A former MLB home run champ is headed to independent ball. Designated hitter/left fielder Khris Davis has signed with the Kentucky Wild Health Genomes of the Atlantic League, according to a team announcement.
Davis will use the independent ball opportunity as a hopeful springboard back to the affiliated ranks. The 34-year-old spent a bit of time in the Mexican League earlier in the year but struggled over 12 games with the Diablos Rojos. After a couple months away, Davis has an opportunity to rebuild his stock in the Atlantic League.
Over a nine-year MLB career, Davis has hit 221 home runs and carries a .242/.314/.491 slash line. He topped 40 home runs each season from 2016-18, including a league-best 48 longballs with the A’s in 2018. Davis was one of the game’s middle-of-the-order sluggers through that year, but he owns a .216/.291/.376 slash going back to the start of the 2019 campaign.
That includes a .206/.272/.363 mark through 114 plate appearances last season. Davis opened the year with the Rangers but was released in June. Two months later, he signed a minor league deal with the A’s and returned to Oakland as a September call-up. He hit free agency at the end of the year after appearing in 20 games in green and gold.
The Genomes?
They’re like gnomes, but bigger.
*smaller
Hold up on that team name….we need a proper explanation/breakdown.
Is this the first mention of the Wild Health Genomes on this site?
They’re the Genomes, sponsored by Kentucky’s Wild Health. Not the Wild Health Genomes.
It’s like the Nippon Ham Fighters. They’re Fighters sponsored by Nippon Ham, a food company, not the Ham Fighters.
Don’t ruin it for everyone
Here I was thinking there was some Japanese folkloric tale about Ham Fighters
I’m more concerned about finding out when and what time they’ll be playing WalMart or CVS, and at which beer league park to see if I can attend to support the program. If they aren’t near me, I’d like to know if someone will be live-streaming it from one of the platforms (IF, Twitter, Facebook or Youtube).
Following the addition of the Staten Island FerryHawks as the ninth Atlantic League team, the Genomes were created to ensure an even number of teams for the 2022 season.
So basically they are a temp team and won’t be around for long.
Ham Fighters are a way better name
Couldn’t hit in Mexico despite playing in Mexico City elevation. No homers and just a .119 average.
Kmart is back in business
I’ll bet he hits .247
Genome Khrush
Isn’t the KBA calling? Or am I underestimating that league?
Underestimating since he was doing badly in small sample with a Mexican independent league team. KBO usually goes for AAAA types of foreign hitters and pitchers generally. That said, he could make his way to NPB, KBO or CPBL if he hits with an Atlantic League team.
Made over $65 million in his career and he’s playing at this level? Why?
Because he can.
Or loves the game.
He doesn’t care for fishing?
To be precise, with the pro-rated season, he made just over $58 million in his career. He thinks he can be one of those guys who gets back in on a guaranteed major league 40-man roster deal, then provides enough power, etc. on a league minimum or near league minimum salary -which is itself a TON of money in real world terms and still adds enough to his coffers to in all likelihood pay for a year or more of his existence- and then potentially get a bounce back contract in the low 7-figure range, which, at $58.1M in lifetime salaries, still represents a significant amount of money.
Figure the average person works for 50 years. 1 year of income is 2% of their overall allotted time to earn. Now lets say the average major leaguer plays 13.5 years. Davis has played in parts of 9 major league seasons over 10 years. That gives him around another 3 years or more of prime playing time, generally speaking. If he can get back in, he might have 1-3 years left of earning $1-5M a season or better. That’s potentially as much as 30% of his playing career ahead of him. If he earns another $5.8M that’s 10% of his previous total earnings, or 9 percent of his total earnings. Either way, the potential juice is worth the attempted squeeze for Khris Davis.
Also- the guy is used to making over $11M a year on average for the past 5 years or so. Kinda hard to give up on that earning power and admit it’s over with how it ended for him.
Also: For the Love of the Game.
Brilliant post- I hope the young people on this site read it and learn the value of a dollar. I would just add that playing at even this low level likely represents his most financially beneficial option. It is not as if he is destined for the Hall of Fame and has endorsements lined up. High rollers will pay 50K in Vegas to play 18 holes of golf with Albert Pujols or CC Sabathia- Davis does not fall into that category. Maybe he can make some money on cameo and with a podcast relying on die hard A’s fans- but he isnt getting 5k per weekend to appear at conventions. I would like to know if your 58 million figure includes endorsement deals and things such as MLB Player Association dues- as this can impact the figure greatly as dues over a 10 year career can exceed $1 million. Players also get paid by equipment companies and have smaller endorsements and with him hitting the way he did in his prime I bet you can add 2-3 million from those if it is not included.
Playing in Oakland was also incredibly detrimental to his life time earnings potential. Compare him to a guy like Bret Gardner. As a Yankee with a ring Gardner can live in the greater NY area or have businesses there and earn a living off of appearances for die hards and special projects. Davis played for a team that might not even be in Oakland in 2-3 years. If the A’s go to Vegas they will likely want a new identity and the new fans are not going to get excited over Davis. His A’s teams were good and not great and if the A’s go to Vegas I can see then celebrating Fingers, Reggie Jackson and those Oakland teams as far as marketing is concerned.
Beginning of a good story
Joey Gallo can join him in Kentucky.