Ex-Dodgers Mat Latos and Joel Peralta find takers on other teams

Old Dodgers never die, they just live to fight another day with another team. One team’s rejects are another team’s spring flier.

And so it was Tuesday, a pair of discarded Dodgers’ pitchers signed elsewhere to keep their baseball dreams alive.

One was Mat Latos, the right-hander acquired at the trade deadline to settle an injury-riddled rotation who was so bad, he was released in mid-September, and the other Joel Peralta, the right-handed reliever who turns 40 next week.

Latos was a rising star with the Padres when he first arrived, but he has been handicapped by maturity issues and elbow and knee surgeries, and his career never quite developed as promised.

The Dodgers took a chance on him at the non-waiver trade deadline in a deal with the Marlins, but after a nice first start against the Angels (six innings, one run, four hits), it all went downhill. In six games (five starts), he went 0-3 with a 6.66 ERA. He was banished to the bullpen, became disgruntled, stopped talking to the media and ultimately was designated for assignment Sept. 17. He signed with the Angels and appeared in two games (3 2/3 innings, two runs, four hits, two homers).

Even as the off-season evaporated without his signing, there figured to be some interest for a big right-hander who was only 28. It finally emerged Tuesday, with Latos reportedly signing with the White Sox for one year and a guaranteed $3 million.

Peralta was a former reliever for Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman in Tampa and was brought in along with left-handed reliever Adam Liberatore in the off-season to help shore up an embattled bullpen.

Peralta got off to a nice start (no runs in seven appearances) before being sidelined for two months with a shoulder injury, and then later for a month with a neck injury. He had a 5.40 ERA in his last 26 games with the Dodgers.

But now he has reemerged, if with a minor-league deal as a non-roster invite with the Mariners. The Dodgers had declined a $2.5-million option on Peralta for the 2016 season.