​PHILADELPHIA – Tristan Peters says he’s unaware of the hand-wringing that will take place in Milwaukee on July 14 when he takes the field in the All-Star Game as a rookie. That’s probably for the best.Peters’ selection to the midsummer classic at Citizens Bank Park is the latest and greatest development in a long, winding journey for Peters that involved playing for the Savannah Bananas and beginning his professional career with the Milwaukee Brewers.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPeters, a seventh-round pick in the 2021 draft and now with the Chicago White Sox, was a part of the final big-league trade David Stearns made as the head of baseball operations for the Brewers. In the final hour before the 2022 trade deadline, Milwaukee flipped Peters, then at Class High A Wisconsin, for reliever Trevor Rosenthal.Rosenthal never threw a pitch for the Brewers.Chicago White Sox center fielder Tristan Peters (29) before the home run derby at Citizens Bank Park on Monday, July 13 in Philadelphia.“No, I haven’t heard,” Peters said July 13 of the reaction to the trade. “I haven’t really looked into it.”Rosenthal at the time of the trade hadn’t pitched for the San Francisco Giants, recovering from thoracic outlet syndrome and hip surgery. He strained his hamstring while throwing before the trade, then suffered a lat strain while pitching on a rehab assignment with the Brewers.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPeters, meanwhile, now looks like the one that got away despite never being considered a top prospect.Still, Peters’ path after the trade was anything but straight. He hit .212 the rest of the season after the trade and San Francisco traded him to Tampa Bay that off-season. He spent all of 2024 at Class AAA, then nearly all of 2025 there before making his MLB debut with Tampa Bay and going 0 for 12.The Rays then designated him for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot and traded him for cash to the White Sox. It wasn’t certain he would ever latch on in the bigs.“I’d say there were many points like [rock bottom],” Peters said. “College, high school, pro ball in the minor leagues. I can’t pick one, but that’s how baseball goes. You have these tough stretches of can I really do this?”AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHe initially didn’t think he was going to make the team out of spring training but has since hit .301 with an .832 OPS (on-base plus slugging). Most recently, he hit for the cycle over the weekend.There was no way for anyone to know Peters would end up this good. The consensus from prospect evaluators on him while with the Brewers was he was more of a minor-league depth piece who would top out at Class AAA or a cup of coffee in the majors. The highest he was ranked in Tampa Bay’s system by FanGraphs was No. 21 in 2023.Yet Peters’ story is exactly what makes baseball so great. Nobody would have guessed Peters would be the first 2022 Wisconsin Timber Rattler to make an All-Star Ga