the Marlins’ 40-man roster. Since debuting in 2017, the southpaw appeared in 13 games for the Fish, 11 of them starts, going 3-4 with a 6.10 ERA.

Since the Angels took Stevens in the 18th round of the 2017 draft, he rapidly ascended from rookie ball to AAA Salt Lake, where he struggled mightily, turning in a 10.93 ERA in 28 innings.

One look at his peripherals, though, and the potential is evident. The 22-year-old had a 4.67 xFIP and a 4.04 FIP, striking out almost 12 batters per nine innings (11.57 K/9). In other words, Stevens was extremely unlucky—a .551 BABIP and 56.4 left-on-base percentage had a lot to do with the poor run prevention. He will be thankful to escape the hitter-friendly environment at high-altitude Salt Lake, too.

No matter what Stevens’ stats are or were, getting anything in a trade at all for a DFA’d player is a minor miracle. Miami would’ve had to release Peters with nothing in return for him had they not made a deal.

It ought to be a welcome change of scenery for Peters. At least for 2019, the Angels present a clearer path to the big leagues than the Marlins could. They have several significant rotation candidates trying to recuperate from elbow issues, so he could take advantage of any setbacks.