"Baseball America" twice ranked him among the Astros' top ten prospects (in 1992 and 1994 Houston Astros Baseball America Top Ten Prospects, 1992 - 2013); he was a three-time All-Star (1996–1998) in Triple-A; and he won the International League's MVP Award in back-to-back years: 1997 as a member of the Mets' Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk and 1998 as a member of the Reds' Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis. Despite his early successes, though, Petagine would never become a regular in the majors, nor receive much chance to play his way into the role; he was traded three times between December, 1994 and February, 1998, and in December 1998 the Reds sold his contract to the Yakult Swallows.