Toronto Blue Jays Designate Pitcher with 179 Career MiLB Appearances For Assignment

Michael Petersen, who has been mostly a career minor leaguer, was designated for assignment by the Jays on Tuesday as they made room on the roster for future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer.

Miami Marlins pitcher Michael Petersen (70) delivers a throw during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in 2024. | Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

The Toronto Blue Jays officially signed future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer to a one-year contract on Tuesday night. The deal is worth $15.5 million. Toronto will be the the seventh team in Scherzer's illustrious career, which includes eight All-Star appearances, three Cy Young Awards and two World Series titles.

However, there's always another side to the story, and unfortunately Scherzer's signing meant that someone had to be jettisoned off the 40-man roster. That someone was right-handed pitcher Michael Peterson, who has been mostly a career minor leaguer

Scott Mitchell of TSN had the news on social media:

Petersen is the DFA for the Scherzer addition. https://t.co/tVWHv1mdNG

— Scott Mitchell (@ScottyMitchTSN) February 5, 2025

Peterson, 30, made 16 appearances in the big leagues last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Miami Marlins but he has 179 minor league appearances to his name over eight professional seasons. He also represented Great Britain at the 2023 World Baseball Classic as he was born in the United Kingdom.

The Blue Jays grabbed him off waivers this past November.

In the minor leagues, he's gone 10-11 with a 3.95 ERA. Serving mostly as a reliever, he has made 18 career starts in the minors.

The Blue Jays will now have five days to trade, release or outright him to the minors. If they can keep him in the organization, he'll report to spring training in just over one week, but he'll be in limbo until then.

The Blue Jays have major questions in their bullpen heading into the season. Jeff Hoffman, Yimi Garcia and Chad Green figure to make up a strong back-end while veterans Erik Swanson and Nick Sandlin figure to play a role as well.

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